Bonine Uses, Side Effects & Warnings

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Generic name: meclizine [ MEK-li-zeen ]
Brand names: Bonine, Travel-Ease
Drug class: Anticholinergic antiemetics

Medically reviewed by Drugs.com on Jan 23, 2023. Written by Cerner Multum.

What is Bonine?

Bonine is used to treat or prevent nausea, vomiting, and dizziness caused by motion sickness.

Bonine is also used to treat symptoms of vertigo (dizziness or spinning sensation) caused by disease that affects your inner ear.

Bonine may also be used for purposes not listed in this medication guide.

Warnings

Follow all directions on your medicine label and package. Tell each of your healthcare providers about all your medical conditions, allergies, and all medicines you use.

Before taking this medicine

You should not use Bonine if you are allergic to it.

Bonine should not be given to a child younger than 12 years old.

Do not give Bonine to a child without medical advice.

Tell your doctor if you have ever had:

Tell your doctor if you are pregnant or breast-feeding.

How should I take Bonine?

Follow all directions on your prescription label and read all medication guides or instruction sheets. Use the medicine exactly as directed.

You must chew the chewable tablet before you swallow it.

To prevent motion sickness, take Bonine about 1 hour before you travel or anticipate having motion sickness. You may take this medicine once every 24 hours while you are traveling, to further prevent motion sickness.

To treat vertigo, you may need to take Bonine several times daily. Follow your doctor’s instructions.

This medicine can affect the results of allergy skin tests. Tell any doctor who treats you that you are using Bonine.

Store at room temperature away from moisture, heat, and light.

What happens if I miss a dose?

Since Bonine is sometimes taken only when needed, you may not be on a dosing schedule. Skip any missed dose if it’s almost time for your next dose. Do not use two doses at one time.

What happens if I overdose?

Seek emergency medical attention or call the Poison Help line at 1-800-222-1222.

What should I avoid while taking Bonine?

Avoid driving or hazardous activity until you know how Bonine will affect you. Your reactions could be impaired.

Drinking alcohol can increase certain side effects of meclizine.

Bonine side effects

Get emergency medical help if you have signs of an allergic reaction: hives; difficult breathing; swelling of your face, lips, tongue, or throat.

Common side effects of Bonine may include:

• drowsiness;

• dry mouth;

• headache;

• vomiting; or

• feeling tired.

This is not a complete list of side effects and others may occur. Call your doctor for medical advice about side effects. You may report side effects to FDA at 1-800-FDA-1088.

What other drugs will affect Bonine?

Using Bonine with other drugs that make you drowsy can worsen this effect. Ask your doctor before using opioid medication, a sleeping pill, a muscle relaxer, or medicine for anxiety or seizures.

Other drugs may affect Bonine, including prescription and over-the-counter medicines, vitamins, and herbal products. Tell your doctor about all your current medicines and any medicine you start or stop using.

Popular FAQ

Some vets might recommend these human over-the-counter (OTC) products, but at specific doses used only in dogs, as recommended by your vet. Do not use these products in dogs with glaucoma, prostate gland enlargement, and certain stomach, thyroid, seizure, or heart disorders. 

• diphenhydramine (Benadryl)
• meclizine (Bonine)
• dimenhydrinate (Dramamine)

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Further information

Remember, keep this and all other medicines out of the reach of children, never share your medicines with others, and use this medication only for the indication prescribed.

Always consult your healthcare provider to ensure the information displayed on this page applies to your personal circumstances.

Medical Disclaimer

Copyright 1996-2023 Cerner Multum, Inc. Version: 7.01.

Medications for Dizziness – And Other Vertigo Treatments

As creatures of habit, we prefer the easiest solution. It doesn’t matter if it’s the best solution. As long as it requires the least amount of effort. That’s why there exists an entire class of medications for dizziness which are widely prescribed and used.

Ironically, there’s a long list of medications that cause dizziness. But that’s beside the point.

Are over-the-counter medications for dizziness effective? Sometimes. Are they something you should use long-term? Most certainly not.

