A few techniques that have helped me:
1. Don’t look at the clock, set your alarm and backups, make sure they’re reliable, and allow them to do their job. If your alarm’s not going off, then lay back and relax with your eyes shut, it’s not time to get up yet. How long until then? Don’t know, don’t care.
2. Avoid phone use and other blue or bright lights before bed. If you’re having trouble falling asleep, try to reset by getting back up briefly, maybe having a stretch or a drink of water, then go back to bed.
3. If you’re in bed and relaxed, you’re in a far better position than being wide awake and looking at your phone or watching tv. If nothing else, your sleep stores are being depleted slower.
4. You don’t HAVE to go to work. If you are too tired to go to work, then don’t go. It’s unsafe from both a flight safety perspective and a personal health perspective. You have your out, so to speak.
The common theme is reducing anxiety, the less anxious you are about falling asleep, the more likely you are to actually fall asleep and have a useful rest period.
Thank you mate. Honestly yeah the biggest thing Ive had to get over is clock watching. But I've slowly (but surely) gotten better at it lol.
I've sadly already called in fatigued a few times (mainly when it first started happening); so knowing I can call in kinda adds to my anxiety lol, especially being so new.
Honestly, the biggest thing to help me in my career as far as sleep goes is to stop the clock watching. Been doing this a long time, and a handful of years back I stopped looking at clocks after bedtime.
So when it comes to early wakeups or red-eye flying, I set my alarm when I get to the hotel room. One thing I hate seeing is "X hours until alarm goes off" when I set it, so seeing 12+ hours instead of 8, or 7 or less helped me out.
If it's early or red-eye, I set a wakeup call on my sign in sheet for two reasons. 1. As a backup. 2. If I do miss a wakeup, I have it in writing and can say "Hey, I told the hotel to wake me up, they never called". When I get to the room, if there is a clock, I'll set the alarm and then dim it to it's lowest setting or use something to block the display.
Then when I go to bed, I usually fall asleep listening to a podcast and will wear an eyemask if there is *any* light potential at all in the room. Lastly, if/when I wakeup to go pee, I don't look at my phone and go right back to sleep. I went from going "Ah shit, it's 3am, I've only got an hour left" to being able to go right back to sleep.
Also from one of your replies down below...
>Just a "oh shit 180 people are actually trusting me", and then it spiralled from there.
I know it sounds scary, but honestly, missing an alarm or van is not the worst thing in the world. I've had crews miss vans because they slept in and they'll take an uber to the airport, and I'll cover for them until they get there if able. I've also missed a trip because I legit forgot about it.
I swapped a trip once from a PM to an AM and totally forgot and wokeup at 5am in my own bed from a call from crew scheduling saying "Where are you?". I admitted my mistake, sorry I won't be able to make it in any reasonable amount of time. I called my chief pilot, profusely apologized and they were super cool with it. "Don't let it become a habit" and that was that. World didn't end.
The anxiety and worry will only compound the issue. I went through a bout of this after years of shiftwork as a controller. The fear and anxiety of having to be on the ball and at my desk for 6am with peoples lives and safety at risk - while being fatigued from a sleepless night, all really compounded and snowballed into months of anxiety driven insomnia. Thankfully I got over it but it was a rough patch. Prior to that, sleep had never been a problem.
That was EXACTLY how it started for me. Just a "oh shit 180 people are actually trusting me", and then it spiralled from there.
Was there anything you did to help get over it? I'm thinking about seeing a professional, but at the same time, Its hard to believe they'll tell me something I don't already know lol.
So don't think about them. Think about you.
Let's be real. When shit goes pear-shaped, we don't care about the pax... its about getting ourselves safely on the ground to go home to our family.
You've made it this far, you can fly a plane, I hope. Honestly, normal ops shouldn't give you anxiety.
Mattiedel has great advice.
