Can't sleep on plane

Agreed, it works. For some reason Tylenol PM seems to work better than just the sleep pill part they sell for me.

tylenol PM is great also no caffeine and try for window seat so no one is climbing over you to get out of seat

Sleep is nice, if you can get it, but if the issue is jetlag, sleep is not essential.

Sounds like it's not a problem for you, anyway, since you overcome your jet lag after the flight. Even if you slept on the plane to Europe that would not affect your post-trip jetlag here.

Which is the toughest for me, too, mostly because I do not work as hard to avoid it.

After hundreds of discussions of jetlag on this site, it appears the only general comment that's applicable to all travelers is: jetlag is a physical & medical issue that affects each person differently; and what works for one person may not help another person, or may either be bad for another person.

For example, tylenol PM and similar over the counter products have been recommended by some in this thread, but others have reported that, for them, this kind of product is not effective and/or causes marked sluggishness even after they wake up. Best for you to find out what works for you.

For the medication option, talk your doctor. Tylenol PM, which contains diphenhydramine, is not appropriate for everyone, and since nobody on this website knows your age or past medical history, best to get advice from your physician.

We bought some Jet Lag pills from "Magellan Travel". They are located in Santa Monica and in Santa Barbara. You can get the pills on-line from their website. They are natural, no drugs. You chew one before you take off and every two hours after that. If you fall asleep, it doens't matter. We took them when we went to Austrlaia three years ago. We also took them when we went to Europe in 2009. This time I fogot to take them when we went to London in May. We were real sorry. It took five days for us to recover from the jetlag. They are homopathic and harmless. They work very well. Elaine Obermann, Missin Viejo, Calif.

When I'm coming back to the US from Europe, I find that the trick is to stay awake on the plane and to stay awake as late as I can when I get home. Don't fall into bed if you get home at 6 PM, but rather fight through it and try to stay up until 9 PM and then take that Tylenol PM to try and sleep longer in your own bed. I actually have been known to sit down and try to get a head start on the work email that evening just to stay busy. A better idea is to have friends pick you and spend the next few hours telling them all about your trip. Another idea would be to spend time working on your photos so you can show your top ten to work friends the next day.

BTW one way to manage this is to take a mid-day flight or later home. I don't get back to Madison until dinner time usually. I'm tired but can usually make it until 9 PM.

Pam

I have the same problem- I can't sleep on the plane, really, but I do ok on the transition over there. The jetlag coming back home kills me, though!

A couple of herbal alternatives to Tylenol PM... Calms Forte can be found in most drugstores. It's a pill, you can take several with no grogginess when you wake up. If you're at home you can also try Sleepytime Tea. Both have a similar formula without the side effects of diphenhydramine.

Is it the lack of space, the lack of comfort, that causes me not to sleep? Is it because I am trying to sleep a few hours before my normal bed time? Is it because I am trying to sleep in an upright position, with shoes on? Is it because I am so dang excited, that no matter what I do, I will never sleep? I think that it is all of the above. And I think nothing of it has anything to do with jet lag. I think I suffer more from jet lag when I come back to the states than I do when I go over. I maybe get 20 minutes of sleep on a transatlantic flight, and that is in 5 minute increments. It does suck. Out of the 5 times I have gone over, I have 1 flight where I slept and that was because of zanax and a glass of wine. But that is no longer me and I do not recommend it. I have no need for the zanax and the wine will just dehydrate me. I think the only thing that will help me sleep is to get rich quick and start flying first class.

I have never, ever been able to sleep on a plane no matter how tired I am. It is too noisy, I can't sleep sitting up and I am too excited. Once I went on a Third Reich walking tour within hours after arriving in Munich after having no sleep in 24+ hours and I was 5 months pregnant. I slept good that first night in the hotel though.

I usually get over jetlag within a week after coming home.

I may try Advil PM or Tylenol PM next time though.

Sally, I suffer from the same problem that you have. I do feel very tired when returning home. I sort of get the blahs when I am back at home. The next time I return from Europe, I think I will try to do what I do when I get to Europe after not sleeping on the plane. I will try and stay up until 10 pm on the day I get home, then get up at a normalish hour the next morning and try to get some sunshine. Hopefully that will help me get over being so tired. I use prescription sleeping pills the first few nights in Europe to help me get adjusted. I might just try and use them when I return to get readjusted to the home time zone.

Kelly, have you tried melatonin? It's a hormone normally secreted by our pineal gland to make us sleepy. It works like a charm for me and my husband--we're both back at work the day after a trip with no issues (we might go to bed a bit early the first night, but that's it). As others said there is no one thing that works for anyone, but you are affected so severely that it's worth a try (2 or 3 weeks is insane--never heard of anything like that). I also cannot sleep on planes, by the way---even with prescription sleeping pills I cannot. Oh, if it were only so easy as taking a tylenol pm....

Travelocity has a rundown on it--the only thing that's inaccurate here is that they call it a drug. It's actually a hormone and is available at any natural food or supplement store.

http://leisure.travelocity.com/Tips/Item/0,3295,311_TRAVELOCITY,00.html

Melatonin as it is normally sold nowadays is a SYNTHETIC hormone . It is considered safer then the orginal formula.

My doctor recommended for one of my children when he was a teen. It works great. My fathers doctor recommended it for him when he started with insomnia in his 70s. he loves it too. Non addictive, and no drowsyness after as it is NOT a sedative.

Mu suggestion about Melatonin is to use caution when giving it to kids long term. My now teenage son took it starting about the age of 12 to help him fall asleep at night. He started having problems and we took him to an endocrinologist (the problems he had were unrelated to the Melatonin).

The Endo shared with us there is a potential for it to affect the pituitary gland. We took him off the melatonin for about a year and he shot up over 6 inches in the first three months.
No pill should be taken w/o the advice of a doctor being involved.