? about ambien
 

I would like to take it to sleep (I hate flying). We have 3 planes to take to get to Milan from San Diego (and then a bus, train,etc.to Varenna)

I also like wine with dinner. Is that a no-no.? Is there a safe interval between the wine and ambien?

Has anyone had a bad (or good) experience with this?

Perhaps you could just take a benadryl?

I took an Ambien on a flight to Vietnam...shortly after drinking some wine. It did the trick - I fell asleep right away I-) - and woke up some time after to use the airsick bag. :&

I recommend one or the other - not both!

If you have two connections, you'd need a flight to be at least eight hours to take Ambien. Even then, you'd have to take it immediately - if you wait for beverage and food service it will be too late.

It is definitely a no-no to combine Ambien with alcohol.

If you do get a prescription for Ambien, it's important to try it out at home first a time or two.

I used it only once on a flight - the one time I packed our dinner, ate before boarding the plane and took Ambien immediately after boarding. I did sleep most of the flight but awoke with a very stiff neck which did not subside for several days.

I do appreciate Ambien very much, however, once there. It's best, for most, and in my experience, to stay up until normal bedtime at your destination. Taking it the first night ensures you get a good night's sleep. Sometimes I take it a second or third night. But, it does not always work quickly for me. Sometimes right away, sometimes not for quite a while.

Do a search here - there have been other posts with more information.

I agree with djkbooks except for the length of flight needed to awaken from Ambien. 15mg will only put me out for 5 hours max in a coach seat. Plus, taking it after a couple of glasses of wine doesn't result badly for me. Everyone is different. Staying up until 10pm the first night and then taking anoth 10mg to ensure a full, uninterupted nights sleep completely cures my jet lag.

But you really need to be careful with Ambien. I took it on a international flight and started hallucinating after about 30 minutes. It was really horrible.
Now I take Sonata, which is much milder and stays in your system for only 4 hours so you don't have to worry about being groggy when you are going through customs.

I used Ambien once and it DIDN'T WORK for me. On subsequent overnight flights I have used Melatonin and it worked very well.

If you take Ambien, definitely don't have any alcohol! Ambien makes you feel kind of drunk on its own; any more and you might need the airsickness bag like the other poster mentioned.

I don't mean to scare you though, it doesn't make you feel sick on its own.

Make sure you leave yourself plenty of time to get over it - 5 or 6 hours is not enough. You need a minimum of 7 to clear it from your system. Finally, be careful with the dosage and try it at home (several times, preferably) first. Another poster mentioned needing 15 mg of it. I cannot imagine that!! I would die. I generally cut 1 5mg pill in half and that's enough to make me tired but not sick-feeling. 5 mg is borderline for me. 10 mg will either knock me flat on my back asleep (which I guess is the point) or make me throw up, or worse, make me constantly feel like I'm going to throw up until I finally succumb to the darkness of sleep that doesn't feel like sleep but more like purgatory. LOL. Okay, maybe that's overstating it a bit, but my point is, you want to find the lowest effective dose for you and know how it affects you well in advance of the flight.

edit: my above post should have said that it doesn't *usually* make you feel sick on its own.

Like Dukey, my experience with Ambien is that it did absolutely nothing for me whatsoever. I suggest you try it at home to see if it works with you. If you *really* want to drink some wine in flight, in your at home test, drink a bit of wine at some point (I am NOT suggesting it's ok to mix wine and ambien). However, remember you may react differently to wine at 35,000 feet and also depending on whether you've had something to eat.

I took Ambien the next night in Thailand to help get on a regular sleep pattern *wihout wine* and went right to sleep with no problems. Trying it at home first makes a lot of sense.

Wish I had thought of that! :)

While Ambien does work fine for some people, there are many others who report hallucinations and total memory black out. You might want to consider a newer product called Lunesta, which is also effective and has fewer reported problems.

With any sleep medication, definitely try it out a few days before your trip. I have no problems at all with Ambien and take it everytime I fly to Europe. As with the above, sometimes it works very fast and sometimes it takes several hours to kick in, so I always take it as soon as I get on the plane. If it works for you, you will probably end up sleeping through dinner anyhow. I definitely would advise against combining it with alcohol.

Tracy

I'm another one who tried Ambien with no success....awake the entire flight over.
I also recommend you try it at home first and maybe the new extended release would be better. Good luck.

Ambien didn't work for me either. I now use Lunesta and that does the trick.

If I am doing the math right for your 3 plane trip, you don't appear to have the length of any single flight that is needed to allow the 7 hours suggested here for the Ambien to clear your system. Doesn't that just compound the misery by forcing you to change planes while out-of-it? is there a half dose or something?

I love Ambien. I took it on a flight from NYC to Paris recently and slept the entire flight, it was great. And I didn't feel druggy/groggy when I woke up. My understanding is it takes about 5 hours to work its way out of your system. Definitely not 8! That is one of the reasons why I prefer it. I can take it on a night I know I need sleep but will have trouble, and then wake up feeling good in the morning. Other sleeping pills have left me feeling icky.

One thing to keep in mind is that Ambien is designed to help you fall asleep, not stay asleep. That's why you don't wake up feeling druggy.

Of course everyone reacts differently.

Oh, and I took a half dose on the plane rather than full.

My first time flying to Europe, my husband and I both took Ambian. He slept and I was awake the whole night. My next trip over I took Xanax, and I was much more relaxed and able to sleep. Good Luck !
P.S. One glass of wine will just relax you even more.

