Sleeping Medication

[myauq]

I'm interested in buying some medication that will help me sleep on a long distance flight.

I asked before at a few pharmacies and they said I needed to see a doctor. I went to ask the doctor but they wouln't prescribe me anything. I only need a couple, as I don't need them in my everyday life. Hearing that other people have acquired them in Thailand, I was wondering what I needed to do or say to be successful.

Thanks :jap:

[Sheryl]

Going to a doctor and explaining that you are about to take a long flight and need something to help you sleep on it is what others have done. I gather you already tried this without success; try elsewhere.

Thai doctors are very wary of patients seeking controlled drugs and there is unfortunately a sterotype that farangs are especially likely to be drug users/abusers. It may go over better if the request is not the sole reason for the visit. If you have any other medical needs, or are due for a check-up, try going in for that and then ask request a script for a few tablets for the plane trip in the course of that.

Personally, nothing on earth enables me to sleep on planes and I have found that sedatives just make matters worse as then I am groggy and unable to sleep. I do better just resigning myself to staying awake, bringing along plenty of things to occupy my time on the plane. I plan long hauls so as to have a long lay over en route where I can sleep for a few hours in an airport or transit lounge hotel. Between Thailand and North America, Soeul is a great choice as 2 transit hotels within the airport, and usually not hard to arrange for a long layover at no extra cost.

[TheyCallmeScooter]

nothing on earth enables me to sleep on planes

You're not taking the right sedatives.

[Sheryl]

oh I have, I have. Trust me on that. everything shoirt of general anesthesia to no avail.

I simply cannot sleep unless I'm lying down.

Only time I have suceeded in sleep on a plane is on the rare occasion of having severakl seats together, or (once in desperation) lying down in the aisle. (As you might suspect, they frown on that...)

[TheyCallmeScooter]

oh I have, I have. Trust me on that. everything shoirt of general anesthesia to no avail

I simply cannot sleep unless I'm lying down. Only time I have suceeded in sleep on a plane is on the rare occasion of having severakl seats together, or (once in desperation) lying down in the aisle. (As you might suspect, they frown on that...)

I'm fascinated by this claim - and obviously have no reason to doubt you. You've dosed up good and well on cocktails of Alprazolam, Diazepam, Ambien, few glasses of wine, bobs not your uncle? And failing that Rohypnol seems to work on my dates

Actually I've never heard of anyone not going down on Roofies

[edit: unbelievable bugs with this forum software...]

Edited July 25, 2010 by TheyCallmeScooter

[grumpyoldman]

I've used Valium in the past, seems to work fine. friends say it causes them grogginess, has not done this to me.

I worry about it though regarding having some drinks and then taking some as I have read where it can slow your heart rate and breathing to the point, you don't wake up.

Question to Sheryl-lets say one has a bunch of drinks (8), but then four hours passes by, wake up, can't sleep (long flight) and slug ten milligrams of Valium. Will your body have processed the alcohol well enough to make the Valium use not as dangerous?

[TheyCallmeScooter]

I've used Valium in the past, seems to work fine. friends say it causes them grogginess, has not done this to me.

I worry about it though regarding having some drinks and then taking some as I have read where it can slow your heart rate and breathing to the point, you don't wake up.

Question to Sheryl-lets say one has a bunch of drinks (8), but then four hours passes by, wake up, can't sleep (long flight) and slug ten milligrams of Valium. Will your body have processed the alcohol well enough to make the Valium use not as dangerous?

Look obviously only Sheryl's doctor or anyone's personal physician could answer that. And there is not a drug [licit or illicit] in the world that I'm aware of which doesn't have serious side effects in a tiny fraction of cases. But Diazepam [Valium] is popped like aspirin or Tylenol in some parts of the US. 10mg? I'm a drunk on an internet forum, not a physician....but if 10mg did anything more than chill you out a bit, I'd be shocked [regardless of how many bottles of Riesling you managed to swindle from those pesky annoying "Responsible Service of Alcohol" types masquerading as flight attendants].

