Sleeping pills....

[Eff]

I realize I am somewhat late to chip in to the thread, but here goes...

As aircrew, we use Ambien pretty often while deployed and sleep cycles are shifting all over the place. It's prescribed by our flight surgeons.

I hate the stuff. The next day, no matter now much sleep I get, my hands are trembly and I feel kind of out of it, as if my actions are decided on just after the fact. I know that's a terrible description but it's the best I can come up with.
I feel safe to fly, but just barely.
After a couple cups of coffee the fogginess goes away a little. I normally don't need coffee.

Other guys on our crew(s) have been known to occasionally sleepwalk, or have something similar to drunk texts / FaceTime that they don't remember at all.

Needless to say I stay far away from the stuff now.


What works for me, personally, is having Chamomile with dinner, putting a fan on, keeping the room cool, and playing the "Budapest Rain" track in my Ambience app. Knocks me out.

 

[Duke Dive Medicine]

This is a great thread. I occasionally suffer sleeplessness (particularly the first few days in new places) and it happened again the first night I was on the Brac. Usually I take 50 mg of Benedryl (recommended by my Doc as prescription sleep aids made me feel like crap the next day), but I was concerned that it might impact my diving.

DDM, would you consider Benedryl to be in the same 'league' as a prescription sleep med?

Hi Jen, no, Benadryl/diphenhydramine is in a different category. Typical prescription sleep meds are either benzodiazepines (Restoril/temazepam is an example) or sedatives/hypnotics (e.g. Ambien/zolpidem). Benadryl is an antihistamine. It will make you sleepy but won't affect your judgement and reaction time like the prescription meds. The effects are highly individual so it's best to figure out how it works on you before you actually employ it on a dive trip. Incidentally, diphenhydramine is considered an excellent antiemetic by our anesthesiologists here and they routinely use it to prevent and treat post-operative nausea.

Best regards,
DDM

 

[Zeldah]

Hi Jen, no, Benadryl/diphenhydramine is in a different category. Typical prescription sleep meds are either benzodiazepines (Restoril/temazepam is an example) or sedatives/hypnotics (e.g. Ambien/zolpidem). Benadryl is an antihistamine. It will make you sleepy but won't affect your judgement and reaction time like the prescription meds. The effects are highly individual so it's best to figure out how it works on you before you actually employ it on a dive trip. Incidentally, diphenhydramine is considered an excellent antiemetic by our anesthesiologists here and they routinely use it to prevent and treat post-operative nausea.

Best regards,
DDM

Not sure if Zzzquil is billed the same as Benadryl, but I know that when I use Zzzquil I feel really groggy the next day, way worse than if I take the Zopiclone. I would never take Zzzyquil and dive, a bottle of Rum would make me less loopy than those purple pills!