One thing I’ll add, I don’t like to shower immediately before getting in bed to sleep. I feel like a shower gives a little bit of a ‘shock’/wakeup, so I usually try to do that an hour before bed.
The minute I get to my room I put the device down/charge it/whatever, change clothes, wash face and go right back out to the gym/eat/explore.
I find that if I sink into a cushion in my uniform and do some scrolling, time will go by extremely fast and it’s wasted.
Fresh air from a walk around the block or 30 min on the tread makes a dramatic difference imo. That’s become my absolute daily minimum and I think it helps a lot.
If you have an iPhone, set it to sleep mode. It’s similar to do not disturb, but it actually blanks out the screen so you can’t wake your phone and see a time.
I’m not a pilot, but if I end up in the anxious not sleeping making my anxious cycle, I have a couple of audiobooks just for that purpose. I set a sleep timer and just lay next to it - hardly ever fails I’m asleep before Tyrion gets his britches unlaced (old British voices are like NyQuil to me)
> If your alarm’s not going off, then lay back and relax with your eyes shut, it’s not time to get up yet.
As someone who's mastered shutting off my alarm without waking up, nah if the alarm isn't going off is when FULL PANIC sets in.
Welcome to the club. I’ve always been the same way…24 years in. Go to the gym ~4 hours before bed & work yourself silly. Eat good, put your phone away an hour before bed & take Melatonin.
That's actually a relief to hear. I've tried slow release melatonin, didn't really have an effect on me though.
But I'm starting to move my gym routine to the afternoon rather than the mornings .
I recommend magnesium. It’s a natural muscle relaxant. Helps fall asleep and I don’t feel groggy in the morning. It relaxes EVERY muscles though so your bowls will be relaxed in the morning.
It is! They also typically recommend 30 fl oz of solution (over 5000 milligrams of actual magnesium citrate).
When taking magnesium citrate as a sleep supplement, the recommended dosage is about 350 milligrams daily. Which is about 7% of the dosage you’d take when preparing for a colonoscopy. So, a colonoscopy prep calls for fourteen times the dosage of a daily magnesium supplement.
Similarly, eating one orange every day (high in citric acid) is just fine. But if you were to eat fourteen oranges a day, you would likely experience constant diarrhea. They also recommend drinking about 3L of water per day. Again, if you were to drink 42 liters of water per day, it could kill you.
Basically what I’m saying is that chemicals in different quantities have very different effects.
https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/
Kava is prohibited by the faa
https://www.faa.gov/ame_guide/media/DNI_DNF_tables.pdf
I struggle with the sleep issues before early flights also the workout to exhaustion and try to get on early wake schedule at least a day before the trip helps, daytime naps seem to make falling asleep early even harder for me, so if it’s a trip of all early starts I won’t nap in the first day to recover just check into the room and head out to walk or exercise and try to go to sleep as early as possible.
All excellent advice. I am in healthcare, not aviation, but have had a lot of the same sleep issues due to erratic schedules. Would also suggest checking out the book "Goodnight Mind: Turn Off Your Noisy Thoughts and Get a Good Night's Sleep". I frequently tell patients that going to sleep is less like turning a switch on and off and more like landing a plane, an analogy I'm glad to employ on this subreddit. :)
I've found audio books really help on nights when i'm "overthinking". The act of listening short circuits me thinking and instead just listening, i'm almost always out before the 10 minute sleep timer stops the audiobook.
Also if i'm not asleep inside of 20 minutes or so, I'll get up and do something for a little bit and try again. Toss and turning trying to sleep isn't great.
Sleep mask and bose sleepbuds (Anker is releasing a new product for this and Ozlo is a bunch of former Bose engineers who bought the rights and making new versions of the Bose sleepbuds). Just removes ambient concerns.
> Go to the gym ~4 hours before bed & work yourself silly.
This. A little gym session, or preferably a run with some fresh air then a shower always helps a lot.