I would not mix Ambien and wine, that really is not a good idea. Instead Xanax or Valium (different class of drug entirely) which do not have that same negative interaction (but use both sparingly). Also Ambien has a longer lasting affect so would be cautious for a 2nd reason since you have 2 plane transfers.

People often mention benadryl, but for some (me) it has the reverse effect... wide awake and edgy, not sleepy.

Does not work for me, and I even tried Ambien CR which gave me a headache. I am a rotten sleeper anyhow and have tried most sleep medications. I think I wil invest in a biofeedback CD,,,got tto try something. Xanax helps me relax, but not sleep.

What about Tylenol PM, does that help at all with sleeping? I have a sister-in-law who swears by it.

Ask your doctor about Serex, which works much better for me than does Ambien and doesn't have the unpleasant side effects. It really helps with relaxation.

But again, no booze with pills!

strass,

Tylenol PM works for some people; the main ingredient is Benadryl, on top of Tylenol. But be aware that drinking alcohol in addition is a good way to damage your liver.

WARNING about Ambien and alcohol. A very good friend of mine took a 5mg Ambien on a NYC/London flight (her first time taking it) and the proceeded to have a half a glass of wine. Unfortunate long story short -- she started to feel sick and tried to walk over to speak to one of the flight attendants (she obviously should have rang from her seat); she proceeded to fall in the galley area and gashed her chin open. She was taken to the hospital when they arrived in London and needed quite a few stitches. NOT a good way to start your holiday.

Just have the foresight not to test any of these the night before a trip. A co-worker did and slept so long and hard he missed his flight and had to rebook. You never know how even a small amount of a drug will effect you.

Friends that regularly take Ambien insist that you start with the smallest dosage first AND that you are actually in the bed when you take it as it acts immediately. I take Benedryl when I can not sleep overseas as it helps my nose clear after a long haul flight and there are no problems with getting awake quick if there was a problem in the hotel(ie.fire.terrorism,etc.) Everyone reacts differently to a medicine but I would be careful with Ambien-friends that have relied on it have said that they have horrible dreams and feel like crap if they are not sleeping a full 8 hours after taking it.Others have said that they have started to only get about 4-5 hours on it now after taking it for awhile.Just do yourself and others a favor-please do not take it on the plane and sit near a window or door exit as the may "need" you in an emergency and you would not be helpful at all!

The only thing that truly helps me sleep on a plane on a long flight (aside from flying business class) is to stay up the night before cleaning the house. Lots of Fodorites will probably recommend it, but I prefer to wear myself out that way. It does not increase my post-landing jet lag or degree of tiredness my first day traveling. I am normally a nervous flyer, but if I've been up all night cleaning (or writing to meet a deadline), then I actually due sleep on the plane...I've even slept straight through til landing.

Plus I know I'm coming home to a clean house :-D

"I also like wine with dinner. Is that a no-no.?"

Please see my trip report and our first night in Umbria. I think if you asked our friend, Mary, she would say it is a BIG no-no! Although her Yiddish was impeccable!

http://travelswithmaitaitom.typepad.com/travels/

((H))

Oh my gosh... just read that reaport. Maitaitom... I'm really going to have to use this phrase in the future. Loved it!!

"She just happened to be out colder than Robert Downey Jr. on a drug binge."

That should have been "report"... apologies for typo!

Our first flight 5 1/2 hours...not sure what NY to Zurich is but that is the one I would have taken the Ambien. Maybe I will save it for another time. I do have some Zanex. I thank you all...

It's not necessary to sleep on an overseas flight.....just DOZE !and relax. I truly don't think it makes a lot of difference the next day, because you have to get up when it is 2 or 3 in the morning (in the US anyway) 7 or 8 AM overseas, when the plane arrives.
The biggest problem with sleep on a plane is WORRYING about it if you don't. (dozing can do wonders, and that way you can be alert and move about some....much better for the circulation!, and DVT.!

My suggestion follows Mari's above.

I used to stay up all night on overnight flights because I just *knew* I couldn't sleep. I would read, figgit around, get up and down, feel bad I wasn't asleep, get jealous of those who were...
;-)

Now my new strategy is: after dinner and a few glasses of wine, watch the movie, etc. then put on the eyeshades and headphones to soft music, use the pillow and blanket, and sit back and relax (i also take 1 xanax or valium). This gives me the most "rest" and is the most productive.

That said, a 5 hour flight is just not that long imo, I don't feel the need to go into hyper-drive hoping to sleep. And yes I definitely recommend wine on flights. I have only had good experiences with that -lol!

Wine, yes, but you're taking a risk by adding drugs.

Lois -- NY-Zurich is more than 5.5 hours. More like 8 hours.

Is it really?...8 hours?.. oh dear...thanks for the info. I really didn't read the times too carefully. I will have to think how I can handle that. I am not a great flyer. I downloaded a fear of flying course onto my ipod..no comment. Again thanks.

Some of the booking websites show actual time in the air (so you don't have to do the math taking in to account the flight time plus time change). I know my total flying time west coast US to Paris or Geneva is usually about 11 hours (9 Seattle/London plus 2 London/wherever).

I have a feeling I didn't want to know the total time, lol.

back to the Xanax you mentioned, it does have a bit of a time amnesia component... makes flights seem shorter than they really area
:-)

Time amnesia...?!! that sounds good..