Suze-
You raise a good point about some people having a paradoxical reaction to benedryl or Tylenol PM. My wife is such a person.

However, benedryl is available OTC while Xanax requires a prescription and is not available to all. Also, it can become habit-forming.

suze, I thought I might be the only one that has that reaction to Tylenol PM. If I take one, I wake up around 4AM just absolutely buzzing. It is very uncomfortable so of course I don't take them anymore.

I took a red eye only once, and came home and slept for 4 hours, and I was fine. From the west coast if I were to take a daytime flight I would arrive late in the afternoon or evening so I did feel that I gained some productive time at home.

Simply Sleep is Tylenol PM without the Tylenol. Same company and same reaction, but without the pain killer. The rec. dosage is 2, but I find that just one does the trick, and allows me to sleep fairly soundly. These are OTC and in my experience, not habit forming.

They do allow me to get a few hours sleep on the long west to east night flight to Europe and start off my first day at decent speed.

Hard to tell if you'll be able to sleep, if you've never done a red eye. I can sleep anywhere, so for me a red eye is totally fine.

HOWEVER....you got some good tips here. I have ahd terrible trouble sleeping on flights where there was a screaming baby. Not knocking babies, it's just that that will keep you up unless you take some of the medications suggested.

I've actually gotten accustomed to redeyes as I often have to take them for work and head straight to work once the plane lands, i.e. work a day on the east coast USA, get the 6:30PM redeye to Europe for work in the morning. The thing I like is there are few children and mostly businesspeople, not a bunch of rowdy drunken firemen on their way to Vegas or Myrtle Beach (been there). In order to sleep I make sure I don't nap during the day (if it's a day off) and on the day I land, force myself to stay up the whole day and not crash right after work and sleep 12 hours straight or wake up wide wake at 3AM, basically try and stay on a normal schedule even with the time zone change.

I use red eyes a lot from the West Coat to the East Coast as I prefer them to loosing the whole day to a day flight.

However, I have two factors that really allow this to work well for me:

- I can sleep on planes (for that matter I could sleep standing up in a corner). If you can't sleep on planes you may have a problem with the red eye.

- I don't sleep much in general (5 hours a night). I usually get about 3-4 hours of sleep on a red eye as I'm awake for take off and landing.

Note that most prescription sleep aids are designed for longer periods of sleep than are an option even if you sleep "gate to gate".

If you don't easily sleep on planes and don't function well on a short nights sleep, a red eye could really wipe you out.

DH and I were bi-coastal for almost six years. I would take the red-eye, SFO to EWR about every six weeks. I brought my own "squishy" pillow, batik sarong (blanket), ear plugs, propped my feet up on my tote bag (after proper stowage for take-off), popped a tylenol PM and zzzzzz out. I did find a short nap (on the train from ewr to New Brunswick) had me ready to go for the day.

Wear eyeshades. They make a big difference, imo.

My advice on a 6:30 am arrival is to take a 90 minute nap from maybe 9:30am to 11. Anything longer than 90 mins and you will not be able to get to sleep later that night, your whole schedule may be off for days. Anything less than 90 min and you'll be groggy all day. 90 min is just enough to keep you coherent for the day yet good and tired enough later that night to fall into a good sleep & get back on track.

So, if you can arrive at work late that day, maybe noon...I'd say try it. Otherwise you're getting an extra day of vacation, yes, but basically losing a day when you get back and also maybe finding it hard to get re-clocked for the next 2 or 3 days.

I once did a red eye flight from Honolulu to Newark. It was the only non-stop available on that route, so we used miles and money to upgrade to First Class.

I slept sporadically (about 3-4 hours total) because the First Class chairs did not recline completely flat. It still is not as good as a good nights sleep in a bed.

Will you be able to function the next day?? That depends on YOU. How much sleep do you need?? With the time difference, you're only going to get about 4-5 hours of sleep. Can you function on that?? Only you can answer that. I know I probably could. But everybody is different. Sometimes you just can't go to sleep on a plane even if it's a red eye. Just hope and pray that you don't end up sitting by some darn noisy kid(s) or some inconsiderate adult that insists on talking during most of the flight!

I have done it for just the reason you are--preserving vacation time. You need to remember that 3 hours of that flight is "non-existent"--time change. So re-set your watch when you get to the airport and realize it is 1AM when you board. Get thee to sleep as best you can. Taking a half a Benadryl might help you to sleep.

Thanks to all the great suggestions! We decided to go for it - and will plan on taking a short nap once we get home. I will hope for a quiet flight and no babies!

I'm sorry, I must repost because I was WRONG. I just did a red eye from ORD to CDG on American Airlines. it was my first flight on American after avoiding them for the last 10 years. Although the service was better, the seats are still crampy. OK, I'm overweight but not huge. This is the only plane whose armrests graze my a$$ as I try to slide into the seat. "Try" because the distance between seats is so close. Forget sleeping on an American Airlines flight, with or without drugs. ugh.

I have done several red eyes and I don't sleep a wink. My husband on the other hand sleeps like baby.
We flew all night from Hawaii and he slept the entire flight just after the little meal.
I watched all the movies. You may want to try a tylenol pm one night before your trip. I never tried them. But I would try it out before I left. Good luck

I've done many red eyes and hate em, but it does give you another day if you don'y have to be too awake.
Eye mask, ear plugs and ambien are a must. The other type of sleep aids give me a sleep hang over that is worse then just being sleepy.
I'll be on a red eye on my way back from HI.

I wouldn't have a problem with the flight and being awake the next day, but I would have a problem with being a "productive employee" because I'm always so excited after my trips. I need a few days to just come down from the high before I can settle into boring work again.

Night flights are my favorite preference because it is not so bright, often quiet and restful. I plan ahead for the time change and begin to adjust my sleeping before I leave. I never worry if I sleep onboard or not, simply relax and rest. Arriving, I try to stay awake to sleep at the best time for my visit and plans. I too take Benadryl or the motion sickness pill, it always puts me to sleep with out waking grogy. I can't remember babies, but there must be.

If you take a red eye flight, the only way severe fatigue does not set in is if you take a nap both before and during your flight.

I have done plenty of red-eye flights, and red-eye-ish flights....some arriving at 9:30am the next day, after starting my journey at 4pm the previous day, some flights at 7pm, and arriving at 10am the next day.

I found the flight that was the hardest, weirdly, was the night flight, and primarilly because I woke up at my normal time during the day and did not take a nap during the day, or sleep much during my flight.

Hi jtdsign, I do this all the time, and let me tell you it's exhausting! I would only recommend this flight if you are working a half day the day of arrival, or have the stamina to stay up for 24+ hours since by the time you arrive home, it's really "only" 3:30 am for your recently adjusted body clock. That is, if I read your post correctly, you mean to go to work right off your flight. Which I have also done quite a few times.

If you can, I would recommend "wasting" a day. Take a 4pm flight so you can get home by midnight or so. That's what I did on my last trip, and what I'll be doing on my next flights home from CA.