Alprazolam [Xanax] is the dangerous one. So so good, but should NOT be FDA-approved I reckon. That crap is dangerous. Dangerously good

[asiancup2007]

oh I have, I have. Trust me on that. everything shoirt of general anesthesia to no avail.

I simply cannot sleep unless I'm lying down.

Only time I have suceeded in sleep on a plane is on the rare occasion of having severakl seats together, or (once in desperation) lying down in the aisle. (As you might suspect, they frown on that...)

Try the gear micheal jackson was on, it worked for him.

[endure]

I've used Valium in the past, seems to work fine. friends say it causes them grogginess, has not done this to me.

I worry about it though regarding having some drinks and then taking some as I have read where it can slow your heart rate and breathing to the point, you don't wake up.

Question to Sheryl-lets say one has a bunch of drinks (8), but then four hours passes by, wake up, can't sleep (long flight) and slug ten milligrams of Valium. Will your body have processed the alcohol well enough to make the Valium use not as dangerous?

Look obviously only Sheryl's doctor or anyone's personal physician could answer that.

Sheryl is a nurse with many years experience.

[TheyCallmeScooter]

Sheryl is a nurse with many years experience.

I'd feel more comfortable with the doctor...you know how it is....

As a nurse, she'd have access to all kinds of goodies! Surely goodies that would lay elephants comatose!

I should have trained for nursing or medic or something fml

[halfhead]

Get yourself to a doctors clinic and tell him/her you have Anxiety

[Sheryl]

Question to Sheryl-lets say one has a bunch of drinks (8), but then four hours passes by, wake up, can't sleep (long flight) and slug ten milligrams of Valium. Will your body have processed the alcohol well enough to make the Valium use not as dangerous?

Absolutely not.

And nobody drinking anything near that quantity of alcohol should even have valium in their possession at the same time.

this is how ODs happen. You ingest enough alcohol to impair your judgement and then take the valium, then now doubling impaired but perhaps still unable to sleep, you take more.... Or, reverse ordewr and same effect.

Do not mix alcohol with valium or any other sedative. Full stop.

[grumpyoldman]

Question to Sheryl-lets say one has a bunch of drinks (8), but then four hours passes by, wake up, can't sleep (long flight) and slug ten milligrams of Valium. Will your body have processed the alcohol well enough to make the Valium use not as dangerous?

Absolutely not.

And nobody drinking anything near that quantity of alcohol should even have valium in their possession at the same time.

this is how ODs happen. You ingest enough alcohol to impair your judgement and then take the valium, then now doubling impaired but perhaps still unable to sleep, you take more.... Or, reverse ordewr and same effect.

Do not mix alcohol with valium or any other sedative. Full stop.

Hi Sheryl,

o.k. advice taken and understood, should not ever mix, which I don't, I'm not a druggie looking to get higher, I'm a businessman on a massive time change that wakes up in the middle of the night and can't get back to sleep.

Hours before, I had some cocktails, I've been sleeping lets say four hours (no drinks), now cannot, can I do 5 mgs of Valium somewhat safely (?) or am I still in an area that could be considered dangerous regarding OD?

[Sheryl]

It is never advisable to mix valium or other depressent and alcohol.

The amount of time require for alcohol to clear the system varies tremendously by individual and also, in the same individual, according to factors such as whether taken on a full or empty stomach, type of food in the stomach (if not empty) and the form of alcohol ingested.

This link explains all that and also links to a blood alcohol calculator. http://www.forcon.ca/learning/alcohol.html

If you are using this to try to figure out how soon after drinking be sure to use the most conservative elimination rate (10%) and be sure not to underestimate the quantity of each drink. Note that you have to add each hypothetical drink separately.

The time it takes for the estimated BAC to be 0 is the minimum the average person should wait. However, be aware that this time will be greater if the alcohol was ingested with a lot of food (slower initial absorption so of course longer until eliminated), if there is any abnormality of liver or kidney function, and in the elderly.

So I would add an hour to whatever estimate you get just to be sure.

