Sleeping pill will increase jet lag?

Question

Tomorrow, I'm going to fly from hong kong to san francisco. It's supposed to be a 15 hour flight and i was deciding if i should take a sleeping pill because i have a really hard time sleeping in planes or cars. Lately, i've been researching about jet lag and i was wondering if the sleep pill would make jet lag even more severe. Any replies will be much appreciated :)

Answer 1

I'm a former Flight Attendant who used to live in Hong Kong and work that route. Since I'm from S.F., I flew it as a passenger too.

What you don't want to do is take the pill when you're supposed to be awake in S.F. I would discuss this with your doctor too. Remember that all drugs are stronger in the air so make sure it's something you've already taken *on the ground* first. There are no ER's at 30,000ft over the Pacific and I've had some scary incidents with passed out passengers in the air. Everyone was fine but we couldn't wake one woman who was an awful grey color (a doctor assured us she'd be okay when the drugs wore off). She woke up in bad shape but was able to get off the plane herself. As you can guess, I'm not a big proponant of sleeping pills in the air.

An alternative, and what I used to do, is take melatonin when you get there. This is not strictly a sleep aid but a chemical you already have in your brain that induces sleep. It's usually brought on by the sun setting and blind people sometimes take it since they can't see light.

Read up on it and I recommend buying it in 1mg tablets, rather than 3mg's to start off. The only side effect were bad dreams, which some of my coworkers had. I noticed mine were a bit more vivid but my problem wasn't falling asleep but *staying* asleep once I reached my destination. This helped with that.

It's a long flight but keep in mind that resting with your eyes closed is almost as good as sleep. I use a neck pillow and wax (not sponge) ear plugs to really block out the sound. I like eye shades too which had padding around the edges to not squish my eyelids. I want to say to not drink alcohol but one drink could help you relax. More than one will mean unrestful sleep and/or trips to the lav. One works magic but more racks havoc!

So good luck and hope you get some sleep!

Answer 2

unless you know how it will effect you and have taken one before I would not advise you could be groggy for a long time after you wake.

I have had good results by setting my watch to the destination time zone as soon as I wake on the travel day.

Answer 3

I've taken Nytol (over the counter, no prescription required in UK) and that worked for me for a long flight - I actually slept for most of it rather than getting the usual hour or two of restless napping.

On arrival I was fine - but it is important to adjust to the new time zone as soon as possible. That means eating and sleeping at the right times for the new time zone, no matter how you feel otherwise. Avoid caffeine and alcohol, and keep hydrated with water or juice. Don't eat anything heavy like red meat or greasy like fast food.

If you take a sleeping pill, bear this in mind so that when you wake up you have a full "day" ahead of you.

Answer 4

I guess it depends on what kind of sleeping pill it is. If it is something mild that doesn't make you feel crummy after 4 to 6 hours of sleep, then I think it would be a good idea. I flew from LA to Australia(14 &1/2 hrs) and took a mild one so I could sleep. I felt great when I got to Australia. The other thing that helps prevent jet lag is to drink water, not coke or coffee or alcohol. I bring a neck pillow too. I was amazed how the time went by. it wasn't too bad of a flight at all.