However, many dizzy patients find themselves using OTC dizziness medications for years of their lives without ever getting the proper treatment.

Medications for Dizziness

Undoubtedly, the pharmaceutical industry has developed some great medications for dizziness. We cannot deny that. And they can be used short-term on patients who are really in a bad state.

These are some of the most widely-used medications for short term dizziness:

• Meclizine
• Promethazine
• Bonine
• Antivert
• Dramamine

However, these dizziness medications are a band-aid solution. An accessible, temporary fix that only temporarily alleviates symptoms.

Using over-the-counter medications for dizziness is like patching a hole on your roof with paper towels. It might work for a day or a couple of hours, but you’re committing to changing those paper towels every day… And who wants to do that?!

There are too many types of dizziness and sources of dizziness to just take a pill and expect it to solve your problems. For instance, you might be taking Antivert when your dizziness is actually caused by high blood pressure. So what’s the right way to treat dizziness?

When working with your physician and knowledgeable vestibular specialists, it will be determined if medications are necessary and the potential risk certain medications can have on slowing down the vestibular compensation process. 

There are a few classes of prescription medications useful in the treatment of vertigo. And working with your physician will determine what specific regimen makes the most sense for your cause of symptoms.

They can be used to alter the severity of symptoms (a good example of this would be when vestibular suppressants like anticholinergics and benzodiazepines are used for Ménière’s disease and briefly used for vestibular neuritis), or when prescribed to address the underlying cause of migraine associated vertigo (prophylactic agents L-channel calcium channel antagonists, beta-blockers and tricyclic antidepressants).  

For BPPV and bilateral vestibular disorders, medications (over-the-counter or prescription) are not currently recommended and starting vestibular rehabilitation therapy is vital.

The Right Way to Treat Dizziness

First and foremost, if you experience frequent dizzy or vertigo spells, then you need to find the right doctor to diagnose your problem. Unfortunately, too often, people visit the wrong doctors to treat their dizziness. That’s why there’s The Dizzy Diagnosis Conundrum: Why Dizzy Patients Struggle to Get Answers.

Following up with your primary care physician and getting medical clearance is important. Once your doctor has evaluated you, following up with the right doctor for dizziness is a Vestibular Audiologist, such as the team at the Dizzy & Vertigo Institute.

Vestibular Audiologists have the proper equipment to pinpoint the source of many types of dizziness. Whether it’s coming from the inner ear, the brain stem and nervous system, or even from other causes (hydration, blood pressure, stress, etc. ). Vestibular Audiologists specialize in dizziness.

Fixing dizziness longterm happens through Vestibular Rehabilitation Therapy. It’s a program that encompasses recalibrating the input the brain takes in between the ears, eyes and muscles through Visual Desentization, Optokinetic Exposure, Gaze Stabilization, Habituation and/or Canalith Repositioning. All of which are used to naturally reset your balance system and build your body’s ability to reset its own balance.

To understand our process for treating dizzy patients in detail, head over to this article: How We Treat Dizziness – What To Expect Working with the Dizzy & Vertigo Institute.

We know that life is hectic. And adding dizziness on top of it only makes things worse. So, we understand why you might be tempted to reach for Antivert or Dramamine. But there’s a better, long-lasting solution out there for you. And it starts with a consultation at the Dizzy & Vertigo Institute.

You can reach us at (310) 954-2207 or by filling out our contact form.

We’re standing by, ready to help!

Betahistine

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Betahistine

Synthetic histamine preparation for the treatment and prevention of vestibular vertigo, tinnitus and hearing loss. It is used for syndromes characterized by dizziness, headache, tinnitus, progressive hearing loss, nausea and vomiting.

Where to buy

Prescription only

CONTRAINDICATIONS, CONSULT A PROFESSIONAL BEFORE USING

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How do headache pills work?

Have you ever wondered what happens to a pill after you take it? When ingested, the tablet goes through 4 stages: absorption, distribution, metabolism and excretion.

