US to Australia: When/How Should I Try to Sleep?

I perused a recent thread, which touched on some of my concerns. But my situation is slightly different.

In about 3 weeks, my wife and I will fly direct from Texas to Sydney. We banked years of points to fly in Polaris round-trip, knowing the ~17-hour flight would take a toll. So there’s that.

I have trouble sleeping on planes - even in lie-flat seats, but our longest flight so far has been a 9-hr to Europe, where the first and last hours are spent eating and getting ready to arrive. We’ll have quite a bit more time to try to sleep on this one.

I talked with my physician and he gave me a prescription for trazodone, believing my anxiety about travel and not sleeping was keeping me from sleeping.

tl;dr - So here’s the weenie: in order to be functional after such a long flight, when should I try to sleep?

Departing IAH at 8:30 PM
Arriving SYD at 7:00 AM

My logic says stay awake until about 10 or 11 hrs prior to arrival, so it’ll feel like waking up and starting a normal day.

As an Australian who has traveled many times to/from the US, this flight schedule is perfect.

They will most likely serve a dinner/supper style meal after takeoff, have that, listen to some music (avoid the TV monitors, they will overstimulate you and keep you awake), drink plenty of water, then take your trazodone around 10:30-11 PM. Eye mask and ear plugs. This should give you a few hours rest.

When you land, keep to the Australian timezone, don’t nap, just push through.

@Rylan
Thanks so much.

By November, 7 AM in SYD is 2 PM in IAH - except that it’s the previous day (in IAH). Just trick your head that Houston is 7 hours ahead of Sydney.

Paris said:
By November, 7 AM in SYD is 2 PM in IAH - except that it’s the previous day (in IAH). Just trick your head that Houston is 7 hours ahead of Sydney.

Roughly the time difference from Houston and Europe then.

@Budget
Correct! That’s how I trick my head.

Install the TimeShift app and follow the plan. It works great!!

Jaime said:
Install the TimeShift app and follow the plan. It works great!!

Curious what that app does/recommends that would differ from just knowing the local time at your destination and starting to adjust on the day of travel.

@Arun
Per the suggestion, I downloaded it. Looks like you plug in your flight and travel dates. The app notifies you when you should start sleep prepping in the preceding days, when to stop caffeine, when to take sleep aids, etc.

@Budget
Also when to avoid light. It’s far more comprehensive than just ‘knowing the destination time.’

I just did this flight for Qantas and honestly I just listened to my body. If I was tired, I fell asleep on the plane and probably slept an hour. When I landed in the morning in Sydney, I stayed awake for the day and slept at night to adjust to normal times.

Take the trazodone about 1.5-2 hours before you want to go to sleep!

Kieran said:
Take the trazodone about 1.5-2 hours before you want to go to sleep!

Good to know! Thanks.

My normal sleep schedule is about 6 hrs of sleep per night. For situations like this, I take my ‘knock me out’ prescription medication for this purpose. Once I take the pill, invariably, six hours later, I’m asleep for 6 more hours. I factor in that I should be awake for the last 2h of the flight (landing in the morning) to fully wake up, lav, eat breakfast, gather my stuff and deplane. Then that means I want to fall asleep 8h before landing which means I need to take my pill 14h before I want to wake up. I actually do a spreadsheet with time zones and such so that I know what time my phone/watch will say when set to my local time so I don’t screw it up.

This process also includes layovers, if any. I don’t want to be 3 hrs into the 6 hrs of medicated time when I’m supposed to be getting off the plane and wandering through an unfamiliar airport.

I am otherwise unable to sleep on a plane, even in a lay-flat seat. Too much noise and jostling around me. I’m good with airplane engine noise and turbulence while sleeping but not coughs, sneezes, conversations, lights (even with a premium eye mask and ear plugs.)

My RX med is amitriptyline which I use for this purpose. Was prescribed it in 10mg and 25mg quantities years ago but I noticed it knocked me out so when I stopped ‘needing it’ for the intended use, I kept the pills. They’re expired, yes, but still knock me out.

Flying from the USA is great with those departure and arrival times. When I used to do LAX-SYD or MEL, you’d just naturally fall asleep because your body thought it was time. Just don’t stress and let your body do its thing. 30+ transpacific AUS-US trips of experience.

FWIW - I took trazodone on the 16-hour nonstop from JFK to JNB and did not sleep a wink. At all. I strongly suggest you try it (and perhaps a few other med options) before getting on the flight.

Shelleyhines said:
FWIW - I took trazodone on the 16-hour nonstop from JFK to JNB and did not sleep a wink. At all. I strongly suggest you try it (and perhaps a few other med options) before getting on the flight.

I’ve noticed traz helps me relax to fall asleep sooner and then stay asleep. I did an at-home sleep study a few weeks ago, took a traz, and didn’t move once I fell asleep. But that was in my own bed and without the anxiety of travel.

I made that same flight. It is really difficult to sleep in a regular seat that distance. I was so uncomfortable. I would suggest something that you can try to elevate your feet on sometimes. Definitely a blanket or inflatable pillows or something to make those seats more comfortable. It was rough. Sleep plenty before you fly.

@Tristan
I usually carry a velour gel neck pillow on long hauls. I’ll be in Polaris, so maybe all these things together will allow me to rest.

Budget said:
@Tristan
I usually carry a velour gel neck pillow on long hauls. I’ll be in Polaris, so maybe all these things together will allow me to rest.

Sounds like an excellent plan.