Long Haul Flight

[KittyLarkin]

I am going on a trip next month. A night flight 13 hours. I was thinking of taking something to help me sleep, may help with the jetlag.

Have you got any tips regarding long haul, much appreciate? I usually suffer for weeks.

If you're thinking of medication, don't take anything you've not taken before. Any drug can have side effects and you don't want to be in flight if they do.

I did think I would road test it beforehand, of course.

Eye mask
Ear plugs
Nytol
A big pashmina to use as a blanket
Comfortable clothes
Travel pillow

Completely agree with everything above
Travel pillow - don’t get a blow up one!
Ear plugs - get a really decent pair. I like silicon ones.
Seat - aim to sit in a window seat and in a row away from the noise of the toilets and galley. Sit above the wing if possible.
Don’t use the in flight entertainment screens just before you want to sleep. Music is ok. I take my little MP3 player with lots of calming music and some Desert Island Discs podcasts.
The flight attendants are likely to serve you drinks before your meal, then they do down the aisle with tea and coffee after the meal. Don’t drink anything with caffeine. I take a chamomile teabag or a sachet or Horlicks and ask them to just give me some hot water for it.

I recommend Phenergan 25mg tablets to help with sleep. Take one an hour before take off and you should sleep the whole flight (they're also available in 10mg) Non-addictive and I get no side-effects at all. And available over-the-counter

Make sure your seatbelt is visible while you’re asleep as the flight attendants may wake you if the sign goes on and they can’t see it - DH was pretty peeved when that happened to him

Don't be the dick that sits in the middle seat and passes out even before take off on a 13 hour flight!

Painful personal experience

I personally wouldn't take anything. If the worst happened you want your wits about you, just ride it out.

I fly long haul to the US every year - rule of thumb is one day for every hour difference to get over jet lag. I always start thinking in my new destination time as soon as I'm on the flight.. if going west, try to stay up as late as possible, and maybe structure your first few days where you can do early morning activities (eg if at a theme park, you'll be well placed to be there when it opens 😁). I find going east harder, and just have to try hardest to get into normal sleeping (and eating pattern) as soon as possible - going straight back to work actually helps much more than having a few days at home to recover.

On the flights itself, wrap up warm, I listen to the sleep podcasts on the flight (BA has them not sure if others are the same), but I really struggle to get much decent sleep on planes. I have toyed with buying melatonin, but I'm a bit scared about what it might actually do.

Phenergan 25mg

Where would you get this?

Nytol, night nurse or advil night (not from U.K.).
Plus a glass of red wine.

Don't be the dick that sits in the middle seat and passes out even before take off on a 13 hour flight

There is nothing dickish about that. No one actively chooses the middle seat, and you are quite capable or touching their shoulder and asking to get OST, or just bloody climbing over them if the aisle person gets out the way.

If you want help sleeping, take an antihistamine (not the non drowsy ones) and a glass of red wine

I use low dose melatonin (you can buy it over the counter here in the US) for 3 days post the flight to help with jet lag

I buy Phenergan 10 or 25mg at the Tesco in-store pharmacy. A box of 25mg is about £8.
(It also doesn't knock me out in the same way that eg diazepam does - if i were to be woken suddenly in an emergency I am able to react appropriately)

There is when it's very easy to book a window seat if you intend to be unconscious enough so that people have to physically clamber across your body to move.

Best of all she woke up when the food came, pulled her tray down, put her food on it then passed out again. I couldn't even pee for 13 hours, it was awful.

Don't eat on the flight. I've done long haul loads of times and they are constantly shovelling food into you (probably to stop you getting bored) but eating fucks up your body clock much worse than the time difference alone.

Try to get your sleep rhythms into a closer time zone before you go (by staying up late or waking up very early).

Bring earplugs, a neck pillow and eye mask on the flight, and wear loose clothing with lots of layers. Wear a crop top style soft bra rather than an under wired one which digs in after a few hours. Take your shoes off when you get onboard and put some big fluffy socks on (but put shoes on to go to the toilet! Boak.)

When you arrive try to get into the swing of the day straight away (so eating breakfast if it's morning and not going to bed at 11am because you're wrecked).

Enjoy!