And as a nurse, I still worry about someone drinking and having a depressent drug iun their possession. Sitting cold stone sober at your computer you may well arrive at a reasonable plan for juggling alcohol and medication. On an airplane, with the combined effects of jet lag and alcohol, your mind may not apply this so accurately...

Like you I have to travel a great deal for work. For myself I have found that any attempt at sedation just makes matters worse and makes me less likely to be able to function well right off the plane. What works for me is to:

1. Start the flight as rested as possible and time it so that I have woken up not too long before the flight begins: if for example I will have an all night flight (as I will, tomorrow evening) I start a few days before that staying up later and sleeping later so that the day of departure I am able to sleep very late. I do take sleep medication the night before departure so as to enable myself to get maximum sleep awakening close to time of departure.

2. On the flight itself, absolutely no alcohol, sleep meds or caffeine. Lots of water/juice and frequent walks about the cabin. Decide ahead of time that I am not going to sleep so bring along plenty of diversions and don't generate tension around trying to sleep.

3. Try to time things so I arrive at my destination in the evening or and can then go right to sleep. Take melatonin either just before landing or in cab from airport and then again when I reach destination, and again during the night if I wake up. Continue to take melatonin at bedtime for at least 3 nights and anytime that I awaken in the middle of the night. Avoid naps and get as much daytime sun exposure as possible.

The above works fine for me for flights up to about 14 hours. When it comes to major hauls (20 hours or so e.g. Bkk - east coast US), as I find more than about 14 hours sleepless on a flight to become torture, I plan for a stopover at a transit hotel to get the equivalent of a nights sleep. This also helps ease me into new time zone.

So for example, since I visit the US east coast annually, my itinerary for that is:

nighttime flight to Soeul (having slept well into the afternoon before departure).

Stopover of at least 8 hrs, preferrably more like 10-15, during which I check into the Transit Hotel for a solid sleep. Unlike on the plane, I do take a mild sedative as well as some melatonin at this point since assured of a nice bed and complete quiet.

On awakening, some caffeine (tea in my case but could be coffee, just not too much) and a Shiatsu massage.

Then I board for the 14 hour segment initially well rested. As in the first segment, no alcohol or sedatives, plenty of water/juice, no caffeine.

A dose of melatonin either just before landing or in the cab from the airport

Arrival at destination will be at night on this schedule, which is perfect. Once there, melatonin again, sleeping pill and straight to bed.

Next day I am good to go, mentally and physically.

Before arriving at this formula I used to suffer jet lag for a full two weeks, about half of my entire stay and then again in reverse.

Anyhow, this is what works for me....

[TheyCallmeScooter]

Do not mix alcohol with valium or any other sedative. Full stop.

Aiya. Whilst your advice is not out and out wrong, I've actually proven to psychiatrists that - assuming we're not dealing with a lowest common denominator type - it's not only acceptable to combine alcohol and Diazepam, it's quite clearly recommended if it results in drastic reduction in overall benzo dosing. Please hold your aghast for a moment - I understand conventional wisdom says the contraindication for alcohol & benzos [two central nervous system depressants] is that combining the two can result in death etc.

The problem with conventional wisdom is that it tends to be right - but only for a tiny fraction of lowest common denominator types. Alcohol doesn't need benzos acting as accessories in order to kill. Alcohol does all the things they claim are contraindications of alcohol / benzo cocktails....and it does the same thing all by itself, killing unknown numbers every day. And benzos are just as capable of a successful kill, also working solo. The issue is not that benzos and alcohol are deadly or dangerous to combine, any more than the issue of 20 standard drinks combined...is dangerous....or that taking 20 * 2mg Xanax tabs...is dangerous..... i.e. the 'issue' is that people are often stupid. That is not a contraindication for combining alcohol with benzos. It's simply the nature of the beast that is alcohol's cultural prevalence in a society which has not handled that particular responsibility all that well - historically speaking.

It is never advisable to mix valium or other depressent and alcohol.

