Mal de débarquement syndrome

Zanatdy · 09/06/2025 06:02

I get it but I just refer to it as motion sickness but it happens when I see motion after i’ve been on a flight or boat. When we went to NYC both me and my son got it everytime we went into a lift. I wear motion sickness bands on trains / flights which helps a little. Roller coasters also cause it for me.

Original poster

CatSnackTagine · 09/06/2025 05:52

AnybodyAnywhere · 08/06/2025 23:04

Also from South East - we always called it Dock Rock.

It wasn't this but I like it! I'll be using that 😁

OP posts:

Koalafan · 08/06/2025 23:53

Delayed motion sickness?

Calliopespa · 08/06/2025 23:49

Sailor stagger.

HÆLTHEPAIN · 08/06/2025 23:40

PinedApple · 08/06/2025 23:05

I get it after flying, flew home beginning of May and it’s just now settled. Not constant but on and off dizziness for weeks. Think it’s an inner ear thing. Mum used to call it Jet lag but that’s more to do with moving time zones I think and being awake odd hours.

I was worried about this when I flew recently. I used some Earplanes ear plugs which regulate the pressure in your ear, primarily to stop pain, but I didn’t get much motion sickness either. (Just a tiny bit that was hardly noticeable). Something like that might be worth a try next time you fly. They’re inexpensive as well so nothing much to lose.

PinedApple · 08/06/2025 23:05

I get it after flying, flew home beginning of May and it’s just now settled. Not constant but on and off dizziness for weeks. Think it’s an inner ear thing. Mum used to call it Jet lag but that’s more to do with moving time zones I think and being awake odd hours.

AnybodyAnywhere · 08/06/2025 23:04

Also from South East - we always called it Dock Rock.

ungratefulcat · 08/06/2025 22:45

I always called it land sick!
I did a lot of long sailing trips when I was younger and yeah you can feel weird for days afterwards if the sea has been lumpy. It's the strangest sensation! I never got sea sick but always had the horrible land sick feeling

Sobblimminwindy · 08/06/2025 22:43

It's called Mal de Terre. Sickness of land. Mal de Mer being sickness of the sea.

crackofdoom · 08/06/2025 22:40

Yeah, it's called "waiting for your land legs". "Oops, haven't got my land legs back yet!" kind of thing. "Getting your sea legs" often gets used to mean getting used to sea sickness, in which case it should really be called sea stomach, shouldn't it! But anyone who's found their balance on a pitching, tossing deck knows that actual sea legs are a thing!

"Mal de debarquement" sounds much more elegant though....

GenerousGardener · 08/06/2025 22:34

Just got back from a cruise. Had this for about a week. Couldn’t even walk a straight line, felt dizzy at odd times. Post cruise weeble wobbles describes it perfectly.

bloodredfeaturewall · 08/06/2025 22:29

sea legs
I weirdly have this swaying sensation when in enclosed open spaces with loud ventilation. like on a ferry.

NeverDropYourMooncup · 08/06/2025 22:24

Jack Sparrow Legs?

ExemplaryVegetable · 08/06/2025 22:06

I used to sail and would get this a lot; it would last at least 3 to 4 days after a week’s sailing. I didn’t feel nauseous but really dizzy.

I would have to lean against a wall in order to stand up straight and also put my hand flat on the wall repeatedly, as if to remind myself it wasn’t moving! It wasn’t bad lying down

I always called it “land legs”, with it being the opposite of sea legs…

GarlicMile · 08/06/2025 21:56

😂 @LoveHeartsFan

EndorsingPRActice · 08/06/2025 21:54

When I was getting dizzy spells I was prescribed anti psychotics, they worked respecting the dizziness but I felt really over emotional and burnt out on them and had to stop taking them.

LoveHeartsFan · 08/06/2025 21:49

The correct technical term, I believe, is ‘the post-cruise weeble-wobbles’ 😀

Elfie23 · 08/06/2025 21:29

CatSnackTagine · 08/06/2025 19:55

We NEVER called it that when I was young but thats what google comes up with! I used to get it a lot after a day on a boat. DH and I on holiday and couple of hours after end of the boat trip today, I have the same rocking sensation but I cannot for the life of me think of what we used to call it...

Sea legs? The sways? Land legs? Boat brain? There's some common name for it I'm sure, please mumsnet hivemind

Please help! Grew up in South East if that helps at all...

The bends?

GarlicMile · 08/06/2025 21:27

That is AMAZING that two of you found it was fixed by antipsychotics! I'm guessing there's some well-studied neuroscience behind it, but I had no idea that a brain having difficulty with a physical readjustment would be closely related to a brain getting stuck in its imagination. Wow 🤯

spoonbillstretford · 08/06/2025 21:20

I get it, also when I went ski-ing or on a rollercoaster. Even ice skating has set it off. Doesn't everyone get it? Everyone in my family does. I don't mind the sensation though, I quite like imagining I'm still on a boat when lying in bed.

mawbroon · 08/06/2025 21:17

It's a brain function problem. I used to get it after being on a boat or a plane. I would be dizzy for weeks, even after a short journey. I remember having to hold on because I thought I would keel over and i was utterly exhausted by it.

I had all the tests done, there was nothing to see. I was told it was MDD

There's no cure but I now take antipsychotics for bipolar, and I've not been bothered with it since.

It is way more debilitating than just being in the "finding your land legs" stage which is normal for a wee while once back on land.

EveryOtherNameTaken · 08/06/2025 21:16

A couple if years ago I read an article about somebody who went on a two week cruise and got it. She thought it would go but it didn't and she constantly felt sick. Horrible.

Rowgtfc72 · 08/06/2025 20:56

I get the same feeling after half an hour on a treadmill. It's not quite motion sickness or vertigo but maybe a cross between the two.

MooreMooreMoore · 08/06/2025 20:55

I had it for a month after floating around on a boat, had to take anti psychotics to regulate eyes and brain. was fine after a couple of days.

Cloudzilla · 08/06/2025 20:54

We call it sea legs I think?
I had it for a month after a 5 day cruise - thought I’d permanently broken my brain!