After the tablet enters the gastrointestinal tract, it is absorbed into the blood. The circulatory system then distributes the drug throughout the body. Side effects may occur at this stage.

After the drug has spread throughout the body, the process of breakdown or metabolism begins. The amount of time a drug remains in the body before the breakdown process begins depends on the substance and how it is administered. All substances that enter the bloodstream, no matter how they are administered, are ultimately transferred to the liver, where the metabolic process takes place.

Although the liver is the main site of drug metabolism, this process can also occur in other tissues and organs such as the kidneys, lungs, etc. After completion of the metabolic process, the drug is excreted from the body, mainly in the urine and / or feces.

This is the standard mechanism. However, each medication has its own characteristics – some tablets should be placed under the tongue, and not just absorbed, while others should have a special acid-resistant shell that does not dissolve under the action of gastric juice.

For example, consider how aspirin and ibuprofen, the most common headache medicines, work. These drugs are inhibitors, they block the production of such physiologically active substances as prostaglandins, with an increase in the level of which a person feels pain. In addition, they are easily absorbed, metabolized and excreted by the body.

What do you need to know about medicines for headaches?

For the two main types of headaches, migraine and tension headache, experts recommend over-the-counter pain medications such as paracetamol, aspirin, ibuprofen, etc., so-called non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs.

These products are mainly intended to relieve inflammation, relieve pain and reduce fever.

However, if symptomatic medications are used more than twice a week, a physician should be consulted for prophylactic headache medications. Overuse of symptomatic medications can cause drug headaches that are difficult to treat.

When it comes to tension headache remedies, medications can help, but they are not the only way. Relieve or prevent headaches through lifestyle changes: adequate sleep and rest, proper nutrition, activity, outdoor activities, control of emotional state and stress.

To reduce the frequency and severity of chronic migraine attacks when the pain is not relieved by pain medications or other therapies, your doctor may prescribe blood pressure medications, anti-seizure medications, muscle relaxers, and even Botox injections.

How does botulinum toxin, better known as Botox, work? Everyone knows the fact that Botox injections relax muscles and help smooth out wrinkles. When migraine patients used Botox to smooth wrinkles, they noted a significant reduction in headache.

Therefore, scientists began to study the effect of such injections on migraine headaches. Botox has been found to help relieve headaches by blocking chemicals called neurotransmitters that transmit pain signals from the brain. Botox is like a roadblock along the way. It stops chemicals before they reach the nerve endings of the head and neck. It will take about 30-40 injections over 3-4 months to stop migraine attacks. However, the results will appear within 2-3 weeks after the start of treatment.

Most migraines are treated with over-the-counter pain relievers, but if these do not help, your doctor may prescribe triptans. These drugs are effective even for severe cases of migraine, but they will not work for other origins of the headache. Therefore, doctors warn that drugs in this group should be taken only with full confidence that the patient has a migraine, and not another type of headache.

Why other medicines can be prescribed for headaches?

A patient comes to the doctor complaining of a headache, painkillers do not help him. In this case, the doctor may prescribe tricyclic antidepressants or beta-blockers. Some drugs designed to treat one disease are often used with great effect in the treatment of others.

For example, the antiepileptic drugs pregabalin and gabapentin are no longer used to treat epilepsy, but they have been shown to be effective in the treatment of neuropathic pain and emotional distress by lowering the threshold for stimuli.

Side effects and active ingredient

Long-term use of non-steroidal anti-inflammatory drugs may cause stomach ulcers, gastric bleeding, various diseases of the cardiovascular system, kidney damage and other equally serious diseases. An overdose of paracetamol can cause serious liver damage, even death. Therefore, in the US, where paracetamol is one of the few over-the-counter drugs, it is often used by suicides.

All medicines contain an active (active) substance that has medicinal properties, and an excipient that helps the release and absorption of the active substance, but does not have chemical activity. The most common excipients are various forms of lactose, starch, etc. For example, the active substance of aspirin is acetylsalicylic acid, and the auxiliary substances are powdered cellulose and corn starch.