Sleeping On The Plane

[Ulysses G.]

Think about all those wonderful friends you have and those incredible acid trips you used to take?

Imagine a peaceful mountain lake and how much fun it would be to drown your older sister in it?

For Christ's sake folks, this is but a moment of time in your entire life - are you saying that you cannot cope and are looking for chemical relief? Is that how you deal with life in general?

All very sensible to someone with no fear of flying ( a former helicopter pilot, at that ), however, to someone who does, all you can think about is how unnatural flying is and you worry that every little bump will send the plane plumeting to the ground and every minute seems to last an hour...

[sego]

Think about all those wonderful friends you have and those incredible acid trips you used to take?

Imagine a peaceful mountain lake and how much fun it would be to drown your older sister in it?

For Christ's sake folks, this is but a moment of time in your entire life - are you saying that you cannot cope and are looking for chemical relief? Is that how you deal with life in general?

All very sensible to someone with no fear of flying ( a former helicopter pilot, at that ), however, to someone who does, all you can think about is how unnatural flying is and you worry that every little bump will send the plane plumeting to the ground and every minute seems to last an hour...

thank you Ulysses, you get it right.

I am a super bad flyer and saddly has to fly often for work... I know my fear is irrational, that I will probably never crash and that flying is the safest way in the world to travel and blablabla... I KNOW that. But it doesn't mean that it makes me feel better.

I try not to take medication, especially for a flight under 6hrs but then I am living a nightmare and the people next to me are dragged into it too. So instead of bothering everyone with my problem, I'd rather take pills and dozze off in my little corner, hoping that I will get a few hours of sleep and relief...

[JSixpack]

Attitude is everything, eh?

No.

For Christ's sake folks, this is but a moment of time in your entire life - are you saying that you cannot cope and are looking for chemical relief?

It's a moment in time I much prefer to sleep through, esp when I got some kid or a cougher or a hiccuper a seat or two away, or card players behind me, etc. Yeah, I'm tough and CAN cope but much prefer chemical relief. Better living through chemistry, I always say. Bless you, drug companies!

Is that how you deal with life in general?

Why should it be? Flying (or traveling by bus, for that matter) isn't life in general, thank god.

But I do like a good brandy or single malt now and then.

[Dustoff]

Think about all those wonderful friends you have and those incredible acid trips you used to take?

Imagine a peaceful mountain lake and how much fun it would be to drown your older sister in it?

For Christ's sake folks, this is but a moment of time in your entire life - are you saying that you cannot cope and are looking for chemical relief? Is that how you deal with life in general?

All very sensible to someone with no fear of flying ( a former helicopter pilot, at that ), however, to someone who does, all you can think about is how unnatural flying is and you worry that every little bump will send the plane plumeting to the ground and every minute seems to last an hour...

Excellent UG. I always appreciate input that makes me examine my own position on things.

And you are right. The sense of fear left me over forty years ago and I kinda miss it. Now when viewing 'scary' movies and everyone is terrified, I feel nothing. When the plane we are on goes thru severe turbulance my wife cheers in delight for the excitement of it all and I find myself not really caring if it crashes into the sea as it will simply be that last adventure!

I do however stick with the axiom, "Attitude is Everthing". It is - like totally, dude.

Fear is not something that exists as an entity - it is our own mind creating horror stories with which we frighten ourselves. And if we are not in control of our own mind, who is? If we look back into our own history, we will find that 99% of all the fears we indulged ourselves in were a total waste of time and unnecessary stress. We, god bless us, survived!

While the pax are squealing and wetting the seats, the pilots do not have the luxury of experiencing fear any more than I did when I flew medical evacuation helicopter in combat. Attitude is everything and those pilots of your flight will continue to be professionals and fly that aircraft to the best of their ability to the very last moment. They, hopefully, do not drug themselves out, booze to the point of comfortably numb nor ruin the day of the person next to them..

Fear is not something that comes to us from outside, but an opportunity to examine our own mind, while right in the middle of it, and figure out why we are doing that to ourselves. We cannot be of any help to others if we cannot help ourselves...

[hanno]

I hate flying with a vengeance, it scares the hel_l out of me. Thus last year, for the first time ever, i took sleeping tablets on a trip to Europe. Never again!!!! I still couldn't sleep; all it did was having me feel like sh*t when I arrived. Guess I just will hang in there in the future.

[Cuban]

Get noise cancelling earphones.

I bought a pair of Bose when they first came out USD250 (?) but secondhand you can get them for USD 50-200 depending on the version now days. They are fantastic. Never had problems getting some rest on flights including the turbo prop flights I've taken on shorter hauls. Best ever was a flight to BKK where I dozed off while waiting for our take off slot, was woken for the first meal then awoke just in time to get a quick bite to eat prior to landing - and on that occasion I was sitting in coach cattle class.

