What does everyone do to manage the long trip from the US to Italy? My Dr. gave me some Lunesta to try but I am curious to hear about other methods.

Ciaozzzzzzzzzzzzz,

Lucci

lunesta works for me. Nothing else except ambien does anything for me.

Melatonin. All natural and it helps you to get to sleep within half hour without long lasting effects. It's just to get to sleep, it doesn't leave you tired when you wake up or prevent you from waking up.

I second Melatonin! I've used it for years(nightly at home). I double it for flights to be assured of good sleep. I use 300mcg, not 1 or 3 mg. The higher dose leaves me drowsy the next day but that could be just me.

Hi L,

Buy 2 gin and tonic. Drink the gin. Save the tonic for when you wake up.

My doctor (Doctor Dewars) has really medicated me nicely for the trip.

Whatever you decide to use, try it out before your trip. I tried melatonin and ended up with night terrors. Fortunately I did try it at home first, or it could have made things interesting for the rest of the passengers and the flight crew.

Oh, and you can increase your natural melatonin levels by wearing a sleep mask or otherwise blocking out any ambient light. Even the dim light from a clock radio will reduce melatonin production.

Benedryl works wonders for me, that and a couple cocktails guarantees sleeping through the flight.

Tylenol PM also works.

Lunesta/Ambien make me feel groggy the next day.

I 2nd the idea of trying at home 1st--not every product works the same for everyone.

Don't experiment on the airplane! Good advice above.

For me Benedryl and Tylenol PM made me extremely "wired", just the opposite of what it's supposed to do.

I am less concerned about trying to sleep on the plane (because I never have and likely never will), but to get adjusted to the new time zone the first couple nights. For that I simply use Valium and a glass or 3 of wine.

"Valium and a glass or 3 of wine."

Bad combo!

Different methods work differently for each person so definitely experiment beforehand.

I always use Ambien; I sleep about 6 hours on the plane and wake up feeling refreshed. Melatonin and Tylenol PM are useless for me. If I do sleep, its only for a few hours and I'm left feeling extremely groggy for hours.

Tracy

My 12 Year old son has taken Melatonin 3 MG for 1-2 years with no problems, he even started his friend on them especially at the end of summer when it's time to get back to a regular sleeping schedule and not staying up past midnight. My husband uses them too, and they both are fine in the morning it justs helps them to get to sleep. We are definitely taking on our trip to Italy to hopefully get us past jet lag and different time zones.

I'm probably going to get some grief for suggesting this, but I have used Halcyon prescribed by my doctor. They work quickly and leave me with no "hangover" effect. I ask my doctor for just enough for the flight over and the way back. I never slept well on planes, so this allows me to sleep well and arrive all bright eyed and ready to go.

Hayclon worked well for me also, but because of its many side-effect problems it is not as oftenly prescribed lately.

Lucci- As you see from these posts, what is one person's "bad combo" works fine for someone else. What some people swear by, has a horrible effect on other people.

Tylenol PM "wired" me, too. I couldn't sleep a wink.

My doctor, too, gave me a Lunestra 7-day trial prescription. I tried one at home to be sure of what it would do to me, and it was great--no side effects at all. I took one on the plane to Italy and slept about 3-1/2 hours and dozed another 1/2 hour. On my first night in Italy, I took another one, slept the night through, and did not experience any jet lag at all.

In the past, I have had a lot of trouble with going to sleep all right on my arrival night but waking at 1:00 or 2:00 am and not being able to go back to sleep, so I love Lunesta. I told the doctor, who has the same problem, that I'm hoarding the rest of the pills; and he said, "Well, we can get some more!"

The bad combo I was speaking of was mixing Valium (diazapam, a benzodiazapam) with even very small amounts of alcohol. A very small dose of valium and even a moderate amount of alcohol taken together can sometimes have disasterous effects...and I'm not talking about hallcinating, I'm talking lethal.

Valium, ( diazapam , a benzodiazopine)!

I use Ambien, Lunesta or Sonato.

The over the counter stuff gives me a bad hangover and I am groggy for a day after.

I took a Valium once and was out for 16 hours and out of it for a day.

Try before you go.

I can never sleep on the overnight flights to Europe, and don't ever expect to, so I just forget about it.
However, melatonin works for me at home, and I sometimes take it abroad for the first few nights.

As I've gotten older, I have sleeping problems, but really don't want to take Ambien or the other sleeping pills. I remember my mother (who was a chronic insomniac) taking pills and I had a heck of a time waking her up in the mornings sometimes. Just the thought of that keeps me away from them! I have asked all my doctors (and I have quite a few at this point!) about melatonin, and they all say it's perfectly fine to take. At least it works for me, with no ill effects.