Ambien for a 10 hour overnight flight

[Catnapper]

I'm taking a 10 hour overnight flight that will depart at 4 pm my time, and arrive at 9 am local time at my destination. I usually take 10 mg around 9 pm as I am an early riser, and have been taking it for about two years, always the 10 mg dose. I want to take some Ambien so I can hopefully sleep on the flight, and not spend my whole week away getting over jet lag.

Has anyone used Ambien on an overnight flight before? Do you think I should take a half dose? Although I guess it won't make much difference if I'm in a deep sleep, as there's no chance of an emergency landing over the ocean. I don't know if I snore or not, maybe I'll ask the people around me as we're taxi-ing to the gate after landing...

[crtclms]

I don't have a ton of experience with Ambien, but I personally would be nervous about taking a full dose. The retrograde amnesia would worry me, and to a lesser extent, the hallucinations would concern me. But I stopped taking it because I didn't like it in the first place.

And people do survive water landings, it just isn't as common. Maybe "Sully" will be flying your plane, and will be able to land it.

[justme04]

i would say it would all depend on how the ambien effects you. if you're weary about taking a full dose, then only take half.

[AirMarshall]

Yeah, [a member] did it on a redeye flight and ended up being taken off the flight by the police and being hospitalized for a day! Ask her!

Do NOT take hypnotics on an airplane! Safety is the reason.

-If the plane has to ditch, has a fire or has a crash landing you need to be fully alert and in full control of your faculties to save yourself and your fellow passengers.

-Even if the flight goes normally, you can endanger yourself and others.

A better alternative is to take an anxiolytic like a beta blocker, xanax, ativan, klonopin, etc. Ask your pdoc for advice.

a.m.

p.s. For gosh sakes don't drink any alcohol. The intoxicating effects are multiplied by the lowered oxygen at higher cabin altitudes.

Edited by Stacia to remove member's name.

[Anna]

Gosh, my mom takes ambien on flights all the time to avoid jetlag and sleep through a red eye..... when i get on flights i take ativan, mainly because i'm a nervous flyer.... so i don't like, combine that with ambien, heh. it doesn't put me completely to sleep though, just stops me from being a crazy mess.

i probably would not hesitate to take ambien on a flight if i didn't have a fear of flying thing..... i mean, hell, whatever. i have a fatalistic attitude towards plane crashes. maybe that's bad, heh.

i don't do weird stuff on ambien though, like sleepwalk and etc. if i did, there would be no way in hell I'd take that drug, period, let alone on a plane.

i would expect, however, given my reaction to the drug, that someone would pretty much have to carry me off a burning plane, really. i would not wake up. given the relative risks of flying (intellectually) though, it's not something i'd really worry about. i mean hell, it's probably more dangerous to take ambien as a passenger on a long car trip as car accidents are far more frequent.....

Anna

[AnneMarie]

Will you sleep on a lower dose? If not, then bail on that plan.

If it actually worked for me, I think I'd take it but probably a little early in case it lasted longer. (I have no idea about that.)

ETClarify: About it lasting longer.

[bpladybug]

I would take half a dose, or take an increased Xanax dose. Regarding the effects of Ambien if I can get up, go downstairs, forage in the refrigerator, and go back to bed leaving chicken bones and empty Ben and Jerry's pint cartons in my wake - well I guess I can follow people down the aisle and jump on the slide to exit. Actually the great risk for me would not be in a flight emergency, but rather walking around in my sleep when flight attendants and air marshallls were telling me to sit down. I could actually get in trouble.

[Cetkat]

Taking a sleeping med that could cause you do act inappropriately/dangerously in your sleep and not allow you to wake up if need be is dangerous. The suggestion from bpladybug about Xanax (in particular) is actually a pretty good idea - if you have a pdoc/gdoc that would be ok with rx'ing a limited amount.. like even a couple pills - 0.25mg perhaps. That would definitely help you sleep and you should be fine, albeit slightly groggy if something should happen. You could try a test run of it by taking that instead of your Ambien one night, setting an alarm, and seeing how you react.

[bpladybug]

Taking a sleeping med that could cause you do act inappropriately/dangerously in your sleep and not allow you to wake up if need be is dangerous. The suggestion from bpladybug about Xanax (in particular) is actually a pretty good idea - if you have a pdoc/gdoc that would be ok with rx'ing a limited amount.. like even a couple pills - 0.25mg perhaps. That would definitely help you sleep and you should be fine, albeit slightly groggy if something should happen. You could try a test run of it by taking that instead of your Ambien one night, setting an alarm, and seeing how you react.

That makes sense, if you don't take benzo's. A trial run with Xanax, and the little .25 mgs so you can carefully control the dose. Since I wrote my post above about sleep walking and eating with Ambien....the more scary the thought becomes for a flight. Especially if I was traveling alone, or with anyone other than my husband.

[LynnK]

Man, I'm glad for this post. I'm taking a Chinatown bus between cities in a few weeks, and I was planning on taking the 1AM bus because it's only $1, but I figured it'd be okay 'cause I could sleep thanks to Ambien. Yay for Crazy Boards. I hadn't considered the possible dangers.

