Dramamine
For my birthday a couple years back Jenya and I went whale watching - a guided tour on a catamaran to the Farallon Islands and back. We prepared well, with warm clothes and dramamine pills. We each popped one of those just before we climbed aboard with the dozens of other boatmates.
It was amazing! We saw all the whales - blue whales, humpbacks, orcas, and at least one puffin for good measure. The seas were choppy as hell. Way too many fellow travelers became gastronomically aware and puked over the side. I remember one whole Dutch family was a frickin' mess. But not us - thanks to preemptively medicating ourselves we felt superhuman.
After reaching the Farallons we still had a few hours before returning back to the wharf. Jenya and I both decided to take another dramamine pill to ensure we continued having an awesome adventure and not a miserable time like the vomiting losers surrounding us.
We returned to land all jazzed. The original plan was to go get some dinner together in the city, but once back at the car we felt pretty wiped. It was still early enough in the afternoon so we simply went back to Oakland to reevaluate. Once home, Jenya immediately fell asleep. I could have as well, but instead spent the rest of the afternoon keeping myself awake (I hate naps because they only make me feel more groggy).
While sitting on the couch and writing in my journal I heard some odd commotion outside. Like a crowd was charging down the block. But then immediate silence. What the hell was that? A few seconds later I heard it again but closer. Like it was within the house! And once more it suddenly stopped. I was confused more than scared. And then I thought, "wait a second... that's coming from inside my head."
I closed my eyes and concentrated. The din of the crowd returned, getting louder and louder in an exponential crescendo until that's all I could hear. My eyes popped open and the sound ceased.
I hastily opened up a web browser and looked up "dramamine hallucination." Sure enough, this is common if you take a large dose. Well, fuck. I must report: it wasn't a fun high.
Jenya did wake up for a bit. We ordered Ethiopian food, ate it, and basically that was it for us today - we both crashed back into bed and were asleep by 8:30pm. Drugs. Jeez.