General Motion Sickness Stories

Immune to Motion Sickness?

contributed by Rita

Is anyone truly immune to motion sickness, and if so how and why? It's a million dollar question, and one I often get asked...

Here's a comment e-mailed to me by a reader who appears to indeed be immune to motion sickness. I've added my thoughts on the subject below.

"I have a question: since you deal with motion sickness on your site, have you ever come across anyone who has never gotten motion sickness?

Thing is, I've never experienced it. I've been on boats, airplanes, cars, roller coasters, I can even spin for hours and not get dizzy. I've been spinning since I could walk (according to my mom). When on airplanes, I can never tell when we are sideways (I see it outside from the window), but I feel as though I'm always in a straight balanced position. I've been trying to look up more information on this online, but it's always on how to cure it. I was wondering if you've come across someone online or even friends with something similar?"

Rita

The Motion Sickness Guru replies

I was fascinated to read about the Rita's experiences. My first thought is: 'she is SO very lucky!', and my second thought is that yes, I have come across other similar cases, but mostly just in anecdotes ('I once knew this guy who never got seasick...'). There are also occasional cases of so-called immunity in medical and military reports.

On the other hand it's common to hear the 'experts' say that there's no such thing as immunity to motion sickness and that people who seemingly 'never get motion sickness' just have a higher tolerance than the rest of us. In other words, in the roughest of seas everyone gets sick. An article by neurologist Dr. Timothy Hain cites a claim from an Encyclopaedia of Occupational Health and Safety that "nearly 100% of occupants of life rafts will vomit in rough seas. 60% of student aircrew members suffer from air sickness at some time during their training." It's interesting that the encyclopaedia hedges its bets with the 'nearly 100%', leaving room for a small number of people like Rita who really don't experience motion sickness under any circumstances.

Several sources (see Wikipedia, in addition to the article mentioned above) state that people and animals without a functioning vestibular system are immune to motion sickness. The vestibular system is the part of the brain that organises and responds to sensory signals received from other parts of the body. So I assume that whereas anyone without a functioning vestibular system doesn't suffer from motion sickness, they would have other significant health issues. Similarly there are apparently several illnesses of the inner ear and brain that can result in an immunity to motion sickness.

It's also possibly that some people are able to develop immunity following a course of habituation (repeated exposure to the motion that makes them ill). The Bárány chair is one such treatment used in the military. A more user-friendly option is the Puma Method. However, Rita gives no indication that she has undergone any such treatment, and her immunity appears to be natural from birth.

Another thought is that there's definitely a strong psychological aspect to motion sickness. Therefore I wonder if Rita's immunity has become a 'self-fulfilling prophecy'. Motion sickness is strongly associated with worry and anxiety (in other words, those who are worried that they will get sick usually do!). Rita, however, is convinced that she is immune to motion sickness. It may well be that this believe actually protects her.

Whatever the reason, I think everyone will agree that Rita is one lucky lady!

Are you, or is anyone you know, immune to motion sickness? If so, do let me know!

See also:



Comments

A G Gordon on October 19, 2011:
With reference to inner ear disorders that may give immunity, can I point out The Book of Margery Kempe, considered by some to be the first autobiography in the English language. Margery Kempe clearly had Méničre Spectrum Disorder, if not actual Méničre's disease, as exemplified by deafness and unilateral tinnitus developing into auditory hallucinations. Late in life while on a pilgrimage she found it odd that she was not suffering sea sickness like the others. The explanation for this is that either the disease had burnt out the vestibular parts of the inner ear, or the nervous system had learnt to suppress the confusing and variable vestibular signals that normally lead to sea sickness.
Anon on July 30, 2012:
I'm quite a bit like Rita! The only time I've ever felt sick in a vehicle was when I was already sick with flu or something else. The one other exception was when I was a baby, but my mom thinks I choked on some food (who lets a one-and-a-half-year-old eat alone in the back of a moving car? McDonalds no less!) And I do have a tendency to choke on food a lot :-)

Other than that, no issues. I've been on planes, buses, trains, cars, trucks, speedboats and tubing adventures, and a few ferry rides (granted I haven't been lucky enough to go way out in the ocean, I wish I had. I adore water and the ocean!) without any poor effects. Hell I was the only person on a longer ferry ride (4 hours I think) who was up and running the entire time. I kept running into other kids sitting in the hall and people shakily drinking water and soda everywhere.