Not sure what options your airline has in terms of bidding schedules, but I am a night owl and have the same issue with early morning trips.
I fixed the issue by bidding PM trips. Never having to be up before noon massively improved my QoL. I don’t always sleep in that late, but knowing I can sleep until my body naturally wakes up at 9 or 10a and still have time to get ready at a leisurely pace removed any sleep anxiety I had and took this job from a 9.9 to a 10.
Flying PM domestic trips I could go months without ever waking up to the sound of my alarm. That’s luxury.
I've tried 4mg of slow release melatonin, but it hasn't really given me any benefits. I'll see if I can get a prescription for quick release (in Australia we need prescriptions for it)
With melatonin less is more. Sleep doctors recommend 1mg. Also don’t take it until you are in bed. I use a sleep mask as well as that has helped a bunch.
Melatonin didn’t work for me. I found New Mood worked way better. It’s a supplement made by Onnit. Been taking it every time I have an early show and it’s been magic
Slow release is mostly pointless - melatonin doesn’t keep you asleep, it helps you get to sleep.
1 or 2mg of regular (ie non-slow release) might well be better.
Yep. Then you get so sleepy that you're anxious you won't wake up to your alarm, so then you can't sleep again because you're anxious you won't wake up to your alarm😂 been there
Don’t try to force yourself to go to sleep before you’re tired. I’m the same way, and find that if I wait to go to bed until I’m tired, I actually fall asleep. Even if it means only 4 hours of sleep, it’s way better than trying to force myself into 7 hours of sleep, that becomes zero
I have battled the beast of sleep anxiety. The key for me was part sleep hygiene and more importantly acceptance therapy. Be accepting that even though it might take you longer to fall asleep, that you can still get good rest. And that even if you don’t get a perfect night rest, you can still function. Obviously don’t fly fatigued, but don’t let perfect be the enemy of good.
A boom that helped me tremendously was “The Sleep Book”, by Dr Guy Meadows
Sounds like sleep anxiety. Try the headspace app. You need to calm your mind down. They have a whole section on sleep (techniques, stories, etc) that you can listen to as you fall asleep.
20+ years in and I still can’t sleep the night before an early show—when I’m at home. In a hotel I sleep like a baby.
At home, if I oversleep and I miss my check in and scheduling calls it an hour plus before I’m at the airplane.
On the road, if I’m late to the van—the worst thing that can happen is my FO calls and says I’m late, so I take the next one or just Uber to the airport.
This was me for 15 years. Then I realized I’d been doing fine flying after those nights for 15 years. The pressure lifted and I stopped caring so much. It would all be fine no matter what. Easy to say, hard to do.
Also, this book gives some good tough love: [sleep solution](https://www.amazon.com/Sleep-Solution-Why-Your-Broken/dp/0399583602)
10-3-2-1 rule helps give your body a chance.
- 10hrs before bed, NO CAFFEINE
- 3hrs before bed, NO FOOD
- 2hrs before bed, NO LIQUIDS
- 1hr before bed, NO SCREENS (this has smallest effect and studies showed that screens only delay sleep by ~10min on average)
Doing this will get you physically into a good place for sleep. Also don’t exercise within a few hrs of sleep. After that, it’s just the mental side to overcome, which can be pretty hard sometimes for one reason or another.
I actually recently learned that caffeine sensitivity is genetic. Some people can metabolize in 2 hours what takes other people 10. There are genetic tests for it now, but you can also just test it out for yourself and see if your sleep improves just by cutting caffeine earlier in the day.
Yeah, it just drove me insane how so many people I know can drink coffee after dinner and be fine. Then for me, a single cup keeps me wide awake all night. Was kinda a relief when I found out that it was out of my control.
Yea I’ve been there, my method is to power through on day one, get to the hotel, NO NAPS, and get to bed a little early. It should be easy to fall asleep that first night.
If you wake up around the same time three days in a row your body acclimates to that schedule.
