Does anyone have tips for avoiding the dreaded jet lag? I have heard that its worse when flying east to west but I tend to get it no matter where I am flying.

I am considering a sleeping pill this time around. I think my flight is about 8 hours, will I wake up groggy? Is there a certain pill that is better than others? I think someone mentioned before that they like the pill that has the basket of sleeping puppies on their TV commercial. I am not sure if I have the right name, was it Ambien?

Karen that is the one I use - our doctor gave it to us and it worked well - I slept for about 5 hours and did not wake up groggy at all! We arrived in Nice around 9 am and we were on the go till we crashed around 3pm and then up at 6pm and ready to go again - Tony refuses to take one?? - Joanna

Karen, for the first time in my life I slept on the plane to New Zealand recently. I took a Tylenol PM, but I wonder if the real help may have been that I used an eye mask and also earplugs. You are such a savvy traveler that you probably use those things already. Believe me, now that I have learned, I never will board an international flight again without those three items!

Bose® QuietComfort® 2 Acoustic Noise Cancelling® Headphones
Fewer distractions, better audio, and even more convenience!

Our kids are lending us each a set for our flight to Sydney - will let know how they work - Joanna

Joanna, Thanks for the confirmation, I will ask my Dr. for them.

Pricilla, I don't think I would exactly call myself a savvy traveler. Savvy travelers don't fall over their own luggage or go into the men's room by mistake in the airport :)
I will bring earplugs and eye masks as you suggested, though!

I took an Ambien when we left Kauai last February to come home. Hard enough leaving such a beautiful tropical island. I cannot sleep naturally on a plane, so thought this was the answer. The only thing I would say is that I was VERY sleepy upon arrival.

Ambien work great and there is also the
"NO JET LAG" pills.
You can buy them at places like Trader Joes ( if you have one in your area or maybe health food store, Whole Foods markets , travel stores etc.)costs about $10.00 and they work.
If you do a search for no jet lag pills you'll see what the package looks like.

These, Claudia? And have you used them before?

Karen,
From the "Bible for travelers" www.magellans.com, they are on page 3 for $9.85.

I use valium, it's a little old fashion but there is no waking up grogy. Plus if one doesn't work you can take one more. It's safe to have a glass of wine for dinner. There is nothing worse to be on a long flight and not being able to sleep, looking at your watch with 7 hours to go.

Flying First class really helps too.

I am all for Chip's suggestion, but Masaki would probably frown on us mixing meds and booze...

Something OTC like Simply Sleep should do the trick if you do not want/need the pain medication in Tylenol PM. I don't wake up groggy at all, but I suppose it depends on your individual constitution.

Is there anyone who has sleep apnea and uses a CPAP machine? How do you sleep on a plane? I confess, I'm afraid to fall asleep on a plane because one of the unfortunate manifestations of sleep apnea is snoring, often very loud snoring :ohmy:

Maybe we were given a mild dose of ambien - I know I had NO problem waking up - joanna

Vickie, is there a portable battery operated cpap machine? Pardon my ignorance if not, as I don't know much about sleep apnea.

As for taking pills, I try and shy away from them as everything effects me to the extreme. It probably is because I am so short and there isnt much of me. When I took the seasickness patch, I hallucinated and saw trails, for example. Most pain pills make me thow up.
I can take valium with no side effects but will that make me fall asleep? I don't want to end up like Karen Ann Quinlan if I have a glass of wine with the valium either.

How safe are drugs like ambien?

My doctor felt it was very safe and it was his choice for us - we did have wine too but then I am not a peanut like you Karen!

One glass of wine, Robert, with dinner. By the time you take something the wine has worn off.

Don't ever use alcohol as a sleep agent. Big mistake. Nothing worse than jet lag combined with a hangover. Traveled with a girl to South Africa who couldn't get to sleep and resorted to Scotch . Almost had to find a wheelchair to get her through the airport.

Karen valium is good because it comes in low doses. If one doesn't work you can take another. You would have to take a big bottle to end up in a coma.

It also helps in dealing with obnoxious flight crews and turbulence.