I routinely spin around and somersault-roll and try to get dizzy as much as I can, and I still don't get any bad effects unless I am already compromised with an illness.
Izumi Macra on January 25, 2013:
I actually think people that claim to be motion sick are lying, because I have never experienced motion sickness and thus believe it to be false. Seriously. I think you are crazy if you say you get motion sickness.
Erica on February 16, 2013:
I am totally immune to any form of motion sickness and unable to ever feel nausea. This even goes through to alcohol - no matter how much I drink I cannot feel queasy, never get sick and am perfectly fine the next day (I do get sillier though). Even with food poisoning I can vomit but never feel nausea so there is no warning. This is because I have no functioning vestibular system (it's been more than 4 years now).

Reading about Rita I wonder if perhaps she was born with a malfunction of her vestibular system.
Ann Ossinger on September 30, 2013:
I've never felt motion sick in my life. I am 55 years old and I can still ride EVERY ride at an amusement park, be out on a boat all day (open ocean, rough seas) and I've been the only person NOT sick on a large boat with about 100 people (well, I think the captain of the boat wasn't sick too), I have my private pilot license and EVERY pilot told me how horrible "going under the hood" would be and I'd be horribly sick (being able to only see your instruments while your instructor puts your plane in an unusual attitude) and I felt like I could do it all day and feel fine - in fact my instructor and the FAA checkout official both said "enough!" and I was just starting to have fun. My husband and others hate me.

Other considerations: I used to have a lot of ear infections when I was an infant/small child. I have terrible balance, but it doesn't keep me from being able to do anything that just about anyone else can do, example: skiing is a challenge for me, but I can do it, hiking mountain trails without trekking poles is difficult, but I'm a marathon runner and I'm just usually the first person to fall over when balance is an issue. That said, I'm super good at spatial relations (99 percentile when tested in high school), and I'm good at depth perception. I don't know which of these things might be related and which things aren't.

Oh, and I can read all day in the back of a bus on a super windy mountain road. I am very healthy, I am very fit, and other than the balance issue I already told you about, have no real health issues.

My husband has EXCELLENT balance, he is a "mountain goat" and can scramble up any rocky, bouldery hill while he pulls me up and keeps me from falling over. And he has TERRIBLE motion sickness at the drop of a hat. I will watch him turn green in front of me when we go out in boats (we live near the coast and he loves to fish).