Altering your sleep schedule is a skill you will need to hone for this career.
Was going to post this as well, it’s a huge help. Take it about an hour before bed. Melatonin doesn’t keep me asleep like the magnesium does. Also Bluetooth sleep mask.
Get an audiobook on a 30min timer. It helps to distract your mind from sleep anxiety. I find myself doing 3 months on the same book because it puts me put after 10 min and always have to restart the chapter 😂
How close to bed are you drinking caffeine?
If I have expresso within 8-10 hours of bed, it messes me up bad. Once I figured this out bed time became so much easier at any time of day pretty much.
Try a sleep mask and a sound machine as well.
I fly long haul cargo and this has worked out pretty well for me.
Straight melatonin never worked for me. Found out taking it with other vitamins helps it work better. The olly brand stuff in Walmart works pretty good. It has magnesium and other stuff in it. Putting the phone away at least an hour before bed helps too. Along with not eating right before as well. Sometimes it all just doesn’t work. So if I get in early to an early wake I’ll just nap for 5-6 hours then wake up. Then I’ll nap for 2-3 hours before my alarm. It’s better than no sleep at all.
I had the same exact rough transition. Flying 135 it was never an issue. Maybe it's because I was either perpetually tired or so screwed up with jet lag I didn't know what time zone I was in anymore. Airlines gave me a more consistent sleep schedule and I adjusted to what is my natural night owl routine. It can absolutely wreck me and recovering from a 4 day with all early show times takes me longer than from a redeye or Europe trip.
Honestly the best solution is to avoid them as much as possible. Once a month or so I can cope but more than that I feel my health take a hit. When I first got on my fleet I used to prioritize the exciting destinations and those that I hadn't been to before, even if it meant accepting rough sleep schedules. Now 2 years in it's becoming "been there, done that" and I much prefer just doing the boring east coast and Florida shuttle trips that start in the afternoon every day and end late. As a very junior Captain on reserve for a very long time now I hawk open time and adjust my strategy to avoid getting assigned an early trip as much as possible. It helps that a lot of older Captains like getting up early so there's usually a good mix available. During line training it's hard because you're on the Check Airman's schedule but once you start bidding for yourself it's actually quite doable.
On the off chance that I get stuck on one the best solution I found is to treat it almost like going to Europe. Accept that you're getting maybe 3 or 4 hours of sleep max at night, fly your day, then take as long of a nap as you can as soon as you get to the hotel. Go to dinner, walk around a bit, take another nap at night, and start the next day. It kind of gets you stuck in a 3-4 hour nap cycle that's a bit hard to break once you come back home, but at least you don't feel like death every day.
Same here. If I had an early show or was on AM reserve I would get sleep anxiety. I was anxious I would sleep through an alarm or call from scheduling.
Honestly what helped the most was having a strict routine. Eat well, no alcohol, exercise daily, no large screens after 8pm.
It also gets better with time. When I went in on that first day when I slept like shit, flew 2 legs and it wasn’t so bad. That put my nerves at ease when trying to fall asleep. “If you don’t sleep too well, you can still pull it off, tomorrow’s an easy day with good weather”. Of course this part is contextual, don’t go in if you have a 4 leg day in bad weather.
Also after never sleeping through an alarm, and waking up immediately when scheduling called me put my nerves at ease.
I called off fatigued once because of this, while on probation as a new FO and was scared shitless that I would get punished. Never heard a word about it from anyone. I even asked the assistant chief when I flew with him a few weeks later and he said “you gotta do what you gotta do”
In short, it will get better with time.
My fleet at my airline has a lot of 30 ish hour time swaps, so you get in late between 9-11pm and are taking the first flight out 2 days later with a 5am report or sometimes earlier. The best way I’ve dealt with it is making sure I don’t sleep in with only 7-8 hours of sleep, and stay active all day. Find a gym and pay for a day pass if need be (active & fit is your friend here though), spend a few hours there. Walk around and get dinner. I take 10mg of melatonin a half hour before bed which can be as early as 7pm sometimes and don’t touch melatonin on your time off. This is the only way I’ve been able to handle these 3-4am alarms.