Although I suggest choice of music and a few glasses of red help.

Generally I have audio books for the flights I take these days.

Edited July 25, 2008 by Cuban

[DavidOxon]

I actually love flying and the whole adventure of travel . . .

(And some of those stewardesses really do smell BAD!)

What I can't do is sleep naturally in an upright position, so I take the

tablets just to help me sleep during the night part, not cos I'm a big girl!

Fly back in 2 weeks but can't decide where to take the tablets on the 24 hour haul.

On arrival in Bombay would seem natural for Thai Night time - is there much to do at Mumbai Airport in the middle of the night?

5am leave home

9.30 am fly from London

8 hours later arrive in Bombay

2.5 hours later take off

4.5 hours later arrive in BKK (6am?)

3 hours later take off to CNX

1 hour later arrive CNX

1 hour later home!

Ho hum . . . can't wait!

David

[Sheryl]

I am completely unable to sleep on planes (or anywhere else where I am not able to fully lie down). Tried everything, nothing worked and i have learned that taking anything to try to sleep is a bad idea since it only causes me to be drugged and awake, a miserable feeling.

What works for me is to accept that I am not going to sleep on the plane. So I aim for late afternoon departures, sleep as late as possible before leaving, and plan on going to bed immediately on arrival. if my arrival was in the morning or early afternoon, I sleep only enough to be semi-functional then get up for a few hours in order to reset my clock. If I arrive late afternoon or evening I just crash and sleep through the night.

I bring plenty of reading matter, puzzles etc for the flight and during it, avoid alcohol and caffeine but drink LOTs of water/juice, and get up and walk around the cabine at least every 2 hours. And I simply shut off from my mind the reality of the fact that I am in an airplane thousands of miles up in the air.

While I don't take anything during the flight, I do find it helps to take a mild sedative the first night or two at the destination in order to avoid the 3 Am wake up syndrome and get acclimated, and I take melatonin nightly until I have fully adjusted to the new time zone.

Of c ourse, all this pertains just to the sleeping problem. Peiople with a fear of flying, to the extent that they suffer serious anxiety in flight, may need a traquilizer to get them through it, that's a slighlty different issue than the sleeping. That would need to be prescribed by a physician.

[FBN]

There is a direct flight from Dubai to Houston; it leaves Dubai about 3am and arrives in Houston 7:30 pm the same day. It is a 15h flight but, on occasion, due to unfavourable headwinds, has been deviated to fly over the north pole extending flight time by 3h.

I look, and feel like my avatar after that flight. There is normally a resemblance but never more apparent than after this particular trip!!

I do not take any medication as it always has a bad "rebound" effect on me; you may sleep during the flight but it takes so much longer for me to get to a normal routine after arrival. For me, best thing is to just crash and sleep after arrival. Fortunately arrival time favours that (early evening) and I'm usually OK the next day.

Taking medication to sleep on short flights may work if the flight is an overnight flight but, as a previous poster mentioned, do keep "economy class syndrome" or DVT in mind if you are sedated and immobile for extended periods on long flights.

Of course adequate fluid (water) intake and other factors as suggested above are very important.

Noise cancelling headphones are a godsend.

[Flow]

I can never sleep on the plane and am off to the UK tomorrow.

What is the best thing I can buy over the counter at a pharmacy to help me sleep?

thanks in advance

Steve

go see a doc to get some valium or xanax !

Valium or xanax may relax him but may not necessarily make him sleep. I recommend 1 Dormicum 15mg tablet.

PS I am no Dr just thought give him some advice

[chiang mai]

I was fortunate some years ago to be upgraded to First Class on the BA Hong Kong to London flight and was soon relaxing in seat 1A, a wonderful seat at the very front of the aircraft with four windows just for me. My travel companion across the isle in 1K took valium as soon as he reached his seat and fell asleep, on his back shortly after takeoff. For the next eleven hours the beached whale in 1K snored loudly with every rise and fall of his chest, not shallow lite polite snores but thunderous raving great breakers. The stewardesses came forward and apologized more times than was necessary and everyone was deeply p'd off, except our fat friend in 1K who must have had a wonderfully deep sleep. Yep, I reckon Valium will probably do the trick but only at the risk of being beaten to death by your fellow travelers.

[billp]

Valium is a muscle relaxant and it'll put you to sleep for sure if you're not habituated to it. It will also make you wake up very woozy and thick-headed, particularly if you combine it with alcohol (whic is in any case not at all a good idea). 5mg should be sufficient dosage for any adult.

