Topic: Cinnarizine

[Paulie53]

Does anyone know anything about this medication. Had to take a trip to Dr's today and this is what he has now prescribed me. The one thing I did notice on the pharmicists sticker was it "It may cause drowziness" this is the last thing I need to be happening when I am trying to study... I have to take 1 three times per day, there is no paperwork in the box of pills so I have no idea what the outcome of this could be.

[Janet]

Hi paulie53
I also take cinnerazine im suposed to take 3 per day they do make you realy drowzy so i have to say i only take one when i feel realy sick or i would be asleep all day i also take serc are you on any other meds i also found that the cinnerizine made me eat a lot so take it after you have eaten i have a leaflet somewher so will hunt it out and get back to you
Janet

[Christina]

Hi

Cinnarizine is otherwise known as Stugeron - which is something you can buy over the counter for travel sickness.  It dampens down vestibular activity and unfortunately is does make you sleepy, because it's an antihistamine.

Three times a day is quite a lot to take when you're not used to it especially if you need to study.  I would try out a dose in the evening to start with and see how it affects you. 

Chris

[NEWOSA65]

Hi Paulie,

I sometimes take cinnarizine but take 6 x 15mg daily and i don't suffer with any symptoms of drowiness.  This is a safe tablet and even 6 tablets daily is quite a small dose.  I have to say though that even this dose does very little for my vertigo attacks!  Buccastem tablets work best for me.

Good luck with them.

Simon

[ManiloonySally]

Maybe i'm different, but i find it makes me extremely drowsy, infact so much so i have to go to bed when i am taking it 

Sally

[Paulie53]

Thanks everyone.. I thought this might be the case, I even find Paracetomol makes me sleepy so heaven knows what this stuff would do... I was on Betahistamine aka SERC but that did absolutely nothing as has no other medications ie Stemetil... Looks like a never ending round of darn meds now to see if anything will work....

I really can't afford to be in a drowsy state at the moment as I am half way through my NVQ in IT, then start my Uni short course in May, then onto degree studies in September, my first attempt at going to Uni aka Open University...

The meds are 15mg and he wants me to take them as I mentioned 3 times per day with water, heavens I would have to take them after food, I have put on enough weight being home as it is..

I will give one a try out tonight and see how it makes me feel when I wake up tomorrow..

Again thank you so much

Paulie aka Pauline

[Christina]

I wouldn't recommend taking 6 x 15mg tablets a day without medical advice - you are unusual not to get any side effects of drowsiness Simon!  I would be knocked out for a week on that dose!

3 x 15mg daily is the normal daily dose and most people will find varying degrees of drowsiness on this dose.  Some people will be really knocked out and need to sleep, others will be able to carry on normal daily activities but will still feel sleepy. For this reason, one should be careful about driving until you know how the tablets affect you. 

Chris

[jon]

Hi Paulie,

I love 'em. There my little friends, and bring me down when I'm spinning and calm the nausea. But everyone is different, they don't suit everyone, but they're worth the try. I believe they are quite safe, even in large doses.
One thing I have found is that most cinnarizine tabs dissolve in the mouth, under the tongue or lip. I quite like the taste, the trade name version (stugeron by jannsen) are slightly sweet, but don't dissolve quite so easily. Most generic versions are less sweet, but are not unpleasant. This potentially speeds up absorption, a good thing when really dizzy.
There is a theory that not only do they reduce the nausea and spinning, but over time affect the 'micro-circulation' blood flow to the inner ear, so are supposed to be preventative as well, in a similar way that Serc is supposed to work.
I have not used them in this way.

I used to find they caused drowsiness, but I don't notice it anymore.

good luck...
Jon

ps as chris says driving is not recommended when on cinnarizine, but it's not safe whilst dizzy either. I have on occasion taken the maximum daily dose, they helped.

[happyanddandy]

Hello

I am new here and having a bad episode for the last 2 months or so. I put myself on to Serc 16mg and Cinnarizine 15mg tds and slowly things have improved with roaring and slight drunk feeling with vague nausea - I actually do take them 8 hourly on the dot as well which I think has helped. Can't say I am any sleepier than usual. I work as a Practice Nurse and have been struggling at times with symptoms. Would rather be taking Cinnarizine in order to get through a day than not.

[nickiking]

I used to take Cinnarizine but felt so drowsy all the time that I couldn't function properly. As they didn't really help me with the spinning my doc took me off them and prescribed me stemetil instead.

[jan]

hi,when i was prescribed stemetil three times a day i found they made me very sleepy and i had to stop taking them.a few years later i tried them again on a as required basis,and i soon got used to them.
                jan

[nickiking]

Hi Jan,

I normally take just one stemetil per day but when I'm really bad I take 3 per day and that dose really tires me out. I've been taking 3 a day since october now and don't find it affects me as much as it did a few months ago. I'm just waiting for this bad spell to be over with so I can reduce the dose again.

[Christina]

I think you definitely build up tolerance to these meds the longer you take them.

Chris

[scorpio1]

Hi Everyone.
I am new to your forum,and am posting on behalf of my husband.At the moment he is sleeping as he is suffering with very bad nausea.
He is taking Fluoxetine and Diazepam and suffers really badly with nausea everyday.The doctor has prescribed Motilium for the nausea but this seems to have made it worse.
Could anyone advise if any anti-histimine tablets for motion sickness can be taken safely with the above(fluoxetene and diazepam)?
Thanks

[Christina]

I am intrigued by your husband being prescribed motilium as this really acts on the gut itself and how quickly it processes food.  Where do doctors train these days! If he has a vestibular problem, then a vestibular suppressant would be much better in my humble opinion.  Cinnarizine (available over the counter as Stugeron) would be a good one to try.  The nausea is being caused by the disturbance in his inner ear and is actually nothing to do with his stomach, although of course the messages the brain is getting triggers the vomit reflex.  By all means try it, they can't do much harm except cause drowsiness and it is one of the drugs of choice that is commonly prescribed by consultants for vestibular problems.  I hope your husband starts to feel better soon.  It's miserable I know.

Of course if he has just started fluoxetine (Prozac), this is probably causing more drowsiness and certainly some nausea. 
This should improve as his body adjusts to the medication but can last for 2-3 weeks.  The diazepam on top will certainly be knocking him for six.  I am just a bit concerned that adding another drug (cinnarizine) that can cause sleepiness may just knock him out altogether and make it impossible to function.  That's not a desirable effect with a vestibular condition as the sooner a person can move around as normally as possible the better for recovery of the balance system.

Best wishes
Christina

[puggster]

ive been taking these now for about 2 months 3 times a day as the other ones i had react to anitriptilene so that wa offerd as a replacment
it does work much better but makes me really sleepy
but mostly due to other meds i take too which probably make the drowsyness 10 times worse

overall it does help me anyways