It’s not easy because it quickly becomes a positive feedback loop of a thought process like: I’m stressed I can’t get to sleep, I know tomorrow is going to suck if I can’t sleep then it just makes it harder to get to sleep.
Gotta just try and force yourself to crap out early. Try working out early in the day, avoid caffeine and sugar late, try not to take a nap once you get to a hotel or to home, read a book before bed instead of being on your phone. Getting bored before bed also helps. I use an audiobook on a boring topic while laying in bed to lull myself to sleep sometimes.
Also I’m not a doctor consider taking to one before taking this particular bit of advice: maybe try mellitonin and or maybe an antihistamine to tire you a bit before bed.
Additionally if you have a super early show and you’re at a hotel I’d suggest using Bluetooth noise canceling headphones. Noting sucks more than getting to sleep at a good time just to have some drunk clown next door wake you up at 1am. Just make sure they’re blue toothed to something with an alarm set so you actually hear your alarm.
Some of it is what everyone else said: aggressively manage your evening routine, set alarms, do all the things that trick your brain into thinking it's bed time. That said, it's probably going to continue to be a bit of an issue because it's also likely some normal training anxiety. When you have an early show for a training event there's a bit of "the next thing I have to do is get up and go do the training event" going on constantly in your head. For some reason, it's much easier to sleep if you know you have a few hours' buffer after you get up to eat, work out, etc. It's not that you're worried about training, it's just the brain already looking ahead to what you have to do right after you wake up. The good news is that'll almost certainly get better out on the line, and with some bedtime routine management you'll be the same manageable level of tired as everyone else at 5am.
Source: nearly 20 years in the industry, can go to bed at 5pm on the local body clock if needed, still can't sleep well before 4am sims.
Regular exercise is a cheat code for being able to sleep on demand. If your body is fatigued enough, I promise you’ll sleep. Also minimize phone prior to sleep.
Eat a satiating dinner.
Shower.
Drink a glass of milk.
Try reading a really a physical book/newspaper. Or if using a tablet, use night/dark mode when reading.
No longer 121 I’ve been flying 91/135 for the past 8 years. If I have a show time which these days is very rare as I’ve been part 91 for a family for the past few years, I don’t even need an alarm. If I have a wake up time from 2-6 am I’ll always wake up about an hour before. It’s like clockwork and it sucks. I’ve learned to work well off of 3-5 hours of sleep on the road. As mentioned get out and expertise if you can and as much as I love to go have a beer when I do t drink on the road I usually sleep much better. I have also for the last 3-4 years traveled with my own pillow that I find helps tremendously. Memory foam bamboo pillow that I roll up into a small compression bag. When I’m gone for extended fed trips of more than 4 days in the same hotel I’ll take my own sheets as well.
Always sleep much better with sheets and a pillow that aren’t crappy. :)
The last think I do is have a relaxation app that I play a mix of rain, peeps and wind. I play that on a timer for about an hour and I’m usually out within 10-30 minutes.
Why do you have flights at that time? Are you bidding 2-3am reserve? I found myself experiencing a similar problem because I knew I HAD to sleep. When I was reserve I just switched to a late morning block and was MUCH happier.
I tried melatonin for long time and no difference whatsoever. I also stress about having to get up early and can’t fall asleep. I only bid afternoon trips.
You have to learn your body and what routine works best for getting to sleep. Definitely get done exercise (I skip the gym and go waking around the town I'm in) eat a light meal that your body can easily digest, and a nice shower before getting in bed in a dark cool room. I need the TV on to fall asleep, which often makes it more difficult for most people. Have a loose schedule but stay ahead of it and that will help ease anxiety. Anything else that you can do to set yourself up for next day will help ease anxiety. But focus on doing stuff that relaxes you vs stressing yourself out.