The reason I like, first of all, sleeping most of the flight away, and secondly, using my non-benzodiazepine sleep aid to get there, is that after my frequent 12 hour flights I arrive in Thailand sharp as a tack without any hang-over, ready to face the onslaught of immigration line-ups, taxi touts and whatever else, well rested and 100 percent in control. Even the crappy airline breakfast over the Bay of Bengal tastes great for some reason.

(I truly hope I don't snore but I do often wake up with a dry mouth, which may not be a good sign.)

[Sheryl]

Valium will not necessarily put you to sleep. It doesn't help me sleep on planes in the least, just makes me woozy and feeling all the worse on arrival. Ditto the various hypnotics. Everyone is different, but there are folks who just aren't going to sleep on the plane and for them, accepting it and planning accordingly is the best option.

One advantage of not sleeping on the plane is that one is more likely to get a sound night's sleep on arrival in the new time zone. Works bets if arrival is late enough in the day to go to sleep soon afterwards.

Should also warn that none of the various drugs that have been mentioned should ever be mixed with alcohol. So either dribk on the plane or take a sedative but do not do both. And in my experience, you'll arrive in the best shape if you do neither.

[desi]

Ouch. Looks like sleeping on planes is not the last of our worries...

Fewer airline hotel vouchers means more sleeping at airports

Sleeping at an airport overnight, once almost a sport for the young and short of cash, has become a lot more common lately, affecting even older and professional travelers. And a big reason is that many airlines are no longer as generous with hotel vouchers as they once were.

Edited July 28, 2008 by desi

[scotwumman]

About 10 milligrams of valium will give a slight, pleasant buzz and allow one to sleep easily.

Dose that really work? I got to catch a plane next month and im a bad flyer. Sleepings not my problem but fear is. And I don't want to get very drunk or stoned before the flights for obvious reasons

The Easy Way to enjoy flying - book by Allen Carr from Amazon might be a better way to overcome this reading before and during your journey

[Scott]

Some people just don't do well on medication and shouldn't take it. I, however, am a bit of a druggie and I wouldn't dream of getting on a long-haul flight without 10 or 15 mg of valium (depending on how long the flight is). It is a muscle relaxant and keeps me very relaxed throughout the flight. It won't 'put' me to sleep, per se, but if I close my eyes, I will fall asleep. I always eat the meals and one of the things about valium is that it makes you thirsty, so I drink a lot of water and I end going to the restroom frequently, so I do get some exercise and when not going to the toilet I can sleep, if I want.

Completely relaxed.

[tgf7]

one Benedryl and 2 glasses of wine and you will sleep for 8 hours. No prescription needed.

[tmd5855]

My one satang worth??

Work in the offshore industry doing 4weeks on/off, working off Western Australia. Fly from Perth to Singapore, then Bangkok (live in Pattaya) say hello to the GF for two nights then its the KLM flight Bangkok to Amsterdam then London.

See my children 20 and 22 for 5 nights then its London to Bangkok via Amsterdam.

So within one week I have flown from OZ to the UK and back to Thailand. I am lucky with lounge access so have a slight coma inducing amount of gin inside me. Before boarding the plane take two Nytol (non presciption, strong ant- histamine) Sit in my seat two wines and next thing I know is being asked to put my seat up for breakfast.

This routine has evolved other the years so may not be suitable for everyone. Works for me.

[Groongthep]

I can never sleep on the plane and am off to the UK tomorrow.

What is the best thing I can buy over the counter at a pharmacy to help me sleep?

thanks in advance

Steve

If you don't have time to go to a doctor for a proper Rx, Ambien (zolpidem tartrate) is available at some pharmacies in the mid Sukhumvit area in Bangkok. I sometimes take one after my flight is airborne and it helps me sleep well for up to 8 hrs. It might make me a little groggy when I awake but a cup of coffee or two will bring me right out of it.

[ronnight]

From the Australian TGA website on adverse drug reactions

Zolpidem and bizarre sleep related effects

Zolpidem (Stilnox) was marketed in Australia in late 2000 for the short term treatment of insomnia. It is structurally unrelated to the benzodiazepines, but has a similar pharmacological action. In 2002, ADRAC reviewed the first year of use and it was noted about 75% of the reports received described one or more neurological or psychiatric reactions, especially visual hallucinations, confusion, depression and amnesia.1 This pattern, which is not shared by other hypnotics, has continued with hallucinations (104 reports) and amnesia (62) now the most frequently reported effects. Reactions associated with sleeping or falling asleep have been described in half of all reports submitted. Of particular interest have been 16 reports of sleep walking, which describe inappropriate or strange automatic behaviour "while asleep", including binge eating and house painting.