Hmm that's actually an incorrect statement - quite clearly so. It's only really accurate for perhaps the bottom 10-20% of the population. Because what you're effectively saying is that someone's stupidity / lack of control / poor judgement / etc when drinking alcohol creates such a danger for them when also medicating with benzos....that they are better off taking double or triple the [otherwise required] dosage of benzodiazepines...than consider mixing the two depressants. The % of people for whom this contraindication would *actually* be valid / justified really reside on the fringes of the mean.

The simple truth for the majority of people who are [so very irresponsibly] prescribed benzos by idiot psychiatrists...is that if having a couple glasses of white wine allows them to half or even reduce their 'required' benzo dose to as low as 1/3rd [which is what I did upon making the discovery that alcohol was a "force multiplier" for benzo effectiveness], then they should be ADVISED - STRONGLY ADVISED - to reduce their benzo intake via the very thing Google and the Witch-Doctor Industry that is the Psychiatric 'profession' warn can result in DEATH!!!.

Lots of things can "result" in death. But blaming benzos for someone who overdoses on 12 beers and 10 Alprazolam 1mg tabs is simply misappropriated blame. Any person who did that cannot blame either the Xanax or the alcohol or the combination of the two. Stupidity killed that person. Not the tools which were merely picked up that day to hasten the inevitable.

--------------

The entire medical industry is full of SHOCKING witch-doctorey but I'll focus on the incompetence of quacks to conclude this little intelligent rant against the idiocy of "conventional wisdom". I will resist the temptation to destroy the joke that is the psychology and focus solely on psychiatric incompetence for reasons of brevity. First I'll briefly talk about my last 6 years dealing with two dozen elite psychiatrists "considered experts in their field etc" in my endless infuriating uphill battle to avoid their incompetence in order to live...whilst conducting my own self-treatment frustrated endlessly by the process of being forced to pay tens and tens of thousands for the 'privilege' of ignoring idiotic redundancy in the form of psychiatrists to whom I would often have to educate. Then I will prove how incompetent that particular industry is by cut / pasting only from a single Wikipedia page on benzos.

I have severe ADHD and react very negatively to stimulants of any kind. From a young age, just a sip of alcohol or tea and....nausea would be a 'good' / 'mild' result. This is pretty unlucky for me as the generic ADHD meds are mostly stimulants - of course [Adderall, Concerta, Ritalin and their XRs] - all of which result in my requiring unhealthy dosing of various beta-blockers and benzos just to 'recover' from another donkdown psychiatric failed experiment. The only truly effective med in terms of almost totally negating my ADHD with almost zero side-effects in Desoxyn [prohibited in every country in the world except for the US - where it is FDA-approved for treatment of ADHD, with spectacular results]. I was able to trial it in the US for a short period of time and the results were - it felt like a lifesaver. Had to go home though, where it was strictly Prohibited as a Controlled Substance carrying similar incarceration Penalties normally reserved for victims of methamphetamine addiction [somewhat unsurprisingly, because Desoxyn is pure methamphetamine]. The risk of 'abuse' is cited as the reason for it's blanket Prohibition in Australia. Which is hard to understand if you're an ADHD sufferer who needs those FDA-approved meds to function. What do I care if some kids abuse it? What does that have to do with my illness? And most importantly, what possible non-logic could be used to justify banning a substance produced by FDA-regulated drug manufacturers and doled out by licensed medical professionals....when the impure street version of that substance [polluted with you name it, cooked by ex-cons with no chemistry knowledge really, marketed by crooks and junkies and criminals...can be bought on just about every 10th street corner in the country. But I digress....