I'm glad this thread is going on -- I'm hoping to find a way to beat jet-lag this time too. Especially given that we might have to deal with some travel complications if we can't make our connection to Funchal.

I can rarely sleep on planes, so I would love to try something that will help me sleep, while allowing me to be reasonably lucid once we get to Paris. I'll keep reading this thread for ideas.

One thing I want to comment on is the ear-plugs. I actually wear them every single night. I started doing that a few years ago when my DH's snoring started to get louder, and I was waking up in the morning groggy from having such a broken night of sleep. And he was waking up with bruises all over, because when he'd let out a loud one, I would involuntarily kick him! ;) I'm now at the point where I can't even sleep without them.

I'm always reading these posts on CC complaining about the noise in their cabin that kept them up at night, and I just smile, because I honestly have no problem with whatever cabin they put me in noise-wise. It would take a bomb to wake me up with those things in!

My doctor has told me that alcohol, in moderate amounts, tends to amplify the effect of meds such as Ambien and Valium and such. So clearly drinking to excess could be harmful with them, but just a glass of wine might make them more effective.

Thanks,
Richard :) :) :)

Definitely NO drinking to excess with ambien but wine with dinner was more than fine - Joanna

Ambien, a glass of wine and first class seats. :app: :app: :app:

Karen, I believe there is a battery powered CPAP machine but its the hose and head gear. Would you want to been seen on a plane like this:

I love the Bose headphones - they work beautifully.

I take Ambien with me, but to be very honest, it doesn't work for me. I still sit there unable to sleep - I just am all the more aggravated because I took a pill and STILL can't sleep.

Next trip I'll try 10 mg rather than the 5mg the doctor gave me the last two times.

I can't seem to sleep unless I'm lying flat and on my side, so I don't know if even 10 mg will work for me. :(

Definitely get the Ambien and try it, Karen. It works great for most folks. I only know of myself and one other person who never seem to have any luck with it. (This other person solves her problem by taking two Ambien pills and washing them down with a martini.) I'm not quite that desperate yet. A little nervous about mixing those two.

Kathy

Vicky, Perhaps you have stumbled on something. Fill that thing up with nitrous like you get at the dentist and you will have a very relaxed flight.

Chip,
never thought of that <img border="0" alt="[rofl]" title="" src="graemlins/rofl.gif" />

Karen: I, too, have fallen over my luggage and gone into the men's room at an airport - I was tired and the little pix of the man in pants (vs the lady with a skirt on) just looked like a pant suit I have - so in I went - and out very quickly - Joanna

Joanna, that must be why I like you so much!

Agree about the Ambien. For most people, 10 mg works fairly decently. Small people and people that are "sensitive" to medication may want to stick with the 5 mg. I would prefer Ambien to Valium - Valium is definitely a "heavier" drug than Ambien. The half life of Valium (diazepam) is approx. 20-50 hours. The half life of Ambien (zolpidem) is approx. 2-2.6 hours. Guess which one is more likely to leave you groggy in the morning? :)

Oh, and I also agree that technically mixing these medications and alcohol is probably not recommended officially. Having said that, I have in the past without problems (though it was only a glass of wine).

Masaki

Masaki, I think I will test drive an Ambien before I go, I will start with 5mg and see if that does the trick! Thanks everyone, for telling me your experiences.

The doctor has spoken so you must feel better about trying it! That is a good idea to test drive - or test sleep

Masaki, I have a prescription for 20mg Lorazepam for sleep (I've only taken it for long flights). It seems to work fine for me. Is 10mg Ambian better IYO?

Yes, and yes!

I work with drugs, but will give you other advice. I travel back and forth frequently.

I find going west to east worse than east to west because you lose hours. You can take melatonin to help you sleep.

Some other suggestions (besides being in first class) are to not watch the movies or have a full meal. There is always an abbreviated meal option which enables you to finish quickly. Then, the earplugs plus mask work well. When you arrive, go to bed for several hours (this is when a sleeping pill helps). So, if you leave at 6pm and arrive at 7am, you really have lost 6 hours. You will probably arrive at your hotel at 10am. Sleep until about 1-3pm and then get up, shower and go to lunch or dinner. This will work and you will be on the appropriate schedule.