There have been isolated reports in the literature describing sleep walking, including an article in the popular magazine Time which mentioned the impending publication of a case series describing a few dozen people who, after taking zolpidem, developed uncontrollable urges to eat while asleep and did not remember the feeding binges when they awoke.2 A case series describing 5 patients taking zolpidem who experienced uncontrolled eating while asleep has previously been published.3 There are two reports to ADRAC that describe this situation. In one report, a patient put on 23 kg in weight over 7 months while taking zolpidem. It was only when she was discovered eating in front of an open refrigerator while asleep that the problem was resolved. In another report, a patient who had experienced significant weight gain was found by a relative taking food from the refrigerator and kitchen cupboards while asleep. Other reports to ADRAC describe a patient who woke with a paintbrush in her hand after painting the front door while asleep, a patient who walked around the house like a "mad man" while asleep, and two further reports which suggest the possibility of driving while asleep.

ADRAC recommends prescribers should be alert to the fact that zolpidem may be associated with distressing neurological or psychiatric reactions, including those associated with sleeping or falling asleep, and should warn their patients about the possibility of these untoward effects, particularly if they are going to take zolpidem for the first time.

Maybe not the ideal thing to happen when confined on a plane

[geriatrickid]

Consider these scenarios;

You've taken your potions and are now in a nice deep sleep and all of a sudden there is a bump and sudden depressurization. The oxygen masks pop out. You only have a few minutes to react before you suffer oxygen deprivation. However, there you are snoring away happily. You don't react in time.

Ok, you say someone next to you will wake you up. But now this is the recent Quantas flight where some masks don't descend and people are scrambling for masks so no one is there to wake you or share a mask for a few minutes.

Or, let's say you are in a deep sleep courtesy of Valium and there is a cabin emergency. It could be a fire, or a nutter trying to open an exit. The valium or whatever, has impacted your reaction time. Then what?

Or let's say you are awake but groggy and there is a cabin fire resulting in a forced emergency landing and you have to move fast to exit but your body is in slow motion.

That's why I avoid the heavy sedation. I do have a few drinks (the snoring I make must annoy the other PAX, but booze does that). I'm slightly tipsy, but not enough to impair my ability to react to save my life if possible. With all the idiots flying today and the reduced cabin staffing, I know I have to look after myself in an emergency, so I need to have some capacity to do that.

[Groongthep]

That's why I avoid the heavy sedation.

We're talking about 10mg of valium or 5mg of ambien here, not barbiturates or quaaludes. Both valium and zolpidem are relatively mild and can hardly be classed as "heavy sedation". They have been proven safe and effective in clinical trials and are frequently prescribed in most countries around the world. I don't pretend to be a doctor but I can read the safety data and it says that while there can be serious side effects in some people they are statistically rare for both these drugs. If there is a serious emergency while in flight (the chances of which are about the same as getting hit by lightening) neither of these drugs is going to effect you to the extent that you are not going to be able to help yourself. They are not that strong. Besides, the OP's question was "What is the best thing I can buy over the counter at a pharmacy to help me sleep?" Valium and ambien are available over the counter in Thailand and are perfectly reasonable answers to his question.

[Ulysses G.]

10 milligrams of Valium only affects one very slightly. You can do anything that you would normally do, but you don't get nervous and you might feel just a little sleepy.

[StanSmith]

Im amazed at the suggested dosage for xanax and valium. Actualy the suggested dosages are correct - im amazed however that i seem to be the only one who needs buckets of the stuff in order to feel in slightly drowsy.

0.5 mg xanax? Whenever i fly or go on a long visa run, i need at least 3mg. Sure, it knocks me out - but thats the point isnt it?

Valium - 10mg wont touch me. 20-30mg for me to sleep sound.

Sleepers are the way to go though. I fly back to the UK every 6 months for 5 days at a time and my 11 hour flight is more like a 5 minute flight. Its an amazing feeling litteraly closing your eyes in BKK and being woke up by someone at LHR what feels like 5 mins later.

I used to live in Samui and the visa run to Malasia was hel_l. Pick up at 3.45am - get to Malasia border for 12, back home in Samui for around 7pm. All on a small mini bus (apart from the ferry of course). I would take 3mg xanax on the way and wake up at Malasia border. I would be very drowsey but ok to deal with immigration. Then, on the way back 1 or maybe 2 more. So, in total i could pop 5 xanax.

Interestingly, coffee and sweets taste 10 times better when you are on xanax. The ferry on the way home had a little snack shop. Coming down off my 5 xanax, i would belt like 4 coffees and half a dozen cakes - no idea why, but food and drink taste bizzarley so much better.

[Wrong Turn]

About 10 milligrams of valium will give a slight, pleasant buzz and allow one to sleep easily.

Agree. I might sound paranoid, but where I live I can get Valium over the country (OTC). But if I bring some valium in my pocket w/out a prescription that could be a problem with authorities? Even just 10 MGs?

Is it easy for a doctor to prescripe valium in the West and in particular, the US?