With no desire to expose myself to gangsters and junkies to source impure / impossible-to-accurately-dose / dangerous lucky dip chemicals being sold as 'meth', I instead spent years paying for morons who - without exception - at some point attempted to script me combinations of drugs a simple Google search proved to be potentially fatal. It would be redundant to list every single incompetent FAIL but the most common was their simply not even being *aware* of Seratonin Syndrome and my having to educate them on their job via Google search recommendations after I initially discovered that peculiar JOY via the very hard way from an idiotic cocktail - then fury every time I would have to educate the specialists on their... specialty. They would inevitably misdiagnose my frustrations at being billed $400/hr for an idiot who I had to protect myself from....as clinical depression or whatever...and - every - single - one - attempted to dose me up on SSRIs [*after* they had dosed me up on stimulants or Strattera on top of their flippant scripts for Alprazolam {hello dependence - that's a med which is far more damaging and powerful than almost any recreational drug I have researched - it's amazing that it's still FDA-approved for anti-anxiety, but then nothing amazes me about the drug witch-doctor industry anymore] along with various beta-blockers and other crap to counter-act the side-effects, and more crap to counter-act the side effects of the scripts to treat the other side effects and so on etc - so they'd have me on these ridiculous cocktails of combinations, then script me against my wishes for SSRIs - then stare at me blankly when I inquired if they didn't 'believe' or otherwise disputed the existence of Seratonin Syndrome. Then storm out of their practices - after paying the huge invoices for their services which might of killed me. Of course. .

One very well-regarded psychiatrist mistakenly scripted me anti-psychotics. When I stormed into his office baying for blood, he proceeded to give me a lecture on manners. In lieu of an apology for his incompetence. When I read a Time article earlier this year stating what I'd suspected for a long time [sSRIs are effectively as 'effective' as a placebo] - http://www.time.com/...1717306,00.html .....idiots. The entire industry. I was a kid who knew more about their profession from some extensive Google searching than they learned over 8 years of god knows what kind of study. They can't agree on *anything* - it's just ludicrous. The entire industry is a sham of idiotic jokers playing dangerous experiments with foolishly naive and trusting patients. It's scandalous.

----------------

But don't take Time Magazine's or my word for it. Let's look at one single Wiki page on benzodiazepines http://en.wikipedia..../Benzodiazepine - see if we can't get an idea of this industry from that page written by the specialists of that industry...?

Taking benzodiazepines with alcohol, opioids and other central nervous system depressants potentiates their action. This often results in increased sedation, impaired motor coordination, suppressed breathing and other adverse effects that may potentially be lethal.^[93][122]

Fairly standard warning about that contraindication. Repeated all over the Internet by specialists warning that the two should not be mixed. Though I note many don't actually specify *why*....

And yet, on the same page:

Benzodiazepines possess sedative, hypnotic, anxiolytic, anticonvulsant, muscle relaxant, andamnesic actions,^[2][3] which are useful in a variety of indications such as alcohol dependence

[removed 2 other quotes along the lines of above and below and combining these two to scrape in under the strangely low cap of 4 quote boxes allowed per post]

Alcohol withdrawal

Chlordiazepoxide is the most commonly used benzodiazepine for alcohol detoxification,^[45] but diazepam may be used as an alternative. Both are used in the detoxification of individuals who are motivated to stop drinking, and are prescribed for a short period of time to reduce to the risks of tolerance and dependence to the benzodiazepine medication itself.^[22]:275

So after 47 years of widespread global use of surely the 'safest' of all benzos, used so widely and prescribed so freely, it's unlikely any other benzo will ever reach a level of parity in terms of opportunities to reach 'consensus' - in 2010, the medical industry is split down the middle on whether Diazepam is deadly when combined with alcohol.....or whether it's an effective med to prescribe to alcoholics during the most dangerous phase of their recovery process.

Either the drug kills when combined with alcohol or it does not. For what it's worth, I obviously agree with you that the risks are increased. For only for idiotic or otherwise unable-to-control their compulsion types...like say, alcoholics in withdrawal.

And half the industry believes it's a great med to prescribe to those alcoholics as per the above.

And after decades of SSRI prescribing to tens of millions of patients, with all the horrific side-effects [some of which I was blessed with experiencing thanks to my idiot docs], Time Magazine reports that the pills they hand out like lollies, kind of have the same medical effect on depression....as lollies.

It would be hilarious. But my memories of almost dying from seratonin syndrome courtesy of being bullied by an idiot I was paying $400/hr to 'treat' me...into taking Wellbutrin along with 10-15 other drugs a simple Google search would succinctly suggest serves to increase the risk of SS....each.