As far as the reverse commute....you leave at 10am and arrive at your house at 4pm. This is really 10pm. Go to bed at your usual time (if you go to bed at 10 usually, go immediately to bed). You will get up the next morning, however, at the European time and this will happen for one or two mornings until your internal clock is reset.

Even after 20+ years of flying almost every week for work, I never found a way to successfully beat jet lag. I never learned to sleep on planes, either -- unless in one of the new 1st Class sleeper pods. It's horribly frustrating and can ruin the start of a great vacation.

In just over three weeks I'm starting a new clinical trial that I'm confident will finally help me avoid jetlag while travelling around the world -- BAIL :D :D

Betty

Marcie - you mean 2 mg of lorazepam, not 20 mg right? If you really took 20 mg of lorazepam, you'd probably be a walking zombie (or more realistically, an intubated zombie). Neither lorazepam (Ativan) or zolpidem (Ambien) is "better" per se - it's whatever works for you. However, I always have a preference for using less medicine whenever possible and from that standpoint, Ambien is less medicine than Ativan. Just don't get a urine drug screen after you take your lorazepam - you'll come back positive for benzodiazepines. :D

Karen - and I wholeheartedly agree about test-driving the medication before actually relying upon it during the real event.

Masaki

I have found that an antianxiety such as alprazolam (Xanax) or lorazepam (Ativan) work better for me than any type of sleeping pill. Just depends on how your body reacts to certain meds.

kim

Masaki said: Masaki, since I didn't know what this meant, I googled it. :eek: I have none of this.. just asked the Dr. for something to help me sleep on long flights!!

Most prescriptions for benzodiazepines are written to help people cope with anxiety or insomnia which is often associated with social or personal problems such as :

Grief
Relationship difficulties
Sexual assault
Work related stress
Domestic violence
Difficulty coping with babies or children
Difficulties with school work
Alcohol dependency or living with a person with alcohol or drug dependency
Migration

If your in Amsterdam you could stop off at one of the hashish bars before you left. That would work too. Have em make you a few brownies.

Marcie - benzos are often used for the purposes that you mentioned. But since one of their major side effects is drowsiness/sedation, they're often used as sleeping pills as well. They are also abusable in terms of developing dependence on them with overuse (basically you can get hooked on them) and therefore, that's why they're on a urine toxicology screen.

More information than you ever wanted to know about sleeping pills ... :)

Masaki

Basic principles I follow on flights that are over 8 hours in length:

1. Avoid alcohol and caffeine
2. Try to increase salt consumption slightly to help reduce dehydration
3. Increase consumption of water to 2 to 3 times what you'd normally drink. This won't cause excessive trips to the bathroom because you really do dehydrate quite a bit at altitude
4. Avoid eating protein and foods with high fiber levels; try to eat a light meal of carbs instead to ease digestive burden.
5. Put on a "Breathe Right" strip. They look ridiculous but do help
6. Change into very comfy clothes. I usually change into a t-shirt and umbros before boarding. I also take off my shoes and use the slippers the airline provides. Use a blanket to keep warm if cold.
7. Don't knock yourself out TOO early in the flight. If you wake up with 2+ hours to go you've pretty much nullified all of your efforts.
8. I like using Benadryl as a knock-out. I find the sleep is more restful than the Rx sleep aids like Ativan and Sonata (which are really watered down anesthetics). The draw back of Benadryl is that you have to calibrate your dosage level and time carefully to prevent early wake-up.
9. If you have a layover, take a shower in the lounge. This is especially important if Narita or Hong Kong or Amsterdam are the transfers (they have nice showers available for first class passengers).

The basic idea is to fool your body into thinking you've had a full night of sleep. Being as comfortable as possible helps ensure this.

I generally look ludicrous wearing my thick glasses, a breathe right strip, umbros, and several blankets as scarves and a make-shift "dress". However, it always seems to work for me.