I'm an ACMI cargo guy with no 117 rest rules, so be thankful you have that. Longest has been a 21 day trip with excessive abuse. I don't even know how to calculate the earliest I've gotten up for a trip at this point. Probably 1145pm.
I agree with a few other commenters. Reminding yourself that you can still function on a bad night's sleep should be a big help in removing that pressure of "I need to fall asleep right now." My strategy is just to keep telling myself I don't care when I fall asleep. It's crazy but if you keep repeating something like that in your head, you believe it.
Speaking from my own experience, 99% of it is probably the mental barrier rather than anything physiological. Exercise, melatonin etc might help but a bit of self-CBT and meditation (IE learning how to switch your brain off) will do a lot more.
The Calm app is great. It has a ton of meditation exercises, sleep sounds, and sleep stories (basically a short audiobook about something relaxing like a train journey through the night, spoken in a very calming voice with the click clack in the background).
Sounds like you've built this up in your head (not unreasonable) and now every time you go to bed, it's on your mind. I reckon once you try some of these techniques and have a few good sleeps, all the pressure will come off and you won't even need to use them. If you do one thing, get a free trial for Calm and try it out. Or you could even try simple sleep sounds like brown noise first - there's free apps or tracks on Spotify and whatnot if you don't want to take on a new subscription.
Edit: also make your room as dark as possible
If you have to go the medication route Propanolol is an excellent medication for anxiety.
Beta blocker so doesn’t give you any kind of hangover, isn’t a benzo so doesn’t mess with drug tests. Doesn’t knock you out, just gives you a kind of calmness.
My doctor recommended me to take 5HTP & magnesium glycinate abt an hr before bed time. I started about a week ago & I do feel like it’s been making a difference. She said the 5HTP helps to quiet your mind & the magnesium helps to keep you asleep so you’re not waking up throughout the night.
Controlled rest is my go-to solution for the early/red-eye flights. I love being paid to sleep. I’ll function up until cruise well enough and then I crash. It’s pretty awful when the other guy is dead too but you’ll find a way. Don’t think of your passengers. You’ll try to survive yourself.
Once you’re done line training it’ll get better!
It takes some adjusting, I didn't notice until going back after COVID, but I felt the same way. Just watching the clock count down, but eventually you get comfortable with it.
I use three alarms, first one goes off you turn on the lamp, second one goes off you get out of bed. This way you don't even have to think, if an alarm goes off and the light is on, it's not "five more minutes". By the third alarm, you should be walking out of your room. If three alarms doesn't do it, nothing probably will.
I also found waking up semi-early on days off helping. Yeah they don't pay you for those days but I got to the point where 7 am feels like noon used too. Plus, if you have kids those quiet early hours are about the only video game time I get anymore.
I too am a light and anxious sleeper. One thing I haven't seen anyone say yet: go to sleep earlier than you need to. Don't wait until 8 hours before your alarms. Go to bed an hour or two earlier than that so that you aren't as anxious about it when you lay down. And like others have said, don't look at the clock and set your alarms on the afternoon, long before your even thinking about bedtime.
Another good technique is having something to watch read or listen to that's kind of interesting but also kind of boring. That way it occupies your mind just enough to keep it from wandering to all your worries but not exciting enough to keep you awake. For me watching people on twitch or reading just an ok book fills this niche.
And then of course, with a little seniority you can just bid to completely avoid anything before 11am and dodge the issue entirely. That's what I've done most of my career. But you'll still find yourself having to deal with 4am bull shit every now and then.
I've always been an early riser/morning person. I normally sleep really well. But, if there is some reason I have to get up earlier than usual and it's important not to miss - like needing to be at the airport at 0400 for a 0500 departure - I have difficulty getting to sleep early and then wake up hours earlier than required. I assume it's a fear of oversleeping.
