I know this has happened to other people but, it seems to happen to me all the time. You have a trip that starts at 3pm and ends at 9pm... you get to the hotel at around 9:30-10pm for a 6am report. If your like me you're still wound up from the day and don't get to sleep for a couple hours... sometimes its 3 am before i fall sleep. How do you guys get to sleep after the day? Can we take any kind of sleeping pill as long as it is 8 hours or so before our report? They have these new pills that don't have any medication in them, just some sort of sleeping remedy. Can we take these, has anyone tried them?

 

Read your Op-Specs...

 

I dont want to... I said I had trouble sleeping. Im not suffering from boredom.

 

how long have you worked in the airlines? i used to be like that for about a year when i started working. now when i get to the hotel i just do my obsesive compulsive routine of laying everything out the exact same way every night and i am able to go to sleep pretty fast.

 

Ive only been working about 6 months, so maybe it just takes some time getting use to.

 

been in it for 7 yrs.. I hear you

I take a Advil PM to help. It seems to get me about 6 hrs of sleep

 

Is this ok if they were to give you a drug test the next morning?

 

Melotonin seems to help some people. I'm a little vague on the fitness for duty implications, but it is a natural supplement...do your own research. I wouldn't take it less than 8 hours before work.

A few other ideas...

It takes a while to unwind, but some things can affect how long...

These things will stimulate you and keep you awake for a while:

- Recent meal (light snack would be OK)
- Recent exercise...you probably need 1+ hour post-workout.
- TV/Computer: Seems odd, but the high-speed screen refesh rate stimulates the underlying electrical rythms of your brain (maybe THAT's why we waste so much time on APC )
- Dynamic social interaction.
- Bright lights/noise
- Things to do hanging over your head...for this reason I always pack, iron the shirt, layout the shaving stuff, etc the night before if I have to get up early.


Things to help you unwind...
- Dim lights/quite time
- Reading (OPSPECs would do the trick I guess)
- Small desert-type snack
- Stretching, yoga, hotub, etc
- A drink, or two max.

 

I will with 8 hrs of rest.

 

Prime Minister,

Good post.

Do those medications + PM contain diphenhydramine or a form of it?

If so, the FAA says "not allowed" - how long it takes to wash out of the system is anybody's guess..