Yes, I will stick with what I know works for me. I will take only a dramamine for the flight, hopefully that will make me sleepy too. I will not take anything else.

I do get jet lag traveling, and will take my Advil PM for the hotel nights until I adjust. The prescription meclizine only take during the days as needed :)

I am not taking my transderm scop patch, turns me into a zombie.

Our flights to Europe from Texas usually leave around 5pm. I put my sunglasses on around 3pm to simulate darkness & I set my watch ahead to the time of wherever we are going. I still get jet lag pretty bad, but cutting down the light helps me relax & get to sleep a bit quicker on the plane.

I agree about the scop patch. I get motion sickness & used one on a sailing trip that I really don't remember hardly anything!

tlbrenn:

I totally agree with all those above who have suggested a trial run of what you intend to take. I loved the "Nothing new on race day," J62.

And along those lines, given all the factors in your health, instead of just asking your doctor, I'd actually ask for input from a pharmacist. In fact, I'd ask a slew of pharmacists.*

<i>*I'm coming from recent experience here. I had some doctor-prescribed meds a few months ago that screwed up my whole gastrointestinal system, and my various doctors meant well but were of little help in getting things straightened out.

So I started dropping into pharmacies and asking questions there. There was a BIG difference in the types of answers--and I liked it that the pharmacists asked me questions for some reason my doctors did not. </i>

As to the other responses above:

Anyone who says getting over jet lag is a personal thing is totally right because even within my family, we all have different things that work for us.

Here is what we agree upon in our family, most of which you have also seen above:

--<b>Eat BEFORE the plane, not ON the plane.</b>
If we somehow snag Business Class, we will eat--but it will be the Express Meal.

--<b>Warn the attendant you are going nighty-night ASAP and indicate if they should rouse you for breakfast.</b>
Ahem, you will NOT be interested in Duty Free.

--<b>Wear comfy clothes with the idea that you can prepare for all cabin temperatures. </b>
My attempt at travel chic is that I wear a nice all-black outfit with a nice scarf. The pants stretch, the top breathes--and I always have some Polartec jacket stashed in my carry-on just in case they lower the temp to Artic.

--<b>Have control over sight and sound in a way that works for you.</b>
Examples: I hate eye-masks, but a scarf over my head seems not to drive me crazy; ear plugs bother me but over-the-ear headphones do the trick--I just program in ocean waves.

--As to drugs, <b>we are all into Benadryl (brand or generic)</b>.
The drug's real component is diphenhydramine, the basis for the sleepy part of Advil PM and Tylenol PM. So unless one needs a painkiller, the Advil and Tylenol parts are totally unnecessary. We just want sleep--and we want it fast. I take Zyrtec every night for allergies so just subbing Benadryl for that night's dosage works out great.
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For the day of arrival...
...we have learned to expect that we will not get into our room before noon, and in a worse-case scenario, will not be able to get in until around 3.

We therefore make that first day our "homework" day: get a SIM card for our phones; buy products that we didn't pack; check with tourist offices, buy rail tickets or passes, etc.

And we walk, walk, walk.

But unlike others above, we DO aim to nap that day because we usually are heading out for a cycling trip within 24-48 hours that will require getting up before 7 a.m. for the week.

We have to make sure our bodies are rested before we hit the road, or we will literally hit the pavement from lack of sleep.

To that end, we make an early dinner reservation for our first night (7 pm or just a tad later) and try to indulge in good sack time until it's time to get up to eat that night.

We often will walk after dinner until we know we will sleep well, but there's always another dose of Benadryl to take if we are not ready.

Somehow we're pretty good the next day.

Advil PM = Benadryl with ibuprofen. If you don't need the ibuprofen, just buy generic diphenhydramine for a fraction of the price.

You can use that on the plane too it is also helpful for motion sickness {assuming you are taking the dramamine for motion sickness??}

Let me offer some info on melatonin. Melatonin will help re-set your body clock if you are a melatonin-responder. Approx 30% of people are not melatonin responders. It is most effective when used in conjunction with behavioral techniques. It is NOT helpful to take on the plane. It will help you fall asleep an at appropriate hour in your new destination when taken at bedtime. You then need to expose yourself to bright light as early as possible in the morning and that will reinforce the time change.

If you are a melatonin responder, you would want to take the melatonin for the first three nights in a new time zone at approximately the same time each night, then get outside into the sunlight in the morning.

Given your situation, I'm not sure it would be helpful to you.