I typically use Ambien but picked up some Imovane (Zopiclone-base) in Bangladesh (7.5mg). No Rx required. It's very effective for me. It did leave a metallic taste, but big deal...I rinse away the taste in the morning. At least I get a good night's sleep.

There are lots of online pharmacies that will handle both the prescription and the sale. You fill out a brief questionnaire for the prescription part and then you purchase the Ambien. I did that a few years ago just because I didn't want to bother my doctor with it. I'm not sure this procedure complies with all applicable laws, but I'm not losing any sleep over it. We're talking about Ambien, not oxycodone.

No puns intended, I'm sure. :p

For longer flights I prefer Lunesta, only bad thing is the nasty taste in my mouth the next day. I use Ambien on the shorter flights but take half when I get my main course and the other half once I am finished and works great.

By the way if you go for Lunesta here is a link where you can download a coupon for a free 7 day trial. Just print it and take it to your Doctor.

http://www.lunesta.com/

Ambien CR has a free trial as well
https://www.ambiencr.com/register_no...ree-trial.aspx

slippahs is right on the money! Try 'em at home first, be sure you consult with your health practitioner - not every medication is for every one - and check the effects very carefully. At least one medication some flyers use has anterograde amnesia as a side effect; make an unscheduled early landing, e.g. Gander instead of London, and you may not be compos mentis. And be very, very cautious about mixing most of these with alcohol - they are often potentiated by alcohol, so rather than a "1+1 = 2" you may have a "1+1=8" effect.

OTOH, there are IMO alternative, better and more natural ways to deal with flying and jet lag that are entirely natural, using your diet and preparation. The most notable is probably the "jet lag" diet developed for the Argonne National Laboratory by Dr. Charles Ehret, which has been used by military and global diplomatic workers. I use a modified Argonne diet and do not use any medication; in the military, I used to be on global two hour alert - from the US West Coast, we could be on our way to anywhere in the world within two hours, and had to be fully functional on arrival; we were only called out when the local folks could not handle a critical issue.

I can easily acclimate myself to local time (e.g. SFO-LHR-JNB, with the diet and getting as much natural light in the afternoon, hitting bed at 9 - 10 PM I awake at my normal hour of 6 AM and am ready to go.) Basically, using the Argonne / Ehret diet you use your body's natural biochemical and photochemical cycles to work for you, not against you, when you cross several time zones.

They will calculate the diet for you or you can use the link that says "Free - How to do it yourself." I find I don't have to be too exact in the application of this diet, but merely follow the main ideas.

My job requires I monitor AE's on drugs. Taking these drugs just to sleep on a plane is stupid!

When people say go see your doc for a script - they surely do not mean the campus health service. :D You will have to go see a doc off campus

It all depends on your doc. I was 100 percent honest with mine and thought I'd need something stronger but he swore by Xanax and now I do too. Allows me to doze peacefully across the Atlantic even if chaos is reigning around me.

Ambien plus Alcohol
 

Ambien has a warning to not take it with alcohol. I am told that the reason for the warning is that alcohol increases the effect. Usually, that is exactly what I want, so I usually have a glass of wine with my overseas flight and take the Ambien right after the meal. Typically, I wake up about the time that they are handing out the customs cards. Perfect. Once on a hellish Air France flight where I was seated in non-reclining seats next to the toilet, I took 15mg of Ambien (1+1/2 pills) plus wine. I don't even remember the flight yet I woke up alert and refreshed just as they are handing out the customs cards.

So I did it again and tried both Ambien CR and Ambien before a few pressure cooker days where I needed to get sleep. Apparently, according to the brochure of both, Ambien CR and Ambien both release the same amount of its active ingredient in the first hour. So I thought the effects might be the same. But, still yet, Ambien CR took an hour longer (so roughly 1.5 hours) than Ambien regular to get me sleeping. I also experienced the side effects of nausea and elevated heartbeats with CR that I didn't with regular Ambien. The SO knows a few MDs. I guess I should ask. But it's nice to know (or I guess in this case, reaffirm) that CR doesn't work for me and regular Ambien does.

I've taken Ambien on a flight after a couple of glasses of wine, with no noticeable effects of the combination.

I hope you know what the side effect of Desyrel is. . .

Here is a good point - there are 5mg and 10mg tablets of both the branded med and the generic. I find 5mg does it for me (or even half of one of those with a few drinks).

Ambien is called Maisuri (マイスリ) here Richard, my doctor doesn't seem shy in handing them out. In fact I've had no problem being prescribed even Rohypnol here.
I must echo the warnings of others here, test them out at home first. I find it easy to resisit the urge to sleep with Ambien and by doing that you can gain (or I can at least) considerable "recreational effects" accompanied by a certain degree of amnsesia in the morning. Ymmv. Just be aware.

I also called my doc, and told him I had an 11 hour flight after which I had to get off the plane at 10am and work all day, and so I had to sleep, which I never am able to do on the 6 to 7 hour flights I take to Europe.

He gave me a script for Zolpidem 10mg which is the USA generic for Ambien, along with an instruction to try a half a pill one night, and a whole pill a few nights later before my flight.

It worked like a charm on an 11 hour flight from Chicago to Buenos Aires, I was out right after wheels up and slept about 8 hours like a rock. Got off the plane rested and refreshed, went to work, had a full and productive day, and was quite happy about the whole thing.

Back to the original question, why would you concoct a story for a doctor who is prescribing you a medication? Don't you want the right med for the right purpose?