Cindrid is cinnarizine 25 mg — a tablet used for vertigo, dizziness, motion sickness and the symptoms of inner ear disorders such as Ménière’s disease. It is an antihistamine that also blocks calcium channels, and it is sedating, which is both how it helps and its main drawback.
What is Cindrid?
The South African Medicine Price Registry lists Cindrid as a Schedule 2 tablet containing cinnarizine 25 mg.
Cinnarizine is unusual in having two distinct actions, and both matter:
It is an antihistamine with strong antihistamine and anticholinergic effects in the brain. This is how it suppresses the vestibular system — the balance apparatus of the inner ear — and therefore how it stops the spinning, nausea and vomiting of vertigo and motion sickness.
It is also a calcium channel blocker, acting on blood vessels and on the hair cells of the inner ear. This is thought to improve blood flow in the small vessels of the inner ear and to reduce excess calcium entering the sensory cells, which is why it is used in longer-term inner ear conditions rather than only for acute episodes.
Being sedating is not an incidental side effect — it is part of how it works. Medicines that suppress the vestibular system suppress alertness too. This is the single most practical thing to know about it: do not drive after taking it until you know how it affects you.
Two consequences follow from the vestibular suppression, and both are commonly missed:
It works far better taken before the trigger than after. For motion sickness, taking it a couple of hours before travelling is considerably more effective than taking it once nausea has started.
Long-term vestibular suppression delays recovery. After an episode of vertigo from vestibular neuritis or a similar cause, the brain compensates for the damaged balance signal — a process called vestibular compensation. Suppressing the system with cinnarizine slows that compensation. This is why vestibular sedatives are meant for the acute phase of days, not weeks, and why vestibular rehabilitation exercises, not tablets, are the treatment that actually restores balance.
What is Cindrid commonly used for?
- Vertigo — the spinning sensation of inner ear disorders, including vestibular neuritis and labyrinthitis.
- Ménière’s disease, for vertigo attacks, and in longer-term management in some prescribing.
- Motion sickness — car, boat, aeroplane. One of its commonest uses, and one it does well.
- Dizziness and unsteadiness of inner ear origin.
- Tinnitus and hearing disturbance associated with inner ear circulation problems, though the evidence here is modest.
- Nausea and vomiting accompanying vertigo or motion.
- Poor peripheral circulation, in older prescribing.
What it does not treat is the cause. Vertigo has many causes and they need distinguishing, because the treatments differ completely:
Benign paroxysmal positional vertigo (BPPV) — brief spinning triggered by rolling over in bed, looking up, or bending down — is the commonest cause of vertigo, and cinnarizine does not fix it. BPPV is caused by displaced crystals in a semicircular canal, and it is cured, often in a single visit, by a repositioning manoeuvre such as the Epley. This is worth knowing, because taking a sedating tablet for months for something curable in ten minutes is a genuinely common outcome.
Vestibular migraine is far more common than generally recognised and is treated as migraine.
Ménière’s disease involves fluctuating hearing loss and ear fullness alongside vertigo, and needs proper diagnosis.
Dizziness that is not spinning — lightheadedness on standing, faintness, general unsteadiness — is usually not an inner ear problem at all. Blood pressure, medicines, anaemia, heart rhythm and anxiety are commoner causes.
How Cindrid fits into this medicine category
A note on placement: cinnarizine is a vestibular and neurological medicine rather than a general one, and its natural companions are listed below. This placement is being corrected.
| Group | Examples | Notes |
|---|---|---|
| Vestibular sedatives | Cinnarizine (Cindrid), betahistine, promethazine | Suppress vertigo; sedating |
| Histamine analogues | Betahistine (Serc) | For Ménière’s; not sedating |
| Antihistamines | Cyclizine, promethazine | Motion sickness, nausea |
| Anticholinergics | Hyoscine (scopolamine) patches | Motion sickness |
| Anti-nausea | Metoclopramide, prochlorperazine | Nausea and vomiting |
| Repositioning manoeuvres | Epley, Semont | Curative for BPPV |
| Vestibular rehabilitation | Exercise programmes | Restores balance after vestibular loss |
That last pair is the point. For the two commonest causes of true vertigo, the effective treatments are not tablets.