So, is there a connection?
I'd just thought I'd let you know my own story.
Ann Ossinger
Seaman on March 2, 2014:
I can't imagine how people get motion sick. I have never in my life been sick while reading, using a cellphone in the car during the ride, or anything. I got it from my dad who is immune as well.
I don't have any disorders that I know about, so the disorder thing is most likely bullshit. It is about the psych of the brain I think. It is the same with alcohol, it's very hard for me to get drunk. Not that I'm complaining. It has to be something with genes.
Pan He on November 9, 2014:
I've never experienced any kind of motion sickness. I like the feeling on boats, airplanes, cars and roller coasters, I even enjoy bungee jumping very much since the first time I tried it. When I am off the ground by any transportation or device, I can feel the shaking and moving in detail and how does it balance itself. I traveled on airplanes a lot, I can tell precisely when we are sideways, ascending or descending.
I do not have any brain damage or disease. I have not any illnesses of the ear, and I have good hearing and excellent eye vision. I know that 'experts' say that there's no such thing as immunity to motion sickness and that people who seemingly 'never get motion sickness' just have a higher tolerance than the rest of us. But my case is I never try to fight with it, I don't need to. Instead I am very much enjoying it. I was wondering if you've come across someone similar. If this is very unusual, whether it has any research value? I just don't get the feeling or understand when I saw my friends that suffer from different kinds of motion sickness when they travel with me. So if I can help I would like to cooperate with any experiment and study.
Brian on December 31, 2014:
I am responding to your story about being immune to motion sickness. As you asked to let you know if we are immune to motion sickness, I'd like to throw my hat into the ring. I have never experienced motion sickness like so many other people. At first, I thought it was a rare condition, but in my studies to help my pregnant wife who is afflicted with Hyperemesis gravidum with her motion sickness issues, I've learned how widespread the phenomenon of motion sickness is.
I've been fortunate in my life to have experienced several methods of what cause people to get sick and yet do not make me sick. I love to ride roller coasters (the crazier the loops, the better!), the tilt-a-wheel type rides, anything spinney really. I've never gotten motion sick in a car as either the driver or passenger and in fact often read or play video games in the car if I'm not the one driving. I've been out to sea several times for extended periods, and in fact have taken the sailing merit badge in scouting which involved quite a few crazy stunts that made others hurl their lunches. Never me. I can fly on planes and can always tell when the plane is turning, but never ever get sick. Video games have never made me sick either no matter the type of head bob. 3D movies? A-OK! There was some research about people who sway much more likely to get motion sick. My wife gets annoyed at me because I sway, always have.
With that said, there are things that can make me dizzy. Spinning in a chair long enough will do it, some Virtual Reality apps can do it to (going up a flight of stairs in virtual reality while not actually going up is very dizzying for me as an example)... but it doesn't make me sick. Dizziness is a FUN experience for me! Why? Who knows...
Maybe part of the clue to all this - I don't have the world's best sense of balance. Took me a bit to learn to ride a bike. Skiing, rollerblading, skating... can't do that, lose my balance and over I go. Ouch!
I want to learn to ride the Airwheel, and while I know that most people can learn to ride it over the weekend, it'll probably take me a couple weeks instead.
Eric on August 22, 2015:
Hi, I seem to be immune to motion sickness just like the woman in the story. I have been on 4 cruise ships, one to Alaska and 3 to Catalina Island Mexico. I also have been on 2-3 whale-watching trips and I never got sea sick in my whole life. Is it that rare to get immunity to sea sickness?
Ryan on November 15, 2015:
Curious if any of the people who get REALLY motion sick, can swim? I've only met two people in my life that get really car sick, and neither of them could swim, like they defied the logic and physics of swimming. They could not be taught to swim, they would just drown. Almost like something was just broken in them and made it impossible for them.
Duane M on December 30, 2015:
I never get seasick or any type of motion sickness at all and I can ride in those spinning things at the fair that people throw up in all the time. I just have to make sure the seat is clean. I can spend weeks on the water in a boat, which I have done and I never had an issue. I'm a pilot too and I have gotten vertigo before where you feel like you're in a turn but you're going straight. Not a sick feeling associated with it though.
Karen Mayo on January 18, 2016:
Yes! I never get sea sick. Just got off a 10 day cruise. It's my 5th and there were some rough days at sea.
Imogen on April 17, 2016:
Hi, I read the article about immunity to motion sickness. I'm hesitant to say that I'm completely immune to motion sickness, because I haven't been in the most extreme situations, but certainly my tolerance is extremely high. I've never been on a plane flight, car trip or even ocean voyage rough enough to make me nauseous. However, if I'm already nauseous from something else, it can make it worse.
