Motion sickness and chills: why you go cold and shivery

What it feels like

The motion sickness chill is a felt drop in warmth that arrives as part of the sickness cluster: cool, damp, pale skin, a shivery or trembly feeling, and often goosebumps, usually alongside rising queasiness, salivation, and that unmistakable washed-out look. Patient.info lists feeling cold and going pale together among motion sickness symptoms, right next to cold sweats. Some people run through a sequence: a flush of warmth first (covered on the feeling hot page), then the cold, clammy stage as the episode deepens. What separates this from being genuinely cold is context and company. It appears during motion, tracks the queasiness rather than the thermostat, and eases when the trip ends or the sensory conflict resolves. What separates it from illness is the absence of fever: motion sickness chills happen while your temperature is, if anything, slightly below normal. Shivering and chills with a fever, or chills that arrive with no motion at all, belong to infection and other causes, not travel.

Why motion sickness causes chills (feeling cold)

Motion sickness begins with a sensory mismatch between the inner ear, the eyes, and the body's position sensors, and the brain answers with a broad autonomic response. One arm of that response is thermoregulatory, and it is surprisingly deliberate. A review in the journal Temperature (Nalivaiko and colleagues, hosted on PMC) concludes that motion sickness triggers a coordinated physiological response that works to reduce body temperature: skin blood vessels open to shed heat, sweating switches on, and heat production drops. In studies, the fall is measurable; the review reports core temperature differences reaching about 0.3 to 0.4 degrees Celsius between people experiencing motion sickness and controls. That is why you feel cold: your body is actively cooling itself, dumping heat through the skin while damp sweat evaporates, and a body that is shedding heat and suppressing its internal furnace feels chilly and shivery from the inside. Researchers link this pattern to an old protective reflex, with the body responding to disorienting motion the way it responds to having swallowed something poisonous. Whatever the evolutionary story, the practical read is simple: the chill is a by-product of the same autonomic surge driving the nausea, pallor, and cold sweat, and it settles when that surge does.

How to ease it now

1. 1

   Cut the conflict first: eyes on the horizon or a fixed distant point, screens and reading away, head still against the seat. The chill eases when the underlying response eases.

2. 2

   Get fresh, moving air even though you feel cold: airflow settles the nausea side, and a stuffy cabin makes the whole episode last longer. Aim for cool air, not cold blast.

3. 3

   Add a light layer or blanket for comfort, and swap damp clothing if sweat has soaked through; damp fabric keeps you chilled after the episode passes.

4. 4

   Breathe slowly and evenly: long exhales, steady rhythm. Calming the autonomic surge is what actually stops the shivery, clammy phase.

5. 5

   Sip water, or something warm if it is available and your stomach accepts it; small sips beat gulps while you are queasy.

6. 6

   Consider a drug-free option like Dizzout once symptoms have started: calibrated sound therapy through any headphones. Many users say they feel better within about 90 seconds, and it is free to try.

A drug-free option that works after symptoms start

Try Dizzout free

Dizzout is a free-to-try, drug-free app that uses calibrated sound on any headphones. It's one of the few options designed to help once you already feel sick. Most people feel better in about 90 seconds.

Try it free

Free to try, no card needed. Or go straight to the App Store or Google Play.

Try 15 seconds in your browser first

Scan to open on your phone

On a computer? Dizzout installs on your phone. Scan the code, or open dizzout.com/get on your phone and it'll take you straight to the right store.

Copy dizzout.com/get

Share this page

How to prevent it

• Dress in light, adjustable layers for trips that make you sick, so you can warm up in the cold phase without overheating before it.
• Sit where motion is gentlest with a clear forward view: front seat of a car, over the wing on a plane, mid-ship near the waterline on a boat.
• Keep the cabin cool and ventilated from the start; a warm, stuffy space accelerates the whole sequence, warmth flush, sweat, then chill.
• Eat light and skip alcohol before and during travel; alcohol in particular disturbs both stomach and temperature regulation.
• Do not read or scroll in motion, and take breaks on long trips to step out, warm up or cool down, and reset.
• If trips reliably run you through the full cold-sweat-and-chills sequence, ask a pharmacist about preventive options such as antihistamines or acupressure bands before your next journey.

When to see a doctor

Chills that arrive with motion, track the queasiness, and fade after the trip fit the recognized motion sickness pattern. Chills with a fever do not: fever points to infection or another illness, so check your temperature if shivering continues after travel ends and see a doctor if you are running a fever. Also seek medical advice if cold, clammy, shivery spells happen with no motion trigger, keep recurring, or come with warning signs such as chest pain, a pounding or irregular heartbeat, breathlessness, confusion, a severe or sudden headache, fainting, or changes in vision, speech, or balance, since cold sweats and chills can accompany heart, blood-sugar, and neurological problems that need prompt evaluation. Prolonged vomiting with an inability to keep fluids down deserves attention too, especially in children and older adults, because dehydration makes people feel cold, weak, and dizzy. This page is general information, not medical advice.

Common questions

This page is informational and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. If symptoms are severe, persistent, or occur without any motion trigger, see a qualified clinician.