I have had some feedback recently that some pharmacists and even some medical doctors are spreading the word that Dramamine or Meclizine won't be absorbed in the mouth(sublingual).

The study concerning sublingual(mouth lining) absorption that I have mentioned in regards to seasickness is:
Diphenhydramine Kinetics Following Intravenous, Oral and Sublingual Dimenhydrinate Administration. Biopharmaceutics & Drug Disposition, Vol. II, 185-189(1990).

A quick summary of the abstract:

8 volunteers received 50 mg of Dimenhydrinate, orally, sublingual and intravenously on 3 separate occasions in random sequence. Plasma concentrations during the next 12 hours were measured. "Mean plasma concentrations after sublingual administrations were SLIGHTLY lower than after oral dosage" and the peak concentration was 2.6 hours versus 2.3 hours. "These differences did not reach statistical significance". "Thus sublingual and oral administration of dimenhydrinate result in comparable, but incomplete, systemic availability of diphenydramine".

Note: 

"dimenhydrinate, is a theoclate salt of diphenhydramine"

"sublingual" means absorbed in the lining of the mouth

"oral" means a pill? swallowed and absorbed in the small intestine

"intravenous" means by injection

Dimenhydrinate is the active ingredient in regular "Dramamine"


I trust that this will put to rest the erroneous notion that chewable Dramamine or Meclizine can not be absorbed in the lining of the mouth.