I don't have a good explanation as to why that's the case. I think it might have something to do with how I picture the motion in my mind's eye but I'm very uncertain. Feel free to post a message if you want to pick my brain.
Tony on April 26, 2016:
I am like Rita, never been motion sick in my life. I love being on boats, not just the big cruise ships mind you, but even the smaller 25 person boats like I took through the Strait of Juan De Fuca (our captain called it the Strait of Juan De Puka and explained that they crossed it at night while people were asleep to minimize people's sickness). I slept like a baby that night being rocked to sleep. I've also been in interior cabins on cruise ships, through storms, with no visual reference to the way our boat was rocking, and I still slept great with no nausea or discomfort.
3D movies and motion simulators are often associated with motion sickness as well, but I've never had a problem with them. I've been on helicopters, white water rafting, I am an avid roller coaster lover, and in my 41 years, I've never found any motion that was too intense or made me feel sick. I even read books in the car (passenger seat of course.) I feel bad for people who go on cruise ships but spend the entire first couple days feeling miserable or drowsy from meds, and I truly wish they could discover the secret to my immunity so they could share it with others, but it's not like I ever worked up to it or anything. I was just born that way, I guess.
My wife gets 3D sick, and I had her eat some ginger before dragging her to a 3D movie, and it actually helped her avoid getting sick, so there you go!
Jane on April 30, 2016:
I have never suffered from motion sickness. Rough seas, air travel, reading in cars and long coach rides are no problem. My optician once told me that I would never suffer from travel sickness because I am wall eyed. Does this make sense?
Janet on May 26, 2016:
I'm on this site because I've always suffered from motion sickness... I slept on most road trips or looked straight ahead! Suddenly while returning to bus riding in Brooklyn I very slowly discovered I can do anything on a bus or in a car, read, write, probably color too (which I never could dream of doing as a kid). This whole post is typed while on a bus! I'm nearly 40, so I'm weirded out. I'm thinking this damaged vestibular discussion is worth further investigation.
Andy on August 16, 2016:
Yes, I'm another lucky one. I've been into boating (motor and sail) for much of my life, also taken lots of commercial flights, and been on many long car and train journeys. And never once had motion sickness, nor ever felt anything close to it. There's nothing special about me physically. I don't train in the gym very much, nor eat any unusual diet. Just lucky, I guess!
Jules on September 6, 2016:
To all the naysayers....look folks, I get motion sickness like you wouldn't believe. It's not made up crap. On the other end of the spectrum, I am dumbfounded and in awe of those that DON'T experience it all. I wish I did not get sick but I do. I cannot fly without drugging myself with a variety of medications, and even then sometimes I still feel sick. Some boats are fine and I may not need to medicate. Cars I'm ok as long as I don't have to sit in the back for long stretches. Some amusement rides I'm fine, others I'm not. It varies and is situational. My mother tells the story of how she used to have to take plastic bags in the car because I would throw up. So give us 'weaklings' a break as we don't have control over it.
Sarah on October 4th, 2016:
I also have never experienced motion sickness. My experience is very similar to that of the person who sent in the first post. I also have balance and coordination problems, so it could be inner ear related. I was also diagnosed with Asperger's syndrome, though I'm not sure how relevant that is.
Nathan on October 13th, 2016:
I'm immune to motion sickness entirely. Never felt it in my life. I enjoy heights, plane rides, reading in the back seat of a car, and I once played a racing arcade game on a ship during a storm with 10 metre swells. The game's driver seat was broken, so the rocking of the ship made the seat move back and forth with the waves. I can still feel nausea, but it's never related to movement, only illness or a hangover.
Amy on October 24, 2016:
I have never gotten motion sickness from reading in the car. I suppose I trained myself not to from a young age, because I would frequently read or play my Game Boy on long car trips. I don't remember getting sick from reading during them and I still don't as an adult. Like Sarah, I also have Asperger's. Also not sure if it's relevant, but someone else might know.
Tom on December 17th, 2016:
I've never had any kind of motion sickness. I'm 62 and been on all sorts of rough water, planes, roller coasters, etc. I didn't enter these situations thinking, "I'm immune to it, so just enjoy the ride". I went into these situations with no thoughts of it whatsoever.
Eric on December 17, 2016:
Once when I was about ten or eleven years old I experienced motion sickness while lying down in the back of a moving car. We stopped for maybe ten minutes and it never returned. In my early thirties I suddenly started to become dizzy virtually all the time I would be sitting motionless in a chair and fall out. I would be standing still and then fall over with no warning. Then I could not stand still but would sway constantly. As I walked I looked very drunk or even partially paralyzed. My eyes would go back and forth like someone who was very dizzy. Nevertheless I did not experience motion sickness. Now, nearly thirty years since I started having balance problems, I have gotten pretty used to it and can compensate fairly well most of the time. I still have bad days where I stagger around like a drunk and my eyes bounce back and forth but I never experience motion sickness. After nearly thirty years of walking around like a drunk and having people comment about my eyes banging back and forth I still haven't found a reason why I don't get motion sickness. Or why I'm dizzy either. All sorts of tests have shown how well my brain has adapted so that I don't feel dizzy or see the world spinning even though my eyes are tracking back and forth. Yet I still (thankfully) don't get motion sickness. Nevertheless I would really like an answer for both the lack of motion sickness and why I have been dizzy for the last nearly thirty years.
Rob on December 22, 2016:
I, as well, am immune to motion sickness. I never realized I was until I first rode the "Gravetron" as a ten year old. Everybody else on the ride was screaming and/or vomiting, and I felt nothing. Then my sister took me to "Elitch Gardens" in Denver in 1982, and she and I rode the "Mister Twister" roller coaster. My sister was screaming and crying, and again... I felt nothing. It got to the point that my sister begged me to do something because she was going to throw-up... so I sang the National Anthem. She was able to focus on my singing so she made it without losing her lunch... and again, I felt nothing. What really convinced me was a trip to "Magic Mountain" in 1994... in fact, it was the day before we were shaken out of bed during the "Northridge Earthquake" (I felt nothing during the earthquake either). Anyway, we went to the "Viper" roller coaster, but it was shut down due to a repair. There was no line, so we walked up to see when it would be running again. They had just finished repairing it, so we got on. Since nobody else realized it was working again, we just rode it over and over, until my friends all quit, one by one due to being sick. I rode it ten straight times, and I only stopped because a line started forming, then I left... and not once did I get sick. I even figured out where they took the photos of the riders during the ride (middle of the second consecutive loop, upside down). So every time I would ride, I'd make different faces, just so my friends could watch the screens to see what I'd do next (e.g., sleeping, vomiting, picking my nose, "flipping the double bird"...). No matter what, I'd never get sick: boat rides, ferry rides, airplane rides (both commercial and in a small Cessna... in fact, my nephew was the pilot, and took me for a ride near Pueblo, Colorado... he even let me fly for a while, and I was going up, and down, and banked left and right, until my nephew started getting sick himself... again, I felt nothing), elevator rides, ANY carnival rides, Disneyland, Magic Mountain...NOTHING! Someday I'd like to take a ride in an F16, just to see if the pilot could do SOMETHING so that I could feel it. I'd REALLY like to feel something... I'm jealous of those who do.
Nath on December 30, 2016:
I was looking for an answer to the mystery of why I have never felt any type of motion sickness. It was random thought and I didn't know that you can't be immune. That's just weird! I know that motion sickness - at least after getting off from the cruise trip - is really common. I didn't think my never-having-any would be impossible!
I also fall to those who had a lot of ear infections as a child. My hearing is good. My balance is still really good, many times better than others. Where I get clumsy or look like unbalanced it's when I don't/can't focus. I also have adult ADD what comes from childhood stress and made my brain neurologically to develop slightly different. That can't be changed (/fixed) but that isn't the same that I would have some brain damage, I just progress things differently - but might that make me immune? Or childhood epilepsy what did go away (and also wasn't from brain damage)?
Of course I haven't been in a fighter jet that is often ultimate test of motion sickness. In my case I probably would throw off because I have mechanical/chronical stomach problems - not because the motion sickness itself.
Might also be that it can be a real thing; there is people who are immune, but because it's minority and not a problem - it doesn't get enough attention.
Richard on January 1st, 2017:
I learned to walk on a Navy ship transporting families to new stations across the Pacific. Even on a small ship caught in a hurricane 20 years later I suffered no motion sickness. Never have. Could be I learned, early on, to ignore, even enjoy, the motion.
Stacy on January 17, 2017:
I don't get motion sickness either. I have 2 sons and they also seem to be immune to it. My husband hasn't got it either. I think it may be genetic. Their cousins get it horribly, but I think it must come from the other side of the family.
DT on March 13, 2017:
I don't think I'm immune to feeling motion as is the poser of the question. I just seem to thoroughly enjoy it, possibly to the point of experiencing an ongoing high. I don't know why. I have also always enjoyed spinning, sometimes doing so for hours when under intense stress. But for me it is because I feel the dizziness that I enjoy it. I will say however that I have always been able to compensate enough that I could pass a sobriety test after spinning at moderate speeds.
