Sleep Medication for longhaul flights

[Brettmcg]

Hi all,

Just wondering if you have a preferred sleeping potion for longhaul flights? Usually I just purchase Restavit (Doxylamine succinate) over the counter, but have found it to be only of mild potency. Returning to Europe in about 2 weeks time and was thinking of going to the doc's to ask for some stronger prescription stuff. Any suggestions for alternatives or what I should be asking for?

Cheers!

[notzac]

Stilnox. Wonderful stuff.

[Walter Plinge]

Originally Posted by Brettmcg

Hi all,

Just wondering if you have a preferred sleeping potion for longhaul flights? Usually I just purchase Restavit (Doxylamine succinate) over the counter, but have found it to be only of mild potency. Returning to Europe in about 2 weeks time and was thinking of going to the doc's to ask for some stronger prescription stuff. Any suggestions for alternatives or what I should be asking for?

Cheers!

Sedating antihistamines can be effective but they can also leave you groggy for a while after the main effect has worn off.

For my last long-haul flight I asked my GP for sleeping tablets. Without hesitation he wrote a scrip for Normison (plus a customs declaration). I found these effective. And at $4.50 for 20 tablets (which was an ample supply), dirt cheap. I'll get another prescription for my overseas holiday next year.

I didn't make a GP visit just for that -- I brought it up at the end of my annual check-up.

[Nutcase]

Originally Posted by notzac

Stilnox. Wonderful stuff.

You might want to read this in relation to Stilnox - Google has more.

Stilnox side-effects 'worse in Australia' - National - smh.com.au

From a personal perspective, whilst on this drug I have;

• Sleep walked
• Removed Xmas decorations from a friends wall
• Moved a television set
• Thrown a clock radio across a room

A friend who is cabin crew crashed his car on the way to work, flew interstate and then to Auckland and has no memory of it.

Another friend also crashed a car.

Perhaps another potion would be a better option.

[NM]

Originally Posted by Nutcase

You might want to read this in relation to Stilnox - Google has more.

From my research I have discovered it only becomes a problem when used consistently for extended periods. Using occasionally either on-board a flight or to help regulate sleep patterns when jet-lagged does not seem to be a problem.

[Will]

Ok. Depends what you are after.
I agree with Mr Plinge that sedating antihistamines can be effective, but they are very dirty drugs ie we have no idea how they work and they have lots of unintended effects. The primary use of these drugs used to be as anti-psychotics, and indeed promethazine (Phenergan in Australia) is still an effective anti-psychotic albeit rarely used. The reason I bring this up is because the assorted sedating antihistamines, such as doxylamine (although this does has weaker effects), promethazine, chlorpheniramine, and have varied effects and can certainly cloud the mind for extended periods.

The other class of drugs that is useful is the benzodiazepines, including normison (temazepam) and valium (diazepam). They have varying speed of onset and duration of effect. Temazepam is very suitable for medium- to long-haul flights, as it has onset of activity within 30 min or so and has a half-life of around 6-12 hours.

I would recommend asking for temazepam, and cutting out the minimum number of tablets possible to take with you (ie not the whole box). A doctor's note may not help you in, for example, Singapore. Benzodiazepines are relatively commonly used drugs of dependence.

[dede]

i love it!

[ejb]

Hi all,

I take Temaze when needed for long haul sleeping, I find no after effects. Other than that I take Imovane which is good as it works slowly and helps you sleep but does not keep you asleep long which is good as I find more than 4 hours can get uncomfortable.

However please do not take this information as gospel as what works for me may not work for others.

BTW I have used Stilnox and never has a problem.

ejb

[drron]

No matter what i did i could not sleep on planes.I then retired and now it is no problem-certainly the safest solution.
Another warning on Stilnox-some people have a paradoxical response.happened to a family member who took just a quarter of a tablet after a JFK-NRT flight to make sure of a good sleep,instead she sparked up,giggled but then found she had little muscular control and would fall over laughing uncontrollably-we all tried to stay up to make sure she was OK but unfortunately we all eventually fell asleep.She couldnt be found for a while in the morning which was a worry until we found her asleep in a wardrobe.
So if you did this on a flight it might be a tad disconcerting.

[2muchplastic]

Reading all this has made me realise how lucky I am to not have trouble sleeping when I'm tired.
I know it's not necessarily relevant, but my tried and trusted method is a cup of chamomile tea (It may sound like something your old aunt may do, but I don't care ), and avoiding all alcohol and caffeine.
I prefer not to take anything of a pharmaceutical nature unless I have to.