[water]

Just wanted to add my 2 cents for what they are worth:

Around 5 years ago my daughter and I flew to Israel and one of the woman traveling with us took an ambien for the flight. I had been offered one by a friend but this was a number of years before I started taking meds and was too scared to try. I was so jealous of this woman. Due to talking, noises, activity, etc, I did not sleep at all and it took me days and days to recover. This lady slept like a lamb and was up refreshed before the flight landed, and was the only one of our party who was able to function at all during the first stop on our tour.

An even longer time ago I took half an ambien in Paris, trying to sleep off jet lag. It kept me up all night long. Now that I take ambien for sleep, I never ever take half a pill. It was like the medication fed my body such a small amount all it did was keep me active and awake. It was awful.

Over the past 3 months I traveled alone across the country and really wanted to take my ambien. I was warned off this for two reasons: I had a stopover so the longest flight time was just under 6 hours. And I was traveling alone. So instead I took my valium and it worked wonderfully. I was able to sleep. I did not sleep very long however, but it was a deep refreshing sleep.

So.....I would take the ambien if it was me. Overseas, 10 hours? Yes, definitely. Take it at the beginning of the flight. Maybe tell your seatmate or the stewardess that you will be sleeping heavily, so someone keeps an eye on you.

[Seniortooold]

I really thought someone would bring up the issue of DVT (blood clots in the legs) resulting from long flights without exercise. Over 20 years ago when I first started flying to Europe (10+ hours)regularly I found I didn't sleep on planes. So about 1988 I asked my doctor for a sleeping pill for my next flight(Halcion was the go to drug then). It was great--I slept all the way from St.Louis. MO to Paris, France. The only problem was my legs had swollen to twice their normal size (I had had no similar previous symptoms nor any risk factors for DVT) To make a short story shorter, I spent the first 3 days of my French vacation with my feet raised above my heart and making several frantic phone calls to my internist in the states. There is a reason all the airlines give exercises on the safety cards to prevent blood pooling in your ankles. I have ALWAYS since then got up and walked the aisles of the plane every hour and spend at least every 2 hours standing up (and trying to discretely as possible to stretch my back,etc.). Also whether this is apropo or not, it was Halcion (related to Valium, etc) that George Bush I took the night before he threw up in the Japanese Prime Minister's lap at a state dinner! Of course, it was the Halcion, right?

Just one more comment! At least twice my brother (who did have lots of risk factors)went directly from the San Francisco airport to a hospital for treatment for DVT. So please. be aware of all the possibilities if you choose to take a sleeping pill for a long flight.

[bpladybug]

Thanks for that excellent point, SenorTodd.

[saveyoursanity]

Personally I'd do it. Then again I'm 25 and I think I'm invincible.

Edited to add: I wouldn't mix it with alcohol or other sedative medications, and I sure as hell would make sure I knew exactly how ambien affected me were I to be woken early.

[Catnapper]

Thanks for all the replies. After weighing all the options, I went ahead and took my regular 10 mg dose, and am glad I did as I slept the whole flight and didn't have any jet lag to speak of. The people in the seat behind me even commented on how deeply I slept as we were waiting to get off the flight.

I decided to take it for a few different reasons:

1. Although I sleep deeply on Ambien, I am able to get up in the night to pee if I need to, and remember it the next day, so it must not knock me out the way it does some people.

2. I have never had sleep talking or walking, or eating, or any of the other more unusual side effects.

3. After about 10 minutes in the air we were over the ocean, and stayed there for most of the flight. I took it shortly after take-off and figured if things went south we were likely to plunge to the bottom of the sea, as there wouldn't really be any place to land.

Ambien, earplugs, and an eye mask are the way to go on a long overnight flight. I also wear support hose during long flights for comfort and to reduce the chance of clots in my legs.

I had two more connections after the overnight flight and I was happy to get to my hotel and take a shower!

[rowen]

Heh, we had a doc where I used to work who would fly to India every year during his Christmas vacation (he is actually Hindu, but it's usually slow in the office in December). He would take an Ambien, wake up, take another Ambien, and then wake up in India perfectly refreshed. I think letting someone know that you'll be sleeping deeply is a good thing. It isn't terribly uncommon for people to take hypnotic meds on flights. Shit, they sell booze on some flights - I really don't see a huge difference. And quite frankly, there are times when you'd need to wake up at home. Young child, house burning down, etc. Problems on flights aren't terribly common. House fires, though, are. (I used to volunteer at the Red Cross, and they respond to quite a few house fires per year.)

I've had no problem waking up from sleep meds and doing things that need to be done. I have a young daughter, and there were times I needed to wake up with her. No problems. Yeah, you're groggy, but no big deal.

[Seniortooold]

Catnapper, Glad everything worked well for you with the ambien. You were wise to wear support hose as a precaution. I should have mentioned that in my previous post. Since my swollen leg problem, I always wear support knee highs on planes. They do help to prevent tired legs and swollen ankles when sitting for long periods even though I do get some brief exercise by walking the aisles of the plane. Thanks for your follow up report.