Anyways I have never felt motion sick (unless you count getting a headache from bouncing on a trampoline or 4 wheel drive vehicle on rocky terrain), but I didn't realize it was too an abnormal extent until I went on my first marine biology scuba diving expedition in college. None of the group with me had gotten motion sick on the long drive/flight/boat trip to the site, but on one wavy day(15x15' swells) half the group got sick after only an hour in the rising and falling (painfully) swells. More striking, once we got in and started bobbing on the water everyone else got sick within seconds. We quickly dove and everyone seemed okay, but when we came up later, a little away from the boats, it was like witnessing a mass panic/race to get into the boats as we bobbed. Meanwhile I was feeling elated and didn't want to get out, but I had to succumb when everyone else was loaded up and in a hurry to get back on land.
One other note, people, especially my wife have noted, even been annoyed that not only do I not scream on amusement park rides, but typically even look bored, especially when they get to the part at the end where you're supposed to buy a picture of your screaming terror/joy/whatever together on the ride. I really only enjoy the spinning machine, free fall, and swinging ships anyways, the rest just seem slow and jarring...my pictures during those even are just an inertially flattened grin.
This cannot be because I just have a tough stomach or something, as I almost always throw up if I so much as see or smell someone else's vomit... On one side of my family everyone is prone to nausea, but the other parent and none of my siblings had ever experienced it as far as I know, though I'm the only one that so thoroughly enjoys significant ongoing motion. Although my child as an newborn and infant would only be consoled by a car ride with no stopping (common from what I've read) or a long series of alternating, brisk walks in my stroller.
Marjorie Adams on April 14, 2017:
I seem to be much less prone to motion sickness than some. I experienced it once, crossing the Atlantic during hurricane season. Just queasy, no barfing. I did two things: I ate something every meal. (Out of eight at my table, five left and didn't return). Also I made a habit of walking around the deck, keeping my eye on the horizon. That was forty-odd years ago.
Just recently, I was on a similar sized ship (100+ passengers) and crossed the Drake Passage (Antarctic waters) twice. This time, I didn't feel seasick at all, though I am older and lamer. I made a drill of looking outside portholes/windows, if I had trouble keeping my balance. I also made liberal use of my cane.
I also come from a family who has crossed oceans on many occasions--immigration, travel, military transport during war, and so on. So, I think part of the "anti-seasick" question is genetic, and part is an issue of making sure your eyes are seeing what your body and inner ear is sensing.
Andrew on April 17, 2017:
I have never experienced motion sickness either. I've been on plenty of roller coasters and boats (both large and small), and I constantly read in the car. While I never get SICK, I do get dizzy very easily. As a kid I got a LOT of ear infections, so my best guess is there was some kind of permanent damage from that resulting in this.
pilotgirl on April 22, 2017:
I too have never experienced motion sickness. Have flown light planes as a pilot and been a passenger in severe turbulence, been on boats where swells were 8 metres high and didn't feel a thing, while everyone else (including three crew!) were heaving their guts out. I also fly aerobatics, pulling several G forces and never felt anything. I know I'm lucky!!
Anne on May 1, 2017:
I used to get car sick as a child, but it suddenly stopped. I still remember the wonder I felt at realising I hadn't got sick after a long drive. Since then I have never got any kind of travel sickness. I am from a sea-faring people, and the rougher the sea, the better I like it. I adjust very quickly to motion changes. After a couple of rides a roller coaster has no effect on me.
Chris on May 8, 2017:
I have never had any form of motion sickness in my life and have used all types of transport, plus the usual fun rides at Shows. I don't believe the statement that 100% of people get sick in rough seas, as I have been out in very rough weather in the Whitsundays at home, and for four hours in the English Channel. I was fine. The only thing that occurred after the Channel trip from France was that I became a bit dizzy for approx. 5 minutes when I walked onto the dock, after that, fine!
Will on June 23, 2017:
I'm 28 and I've been boating since I was born. I was driving a boat before I rode a 2 wheeler bike. I have never been seasick. I am a sailor, a commercial fisherman, and formerly a merchant marine. I've been across the ocean on a 500 foot ship rolling in 25 foot seas. Nearly everyone on that ship got seasick, except me. I was chowing down full meals in the mess hall and never felt a hint of nausea. I was actually having fun! So I wonder why is this the case for me? Does one get "used to" motion, and does starting boating young help?
Mary on June 24, 2017:
I am 70 years young and have suffered with extreme motion sickness all my life. One of my worst experiences was driving home from work one night. It was extremely foggy and I was following the taillights of the car in front of me. They turned off of the interstate highway and I got extremely dizzy. I immediately pulled over. An off duty police officer pulled up behind me. He asked if I was alright. I told him no I was dizzy due to fog and motion sickness. He asked if I would be ok to drive home. I told him I don't think I should drive. He offered to take me home and I gratefully accepted. To the person who thought that maybe people with motion sickness couldn't swim. I can swim I was a W.S.I. at the YMCA. I have taught swimming and everyone is capable of learning to swim with the proper instruction. I have a nay sayer son-in-law who thinks I am lying or exaggerating. To all the nonbelievers shame on you! I am an RN and I always believed my patients even if I felt it was unbelievable. I would research what they were telling me and come up with a solution to help me understand their condition.
injarl on November 13, 2017:
Not at all. Yachtsman since 4 yrs old, but first time at sea at 16. Interesting as it may be, my head is small, eyeballs are not wide apart. First time at sea got into gale force 9B. No effect whatsoever. Generally good psychic stance to water. As a 7yr old child I enjoyed to be thrown up into the air to be launched into swimming pool. Now 27 yrs at sea occasionally. Very good, however not elegant, alpine ski rider. No panic at all at massive air turbulence aboard airplane. Occasionally trained capoeira for acrobatic fitness. From my sailing experience much of the problem comes from disorientation in new environment. It's a known fact, that when people are focused, they do not suffer from seasickness. I think the most interesting field in the study is focus disorientation and immersion vs defense.
Natalie on August 4, 2018:
I don't get motion sick ever in any condition. I've been to sea, rode in planes, rode in cars playing a gameboy/ds/phone. I've played VR above and under 90fps and nothing phases me. I do get a strange sensation jumping from a large height in a game like my mind is trying to process the fall but it isn't a sick feeling.
Unlike the others here my balance is top notch. I don't tend to fall, trip or anything like that. I do get dizzy when I get spun around. It takes a while though and I'm still functional and don't fall. I just can't walk in a straight line for a few moments while I get my bearings.
Mike on December 7, 2018:
I've never been motion sick. I travel at least once a year on multiple planes. I also take boat trips on rough water. I've been on two liveaboards (for scuba diving). I think the key to not getting motion sickness is a psychological trait of being in control of yourself. It's not that I feel sick and control it. It's that I know what is happening around me and why (from a physics standpoint). I've never been sick on a roller coaster or car (even when I'm drunker than a sailor).
M on December 30, 2018:
64, female, been around boats of all sizes since babyhood. Never been seasick, and I don't want to be, but it puzzles me. I have positional hypotension and ibs and vertebral artery issues that should contribute to motion sickness, right? Maybe I am more puzzled by other people getting seasick when I don't.
bmad on June 3, 2019:
Honestly from the comments it's clear to me most of these people aren't experienced mariners. I've sailed all over the world, and, except for one time, haven't been sick, but I can honestly say many times it wasn't so much seasickness as just not feeling 100%. My stomach wasn't super happy, and all I wanted to do was sleep, which I would do easily and feel great upon waking. This is in a 42' sailboat. The time I got sick we had 8-10' seas for almost 5 days bound for Trinidad. No sleep at all. It's kind of worrying after a while from lack of sleep (can I be alert enough if something goes wrong to save my life kind of worry). So I do think worrying is your worst enemy, but nobody in the comments has experienced rough conditions like that unless in a 50,000+ ton cruise ship which is absolute child's play.
Y on December 3, 2019:
I am from Germany and I found this site cause I searched for motion sickness immunity. Because yes, I am at least until now 100% immune. I tried so much and I was sometimes the only one who felt nothing. (Except for strange hard motions not matching with the motions I saw). Now I got into VR and I hate these teleporter movements or the black focus ring when moving, cause I can stand still in reality and run or fly like hell in the game, and I feel nothing. I never got a feeling from birth on, so don't listen to the experts. There is immunity!
Hadassah on October 31, 2021:
To all the people who say motion sickness isn't real. I get so motion sick I have to drug myself almost to sleep on car trips, buses, flights, and boat trips. So the first thing I have to say is that yes, motion sickness is a real thing. The second thing is why would you accuse someone of lying about that? How could we even make that up? Clearly you've never seen someone badly motion sick, because if you had you would have more sympathy.
R on May 7, 2023:
Like many of the others in the comments here over the years since this was posted, I only wound up here trying to figure out this immunity thing. I pretty regularly interact with people who get violently ill from just watching me play video games, and for the life of me, I cannot comprehend how motion sickness happens for them.

Like others, I do all the crazy stuff with no nausea. Unlike them, I have great balance and agility with all the common things they list as troubles. The best experiences I've ever had with this have to be VR action games, where they actually let you turn off the dozens of safety features and junk they put in to stop people from getting sick.

I just wish there was some way to teach them to just... not get sick. Then they could stop suffering all the time. :(

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