Percy

Thanks amtraveler....just trying to help

since I know a "wee" bit about the medications.

Percy

nomadwoman

Hi, I have done alot of long distance traveling and I use to get to my travel destination totally exhausted because I couldn't sleep on the plane. What I do now is I get on the plane stay up until after they serve the meal and then I take a Xanax. I take a half of a pill only about .125 mg or one pill .25 mg which is pretty low dose and then I usually can easily fall asleep. I usually can get anywhere from 3-5 hours of solid sleep and then I find that I dose on and off for the remainder of the flight. When I get to my destination I get out and walk around and stay up till 7-8 P.M. local time. Usually it's not too dificult and I seem to be able to get into the local time zone fairly easily and I'm not tired. I also am someone who has insomnia at times and I do take Ambien at home but I am afraid to take it on a flight. I know how it makes me feel at home when I take it. I only take half a pill-5 mg and if I don't immediately go to sleep in about 5 minutes it makes me feel VERY strange.Almost like an out of body experience. I just came back from Russia and a lady took an Ambien on the plane to sleep and she was so drugged up that she was falling asleep in the middle of her meal- she was asleep with her head at a totally unnatural angle and she would fall asleep in the middle of a sentence----too scary for me. I just would not recommend it.I am an R.N.

Percy

nomadwoman:

Good for you that you take half of a 0.25mgm pill.

You know it is alway easier to add medication....once you swallow a bit much..it is too late to take it back !!!

I take Ativan(on long trips only), as you know there is little difference between Ativan and Xanax ( in simialr dose capacities that is.)

My only reason for chossing Ativan is that it also comes in a Sublingual dose, that is you put it under your tongue and it dissloves in about a minute..

So no water is required and the pill is soooo small anyway .!!!

As you know Ativan comes in 0.5 mgm ,1 mgm and 2 mgm pill doses.

So when I take a 0.5 mgm dose of Ativan ...this is the lowest dose... I can always add another 0.5 mgm in a few hours IF I need to.

At home I have both Xanax and Ativan but for effect,duration of action and half life....it really is six of one and half a dozen of the other.

Thank You for you good comments.

Percy

lightfoot33

My husband and I just returned from Australia (we live in Indiana) and we had little problems with jet lag on our way to Australia. We set our clocks to Sydney time as soon as we left, drank lots of water (or just a little wine to help us sleep on the plane.) When we arrived we walked around the city to leisurely see some sites. That, along with our excitement to be there, helped us stay awake until bedtime.

Coming back to the States, we did experience jet lag, (we flew out of Perth back to Indianapolis). But were back home with our normal work schedule - which required us to stay awake. It took almost a week to feel completely back to normal, but it was well worth it!

Dirt4fun

Hi all,

As someone that has spent way too much time on a plane (over 1/4 million commercial air miles in 3 years), I found that the easiest trick to fighting off jet lag is to spend as much time as you can in the sun.

As most people have said here, just go out and spend the day out walking around. Stay away from caffine, energy drinks, sugar, or anything that will artificially stimulate you. The problem with these things is they only last a short period of time, and then you will crash (end up more tired than before).

Be sure to drink lots of water, especially on the plane. Inside the plane, the oxygen levels and the air pressure is much lower than on the ground. This will cause you to dehydrate faster than normal. So drinking water is a very important part of staving off jet lag.

Enjoy your trips, I'll be visiting you guys in August.

wally34949

On January 1st, I flew from Sydney to Bangkok, to London to Miami. I did have one hour for refueling in Bangkok and a change of planes in London for 1 hour. Talking about a long flight--and with 22 drinks I was really missed up. So why did I fly this way? It was cheaper.

Percy

I agree with Dirt4fun

My posting to Indianagirl was because she was coming into Sydney at 8:30 PM and to her hotel at about 11PM

It is a whole different story if you are coming into Sydney in the daytime.

Yes water is the best drink you can have on any flight ,especially the very long flights.

And alcohol is the worse drink... hmmm, does anybody care!!!! On any long flight I have been on..at least half the plane is boozing it up.!!

Heck they are even selling you the alcohol, encouraging you to drink alcohol!

wally:

I hope that "milk run" of yours was really a LOT cheaper.!

Take Care
Percy

Neil_Oz

Selling it, Percy? The last time I flew Qantas they were giving it away.

Percy

Hi Neil_Oz

Gee, I am glad Qantas is giving it away!!

Airlines I have flown on to Mexico nd Costa Rica were selling their drinks.

In fact many airlines sell alcoholic drinks.!

Air Canada gives you absolutely nothing as you will unfortunately find out when you come to Victoria British Columbia.

Also Northwest Airlines sells you both food and alcoholic drinks.

I am looking at the itinerary for a flight from Edmonton to Minneapolis (USA) and it states:

"nonstop"
"food to purchase"
flying time "2:40 hours"

Maybe on longer flight the airlines feed you ( I do not know)

How nice of Qantas to offer free drinks, I wonder if all their flight are that way or just the long flights from LA to Sydney for example.

It matter little to me as I only have wine with the meal when it is offered.

Take Care Neil

Percy

Abby43

My opinion closely resembles fnarf(sp). Here is what I've done-just my own experience so please don't go off on me telling me I'm right or wrong!

I fly from NYC and take a small nap on the plane. I can't usually stay up anyway on planes or trains so that's the natural thing for me to do. I then usually have a layover at LAX and I eat-a lot. Not a big fan of airline food but by then it's my dinnertime and I'm hungry. Then I get on the plane to Sydney from LAX and by now it's after 9:30 PM. Since it's a LONG flight I usually stay up for the first 4 hours or so by watching movies and having a few drinks to relax. Then with about 8 hours to go I pop ONE Ambien. I know, I know, not supposed to take with alcohol but I do. As I said-don't attack me! It's just how I do it and I don't have side effects from Ambien! I usually wake up with about 45 minutes to go so I get situated and then we land. It's a major struggle but I've spent the first day staying awake b/c I get in in the morning/early afternoon and I know if I sleep my whole cycle will be off. I usually don't do much the first day but walk around and eat. My friends have to keep me awake but it works. Then I sleep at a normal hour and the next day I'm fine and it's all good!

Returning home is definitely harder. The first time I went to Australia it took me 3 weeks to adjust. The second time it took me 1-2 weeks. Then it stopped and for the past 2 visits it took no time! I guess I got used to the trip.

In any case, have a wonderful, fabulous time and don't worry so much about the jet lag. It's a small part of the trip which I'm sure will be an awesome adventure.

Percy

Abbey43

You are right when you say "do not worry about the jet lag."

There is not much you can do about it and it is not something that is totally avoidable.

I had no trouble getting to Sydney...no jet lag at all , BUT coming back it took me a week to get back in the groove.

I envy those people that can sleep at the drop of a hat !!!

Percy