Sleeping on a plane

[wvjules]

Next month I fly to Hawai'i. YAY! Anyway, we fly from BWI to O'Hare. That's the easy flight. However the flight from O'Hare to HI is 9 hours long! I get anxious just thinking about it. I want to go to sleep in Chicago and wake up in Hawai'i. What sleep aids work well for you? (I know I wont' sleep for 9 hours straight. I just want to be relaxed and drowsy.)

 

[Cool-Beans]

If you don't take it on a regular basis, Ambien works very well. Knocks you out fast and you wake up peppy. Short-term, anyway. I actually took it recently, just to see what all the fuss was about and to be able to say, "Yeah, I took it and here's how it worked for me." Some people who use it all the time find that it loses its oomph, but it is a Godsend for people who need to sleep, but can't.

There is a new one that doctors seem to be using more often - Rozerem, I think it is - and it works well, but people report feeling that "hung over" feeling, like with Benadryl. I guess you can take it long-term and it keeps working, though. Haven't tried that one myself, though.

And there is always whiskey.

Hawaii is amazing. Have a great trip!

 

[onelilspark]

I've taken Tylenol Simply Sleep before when I needed to sleep but couldn't.

 

[MoniqueU]

Back when ambien worked for me I slept from lax to london pretty much the whole way. I had a seat that converted into a bed so was super comfortable but that was my best flight ever.

 

[swandiverpatt]

xanax and red wine .....

Actually, I'm flying from Chicago to Ireland in a couple of weeks and am wondering the same thing. I think I'll get up way early that morning (flight doesn't leave Chicago until 4:45), and hopefully after a couple of hours on the plane, dinner and a glass of wine, earplugs and a "neck pillow" I can get a couple of hours of sleep prior to arriving in Shannon at 5:45 AM (their time).

 

[Cool-Beans]

I've taken Tylenol Simply Sleep before when I needed to sleep but couldn't.

This is Benadryl. Same stuff. It is also labeled as other things, like Sleepinall, Unisom, etc. Tons of generics, too.

But it is all diphenhydramine. It is put into different shapes, stuck into different boxes with different writing on them, but it is all the same stuff.

So, OP, if you're going with diphenhydramine, just find the box that has diphenhydramine listed as the ingredient and then buy the cheapest one.

And again, have a great time.

 

[sandramaac]

I have been on many a long flight, some of the longest including:


Newark direct to Hawaii (with kids!!)
Newark to LAX to New Zealand
Newark to LAX to Tahiti
Phila to Rio
Phila to Turkey

A few things. Don't get stressed out trying to sleep. You will be excited, so at first you won't want to sleep. Try to keep to a regular routine. I try to stay up maybe an hour later thasn usual, and wakeup and hour earlier. This way I am a little bit more tired, but not over tired. Sometimes that overtired thing backfires, and then when you get on the plane you can't sleep.


Next, noise cancelling headphone--the best thing ever created. Buy them!!! They will stop all the ambient noise, and the hum from the plane. Even when I don't have them plugged into the flight audio, I leave the switch on and it stops all that ambient noise.

Eye mask. Yes, it tricks your body into thinking its night, and it does help you sleep.

A nice glass of wine wth dinner is great to relax you.

Something to read.

Try to upgrade if you can. Review your airlines poilicy on udgrades. It may not be as costly as you think. We have high status on a few airlines. so thankfully all of our long flights have either been in business or first, where you have either a lower recline or the seat turns into a bed (omg thatis the best). I like this because after my glass of wine, I go with two benadryl. I lower that seat down, pop on my eye mask and headphones (yes, go visual it is an intersting sight), and off I go to sleep. My husband has the gift of just closing his eyes, and going to sleep. I don't

I hope this helps.

 

[ols386]

Take a couple of Dramamine. It's actually for motion-sickness, and I take it when I fly, and if I take two, it pretty much knocks me out. I usually only take 1/2 at a time, and even that makes me drowsey. Even though it's for motion sickness, I don't think it would hurt you to take it. I believe you can take 1-2 Dramamine every 4-6 hours, but the dosage is noted on the box.

 

[TheBigBadWolf]

Ambien works great for me, with no hangover effect. I have found when I take it two nights in a row, I have a little short term memory loss though!

 

[jenm2878]

Dramamine worked for me. Our flight from JFK to Ireland was 6 1/2 hours and I was afraid that a sleeping pill would make me too groggy once we got there. The airplane seats weren't especially comfortable, but the dramamine made it possible to sleep some.

 

[Katieinwonderland]

We went to Hawaii for our honeymoon last year and I wanted to say HAVE A GREAT TIME!

I'm scared of flying so I take Xanax and it knocks me out for 8 hours straight. But I wouldn't necessarily recommend it, I was sleepy for a while after we landed in Honolulu and totally thrown off my normal routine for a few days.

The PP that mentioned noise cancelling headphones - genius! These work great, you literally can barely hear a thing with them on (my husband has them so he can't hear his hysterical wife before the xanax kicks in!)

 

[Cool-Beans]

I adore noise-cancelling headphones. Some are better than others, though. I have Bose ones and they work wonderfully. Forget them once and bought a cheapo set at the airport - better than nothing, but not great.

A friend has Sony ones she likes a lot. She also forgot hers and bought a different kind of Sony and they didn't work as well. (This is the kind of crap my friends and I discuss. We're so boring. But if it helps you even a little, it is coming in handy now, lol.)

Food for thought there. But I do love them to death.

 

[Pakey]

I use ambien and noise cancelling headphones (Bose) when we fly to Europe. Works like a charm.

 

[Mommy2three]

I am traveling to China this thursday. I will be taking a Xanax about an hour before we get on the plane, and hope to sleep for a few hours anyways. It is a 13 hour non stop flight from Ohare to Shanghi, and then a 2 hour flight from Shanghi to Xi'an. I am more nervous about flying over the ocean, have never been overseas before. Only place I've flown to is from Ohare to orlando and thats all.

 

[manning]

Try to walk around or get up and stretch occasionally to avoid the chance of blood clots.

 

[The Orchid]

Ambien. I took it on my flights to Denmark and back. The last time I took one was when I got on the plane in Denmark to head home. I woke up about four or five hours into the flight and took a second one. I don't advise that! I was so stoned that I have no recollection of passing through customs and meeting my family. One ambien does a great job. You fall asleep and are refreshed when you land. I would not take it on a flight that is shorter than six hours though.

 

[joyjoy]

We've flown from Houston to Buenos Aires, Argentina a couple of times (10 hours n/s) and found that a Tylenol p.m. and a glass of wine worked pretty well.

Any chance of a first class upgrade? Omg, I look at those huge comfy seats those people have and their fuzzy slippers and cozy blankies and think "I wouldn't even need wine if I had all that.". Good luck.