I'll laugh about it one day. Perhaps. When I'm insane via an unfortunate experiment / incompetence experience gone horribly wry.

------------

But yeah, alcohol + benzos = GOOD [but only if that combination results in drastic reduction in dosage of those benzos].

For idiots or those who are otherwise unable to 'manage' their meds, to the point where alcohol + benzos = BAD....I'm not sure what advice to give. It's a copout to say "don't screw up so badly you die" and only naming a single contraindication for them to be wary of - out of so many possible ways of going donkdown. Their simply possessing more than a couple days worth of their meds is enough for them to screw up with potentially fatal consequences so....I guess I wish them, Good Luck.

[jcartermad]

I just went to a private hospital and said that i was having trouble sleeping. I was given 10 pills and tried one. Slept like a baby. I then went back to the UK, popped a pill once we took off, stayed away from any drinks save 0.5 of water and woke up in London. Perfect. Still have 8 left.

[toptuan]

I normally cannot sleep one wink on a long-haul flight as well--and I've tried it all, too (alcohol, sleeping aids, mp3's, stretched across 5 empty seats, etc.). In dozens of business trips between Japan and North America, I finally worked out a regimen quite close to Sheryl's which helped a great deal with one addition:

When I hit the tarmac in Japan I had to be ready for business on day one. So, on the the westward flights, I always did a 24-hour stopover in Hawaii, preferably arriving early-to-mid morning. I checked into a beachfront hotel with with a good fitness center. Between the fitness center and the surf, I exercised and swam until I was exhausted, ate an early dinner and retired early to catch my next onward early-morning flight to Japan. Somehow that 24-hour stopover coupled with strenuous exercise seemed to set the body clock faster and I always arrived in Tokyo, Fukuoka, Sapporo, etc. fit-feeling and ready to do business, without one bit of jet lag.

There's something about breaking up the trip where you can catch a good night's rest on a stationary bed that does wonders for adjusting the body clock.

[Vertigotogo]

I just went to a private hospital and said that i was having trouble sleeping. I was given 10 pills and tried one. Slept like a baby. I then went back to the UK, popped a pill once we took off, stayed away from any drinks save 0.5 of water and woke up in London. Perfect. Still have 8 left.

Do you know what they are?

[Scott]

I usually take 10 mg of valium on a long-haul flight. It doesn't put me to sleep, but if I close my eyes, I will sleep. It seems to relax the muscles, so I don't mind the cramped quarters so much. I don't drink any alcohol before or on the flight. Valium does give me a sort of 'hangover' but either way I feel like crap after a long haul flight.

I once took it flying from London to New York--that flight wasn't long enough. Almost missed my connecting flight to D.C., I just couldn't get my act together and hurry to the next flight. Now, I only use valium on flights to the US from Asia.

It does make me thirsty and so I end up drinking a lot of water on the flight (and consequently lots of trips to the restroom). Because they won't let you bring water on the plane, I bring an empty plastic bottle and fill it in the departure lounge.

My Dr. has recommended other medication, but I told him I prefer not to experiment with drugs at 30,000 ft. I know what valium will do and it works fine. I don't want to be unconscious. I've been on a few flights that developed engine problems, had to make unexpected stops etc. I would rather have my whits about me. I never take the pill until we are safely off the ground and have reached cruising altitude. By then everything is about as safe as it's going to get.

[Tolley]

There are quite a number of herbal remedies that can induce sleep and may be helpful in long haul flights. eg valerian, passionflower, calcium, magnesium.

Melatonin is also used to help sleep on long hauls and to recover better.

Personally i don't understand why you would want to drug yourself to the point of unconsciousness.

[myauq]

thanks for all those replies.

my long haul flight is not too long, but it's just at a very awkward time - 9pm to 7am (next day). add to this a 3 hour time difference, and i know it will be difficult managing my rest/sleep patterns the day of arrival.

i think toptuan's advice about hitting the gym is an excellent one. i think i'll aim for a mamouth sleep-in the day of the flight. then have a nice saunter around town, and get back to the hotel for a major gym session (cardio and weights) before checking-out to head for the airport.

ideally i want to stay away from the medications, but i might see if i can't ask for some before leaving thailand just in case i find it difficult getting off to sleep at the hotel the day before departure.

and, yes sheryl - whether rightly or wrongly - i think you're correct to say that many thai doctors often perceive us farangs as druggies. so i'll put on my sunday best and head for a private hospital, and introduce myself as doctor...

