N1120A

My cousin, a family practitioner, takes lorazepam (Ativan) to deal with flying long distances. Prefers it to Ambien.

flitcraft

I have a really hard time sleeping on long haul flights (traveling in coach, as I must due to employer requirements!) so I decided to try Ambien. I made an appointment at my HMO, got shuttled between physician assistants and nurses who wanted to know why I wanted Ambien (flight to Australia) and whether I had a history of using sleeping pills (nope) and was I sure that I needed Ambien (not reallly, wanted to try it though). At last I made it through the gauntlet of med-pros and got to see my doctor. I said I wanted a prescription for four doses only--one for each of the scheduled flights to or from Australia that I had coming up. Notwithstanding all of the earlier anxiety about why I might be trying to get ahold of this powerful and dangerous drug, when I said I only wanted four doses, the response was, No way, we can't issue such a small prescription.

So, in the end, I ended up with 10 tablets. Took one each way to and from Australia to LAX, and I was the person with her light on reading the whole way over while everybody else slept. Ditched the remaining 8 pills and still looking for the right sleep aid for long haul flights.

tfred

What was the dosage? 5 mg is too low for me. 10 does the trick but that is 2 pills IIRC

satman40

Ask for estazolam 2mg used to get Med student through school...been around for many a years, 1/4 works for me little wine and you are fine.

Ambien no way.

mikel51

you can get 10 mg pills, which I think is the more standard dose....I get them and then take 1/2 when I want to sleep 4-5 hours.

somethinpositiv

Not that I condone this, but you can get benzos very easily and cheaply in SE Asia. Ambien itself is difficult to get and/or expensive in Asia, but (I hear) benzos are just as effective.

GarlicFlyer

Any suggestions on countries?

Always Flyin

Cambodia.

dd1612

One can Ambien or such sleeping pills from many countries in Asia, India too.

My suggestion is not to take Ambien. It gives 4 hours of sleep, and can cause numerous problems.

Personally prefer an anxiolytic ... anxiety reducing drugs like ALPROLOZAM or Alprax.
A 0.025mg tablet with a couple glasses of wine is adequate for 3-6 hours good sleep on most flight.

nkedel

Benzodiazepines like alprazolam (better known as Xanax in the US) can cause very similar problems to Ambien (and is somewhat more likely to cause problems when combined with alcohol than the newer non-benzodiapine hypnotics.)

It is, as you note, somewhat longer-acting which can be good for longer flights but also risks more of a "hangover" effect.

I'm glad it works for you -- the main point anyone should take from these threads is "no one sleep medicine works for everyone, and you may need to work with your doctor to find one that works for you" -- a second one being, "always try these FIRST at home or another safe place on the ground, and NOT in the air or an unfamiliar hotel in a new city")

There are other shorter-acting benzodiazepines more usually used for sleep (including Restoril/temazepam or Halcion/triazolam) which would probably be better first drugs to try for most people for sleeping when traveling than the ones primarily used for anxiety (e.g. Xanax, Valium, Ativan among others.)

greggarious

I have a Xanax prescription - well the generic form, but it's the same drug. (legitimate, I have some issues that require it, luckily rarely)

Is it worth it to get an explicit "sleeping pill" rather than taking Xanax?

I sometimes use it at home when I am particuarly stressed to help sleep. I often feel groggy the next day, end up drinking coffee to get my work done, and then have a less restful sleep the next night. (This is even if I sleep a full 8 hours)

If I could find a medication with less next day that leaves me less groggy, I'd talk about it with my doctor.

nkedel

It's worth having a talk with your doctor about these issues; it may or may not prove useful to have a second medication for that.

A shorter-acting sleep drug might work better, given what you describe; I think Sonata (generic is zaleplon) is still the shortest-acting of the commonly-prescribed ones, so you might ask your doctor if it's appropriate as an alternative for sleep trouble.

If you are still going to be taking the Xanax separately for whatever the other issue is you will also want to talk to your doctor about how long you have to allow between taking one and taking the other; combining two depressive drugs is a very big no-no (in the worst case, it can kill you -- e.g. the occasional rockers who combined "booze and pills" to ill effect) -- your doctor AND the pharmacist should both bring it up, but to be on the safe side, ask!

(Good sleep hygiene, including avoiding caffeine in the afternoon and bright lights/screen time before beg, may [or may not] also help, and you can always try melatonin or over-the-counter sleep aids like diphenhydramine to see if they both (A) work and (B) have less of a hangover effect for you, but if you're already needing to use the Xanax for it your best bet is definitely to talk to your doctor.)

caveat: I am not a doctor, and that's not medical advice. I've just had a lot of sleep trouble of my own over the years.

greggarious

Unfortunately, I've found doctors tend to hand out medication like candy, so I'd rather walk in and say "Based on X, Y, and Z facts I'd like a prescription for (drug)", rather than just say I want something to make me sleep on planes and have them pick seemingly at random and then have me try a new one if the first doesn't work.

greggarious

How much Xanax did you take? Because I've had issues w/ it leaving me groggy the next day.

nkedel

If you're not concerned with drug interactions, and don't find your own doctor helpful, the data here might be a start, and I'd have a look at the drug data sheets to confirm it:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_benzodiazepines
Sonata (zaleplon) and Halcion (triazolam) have by far the shortest time in your blood and are the least likely to leave most people groggy. Sonata is far more likely to be prescribed these days, so just based on "Xanax works for me but leaves me groggy," that's what I'd ask for.

Ambien will have a shorter half-life than Xanax, and might be the next step if you find that Sonata doesn't last long enough.