i would try ebay, too.

Downing Ambien with your bottle of Dom ?! I bet the prescription bottle recommends that ...

Well, I'm not a doctor but....

I find Ambien personally much less effective on a full stomach. Usually, I take 15-20mg right after takeoff on a fairly empty stomach, and have no trouble sleeping an entire 7 hour flight. It's a godsend for me.

My recipe includes upgrading as far as I can, of course, and using seatguru.com and other aids to select the best seat (as a 196 cm / 6'4" pax, "limited recline" translates as "medieval torture"...) and finding how to best accommodate myself, pillow(s), seat.

Relatively fast during flight day, no caffeine, light on food / alcohol and heavy on water (NEVER from an aircraft tap, of course :eek: .) Take an aspirin flight day - even some Olympic athletes arriving in SYD had DVT! No other chemicals for me, thanks; sometimes I'm already taking antimalarials, I dive and anterograde amnesia is not something I want to experience. If you choose to use chemicals, be very thorough in checking them out...

I choose loose, comfy clothing with a light, compressible Polartec jumper I can use in the occasional a/c the Captain decides is better as a flying 'fridge. Loose, easily removed shoes, which I remove in flight (and often at airside security), with warm cushion-sole and support socks. I often use my carry-on for my feet instead of the leg / seat rest.

My sleep mask (too many amenity kits specialize in cheap masks with elastic that breaks, socks that fit people with tiny feet,) and my Bose QC2 headphones (I usually use 'em sans cord, just for the quieting).

Set my watch to destination time as we depart over the runway threshold and try to act as if I am on that time zone, in terms of sleep, wakefulness, IFE, etc. Fasten seat belt OVER blanket, so F/A's don't have to wake me every time we have hints of turbulence. I've been known to use a sticky name tag with "NO MEAL - PLEASE DO NOT WAKE" on my aisle-side shoulder as well.

Try to sleep - naps if it's day east-to-west, full sleep if it's redeye. When I wake, do progressive relaxation - that gets me back to zzz pretty quickly, but even relaxing helps.

When I get "there", if it's late, try to hit the sack at about 9:00PM / 21:00, and get up at my usual 6:00AM. If I arrive during the day, try for light food, activity, as much afternoon sun as I can get to stimulate my pineal gland and hit the sack as above.

When I get up at 6:00, have a large brekkies, even if I normally don't do large brekkies, and 2-3 cups of coffee, plan an active day.

This usually works pretty well, and by day 2 I am on local time, waking normally at 6:00 AM as at home - even after flying SFO - JFK - JNB, BNE - AKL - LAX or NRT - SJC. :cool:

What doesn't help - Air Pacific flight Nazis who announce over the P.A. that we are about to have turbulence and you must fasten your seat belts, several times, instead of walking Tabua class and checking. :p Waking me, even with a "DO NOT DISTURB" look and sticky, to see if I want to buy Duty Free! :rolleyes: Trying to force me to stay up 'way late, and then to keep in my seat and dark during daylight destination time (SA used to specialise in this!) :mad:

So, "what chemicals" means for me "no chemicals". Your physiology and mileage may vary, but I've done fairly well with this system, taking my last half-century of flying to perfect it - for me. :D

Funny that so few mention neck support on this thread. To me it is more important than almost anything else, especially when flying in economy class!!!

I swear by my Komfort Kollar.

I bought the inflatable kind for about $25, and it is worth every penny and more. It supports your neck MUCH better than ordinary inflatable neck pillows, and permits comfortable naps.

Comes in small, medium, and large neck sizes, so choose carefully.


Kathy

I had a nice travel pillow, a long skinny thing that could be folded or smushed all kinds of ways. I've finally given up on locating it and started on a new one that is very much like you describe. The temporary "squash up something and shove it next to your head" wasn't really doing it.

I can't stand having anything close around my neck in the front, so the one you have won't do. But I sat down and made up something tonight and I'll give it a try this weekend. It's a firm U shaped roll, it looks quite a lot like a fat bum roll for anyone familar with historic costume. Right now I've got tie cords to hold it together in front but I might replace that with a snap buckle and web strap.

My first attempt looked more like it belonged in the lav instead (the bathroom white color didn't help any.) I expect to tweak this one as well after I try it out. I've got a removable cover from a nice piece of Thai silk I picked up recently. I love my sewing machine!

A decent pillow is the difference between "maybe sleep a little" and "might as well get some exercise". I am pretty good at sleeping sitting at home because I sometimes need to do that if I have a bad cold. But the sofa isn't prone to bouncing around, even if I do now live in an earthquake zone.

I'm 6-7, 280#...so there is no possible way. Even if I do doze off - some part of my body is going to lose circulation