For other guides here, see HP553 and K-Fenak OTC, and the general medicines hub.
What to check before using Cindrid
Tell your doctor or pharmacist if you:
- Have Parkinson’s disease, or a movement disorder. This is the most important check. Cinnarizine blocks dopamine receptors and can cause or worsen parkinsonism — tremor, stiffness, slowness — particularly in older people and with prolonged use. It is generally avoided in Parkinson’s.
- Are elderly. Drug-induced parkinsonism, confusion, falls and depression are all more likely, and cinnarizine appears on lists of medicines to use cautiously in older people.
- Have depression, which cinnarizine can worsen.
- Have glaucoma, prostate enlargement or urinary retention — the anticholinergic effects matter here.
- Have porphyria, where it is contraindicated.
- Have liver disease or low blood pressure.
- Take other sedatives — benzodiazepines, sleeping tablets, sedating antihistamines, opioids — or drink alcohol. The sedation is additive.
- Take antipsychotics or metoclopramide, which add to the movement-disorder risk.
- Are pregnant or breastfeeding.
- Are due for allergy testing or vestibular function tests, which antihistamines interfere with.
Practical points:
- Take it after food to reduce stomach upset.
- For motion sickness, take it about two hours before travelling.
- Do not drive or operate machinery until you know how it affects you.
- Avoid alcohol.
- Use it for short periods. If you have needed it for more than a few weeks, ask for a review — both because of the parkinsonism risk and because long-term suppression delays recovery.
- Ask about vestibular rehabilitation, which is the treatment that restores function.
Possible cautions and when to ask a pharmacist or doctor
Common effects: drowsiness, tiredness, dry mouth, blurred vision, headache, stomach upset and weight gain.
Seek medical advice promptly for:
- Tremor, stiffness, slowness of movement, a shuffling walk, or a change in handwriting. These suggest drug-induced parkinsonism. It usually improves after stopping, but recovery can take months, so it should be caught early rather than attributed to ageing.
- Restlessness, an inability to sit still, or involuntary movements of the face, mouth or tongue.
- New or worsening depression.
- Marked confusion or drowsiness, particularly in an older person.
- Difficulty passing urine, or eye pain with blurred vision.
- A rash, particularly with sun exposure.
- Yellowing of the skin or eyes.
Get emergency help for swelling of the face, lips or tongue with difficulty breathing, or a widespread blistering rash.
See a doctor rather than continuing to self-treat if:
- Vertigo is triggered by specific head movements and lasts under a minute — that is likely BPPV, which is cured by a repositioning manoeuvre, not managed with tablets.
- You have new hearing loss, ringing in one ear, or ear fullness.
- Vertigo comes with double vision, difficulty speaking or swallowing, weakness or numbness, severe headache, or difficulty walking. Get emergency help — these can indicate a stroke affecting the brainstem or cerebellum, which can mimic inner ear vertigo.
- Dizziness is lightheadedness rather than spinning, which usually has a different cause entirely.
- Symptoms persist beyond a few weeks, or keep recurring.
- You have had a head injury.
Related medicine guides
Frequently asked questions
What is Cindrid 25 used for? Vertigo, dizziness of inner ear origin, motion sickness, and the symptoms of Ménière’s disease. It contains cinnarizine 25 mg.
Does it make you drowsy? Yes, and that is partly how it works. Do not drive until you know how it affects you, and avoid alcohol.
When should I take it for travel sickness? About two hours before travelling. It works far better taken before the trigger than after nausea starts.
Will it cure my vertigo? No. It suppresses the symptom. The commonest cause of vertigo, BPPV, is cured by a repositioning manoeuvre such as the Epley — not by tablets.
How long can I take it? Short periods. Long-term vestibular suppression delays the brain’s own compensation, and prolonged use raises the risk of drug-induced parkinsonism.
Can older people take it? With caution. Cinnarizine can cause tremor, stiffness and slowness in older people, and it appears on lists of medicines to use carefully in that group.
Can I take it with Parkinson’s disease? Generally not. Cinnarizine blocks dopamine receptors and can worsen parkinsonism. Tell your doctor.
Do I need a prescription? No — it is Schedule 2, available from a pharmacy. That does not make it a medicine to take casually or long term.