[Vertigotogo]

There are quite a number of herbal remedies that can induce sleep and may be helpful in long haul flights. eg valerian, passionflower, calcium, magnesium.

Melatonin is also used to help sleep on long hauls and to recover better.

Personally i don't understand why you would want to drug yourself to the point of unconsciousness.

The herbal stuff has never worked for me before. As for drugging myself, I kind of figure that sitting in a tube of aluminium cruising at a height at which we cannot naturally breathe at a speed that people once thought would make your heart stop, staying airborne using laws of physics that an honest scientist would admit still baffles them (try googling 'aerodynamics myths') - a drug is the last of my worries.

[Sheryl]

It's no use for sleeping on planes (at least not for me) but as long as we are on the subject of herbal sleep aids, my favorite one which works very nicely at home is a "cocktail" of melatonin, valerian and tryptophan. Has me yawning in an hour, followed by a refreshing natural type sleep.

[myauq]

It's no use for sleeping on planes (at least not for me) but as long as we are on the subject of herbal sleep aids, my favorite one which works very nicely at home is a "cocktail" of melatonin, valerian and tryptophan. Has me yawning in an hour, followed by a refreshing natural type sleep.

where can you get melatonin from in bangkok?

that might be worth a shot

[wpcoe]

It's no use for sleeping on planes (at least not for me) but as long as we are on the subject of herbal sleep aids, my favorite one which works very nicely at home is a "cocktail" of melatonin, valerian and tryptophan. Has me yawning in an hour, followed by a refreshing natural type sleep.

I used to buy a blend of melatonin and valerian and it was the only thing that worked for me. The best thing is that when I woke up, I was never groggy, even if my sleep was interrupted after a couple hours (interrupted by an external stimulus, like the phone ringing).

[HalfSquat]

Alprazolam [Xanax] is the dangerous one. So so good, but should NOT be FDA-approved I reckon. That crap is dangerous. Dangerously good

Whats wrong with xanax? I went into my local pharmacy and asked the guy for some sleeping tabs as I was getting a flight and he gave me a strip of these. Are they bad?

[Sheryl]

They are highly addictive, and illegal to buy or sell without prescription.

[TheyCallmeScooter]

Alprazolam [Xanax] is the dangerous one. So so good, but should NOT be FDA-approved I reckon. That crap is dangerous. Dangerously good

Whats wrong with xanax? I went into my local pharmacy and asked the guy for some sleeping tabs as I was getting a flight and he gave me a strip of these. Are they bad?

Absolutely not.

Unless, of course, you have a disinclination to addiction / dependence. > breaking the law > increased anxiety > horrific, even life-threatening withdrawal process.

I think 100% of non-placebo subjects in one clinical trial presented with classic dependence / addiction after two weeks on Alprazolam. FDA thought such trivialities were merely good, cyclical business strategy. Rubber stamp that shit. $$

[wpcoe]

Whats wrong with xanax? I went into my local pharmacy and asked the guy for some sleeping tabs as I was getting a flight and he gave me a strip of these. Are they bad?

If that pharmacy was in Thailand, there is also the chance it was counterfeit xanax, as well.

[ItDontMeanAThing]

I use dramamine, the anti-motion sickness med. That's a brand name, the drug name is Dimenhydrinate. I can't sleep on short flights (< 5 hours). Long flights (10 +) are different. Give me a neck pillow, something really boring on my mp3 player (NPR's This American Life usually works) and I'll eventually fall asleep. When I wake up I take half a dramamine, which I've already broken and have in my shirt pocket. Puts me out for the next 4 hours. I only take half because of the groggy hang over after waking up. Obviously, if I can't fall asleep the first time, I'll take the drug.