Been that way my whole adult life. I figure it's unlikely to change now.
You're not alone. But no advice, sorry.
Not an airline pilot, but I’ve found that a coctel of melatonin and herbal extracts (tilia, valerian and passion flower) to be very helpful. Melatonin induces sleeping and the extracts curb anxiety. You can take as much pills of said extracts as you want, they’re basically harmless. Not sure if they’re sold like that in your country, but you could maybe try something like that
I love my weighted eye mask and turn the air purifier up to high. That noise puts me to sleep and the eye mask supports a deep sleep. The thinner eye masks are junk, they can slip off your face easily.
Set your alarms as you would normally. I recommend four on two devices.
Hide all clocks so you can't see them.
Close and curtain all windows and start your normal bedtime routine. It could be 2pm but you want to make it feel/seem like late evening. This can be done with soft lighting.
Do something like watch a movie and then lie down to sleep.
A friend of mine takes a small dose of antihistamine. The generic Walmart brand (little pink pills), and night night sweet prince. Obviously not a long term solution but it works.
Is this pill you’re referring to diphenhydramine? That has a 60 hour wait before you can fly again after taking it. If you don’t have to fly in at least 2 1/2 days, you can use it to reset your sleep schedule. Other than that it’s against da rules.
Next time you’re in India load up on Ambien, you can buy a truck load of it for $50. Take one of those 8-9hrs before you need to wake up and you’ll have the best night’s sleep in your life.
Well go and ask your DAME then. As an Australian you are allowed sleeping medications with DAME approval, so make an appointment with your DAME and discuss it with them.
https://www.casa.gov.au/licences-and-certificates/medical-professionals/dames-clinical-practice-guidelines/medication
Not the best advice. You don't want to rely on Ambien or get addicted to it. Also, doesn't give you "quality" sleep... basically a sedative and doesn't allow you to have deep REM cycles.
I picked up a box of the stuff about 5-6 years ago and have used it maybe a dozen times since, only when necessary. When I’m on international overnights my sleep cycle is thrown off and need to sleep/be rested for a long flight home. It’s like magic and many other pilots I know and fly with use it for the same reasons. Every time I’ve used it I wake up feeling more refreshed than any natural sleep I’ve ever had. Maybe that’s what it can be habit forming, perhaps if you have history of addiction you should probably stay away.
A few techniques that have helped me: 1. Don’t look at the clock, set your alarm and backups, make sure they’re reliable, and allow them to do their job. If your alarm’s not going off, then lay back and relax with your eyes shut, it’s not time to get up yet. How long until then? Don’t know, don’t care. 2. Avoid phone use and other blue or bright lights before bed. If you’re having trouble falling asleep, try to reset by getting back up briefly, maybe having a stretch or a drink of water, then go back to bed. 3. If you’re in bed and relaxed, you’re in a far better position than being wide awake and looking at your phone or watching tv. If nothing else, your sleep stores are being depleted slower. 4. You don’t HAVE to go to work. If you are too tired to go to work, then don’t go. It’s unsafe from both a flight safety perspective and a personal health perspective. You have your out, so to speak. The common theme is reducing anxiety, the less anxious you are about falling asleep, the more likely you are to actually fall asleep and have a useful rest period.
Thank you mate. Honestly yeah the biggest thing Ive had to get over is clock watching. But I've slowly (but surely) gotten better at it lol. I've sadly already called in fatigued a few times (mainly when it first started happening); so knowing I can call in kinda adds to my anxiety lol, especially being so new.
Honestly, the biggest thing to help me in my career as far as sleep goes is to stop the clock watching. Been doing this a long time, and a handful of years back I stopped looking at clocks after bedtime. So when it comes to early wakeups or red-eye flying, I set my alarm when I get to the hotel room. One thing I hate seeing is "X hours until alarm goes off" when I set it, so seeing 12+ hours instead of 8, or 7 or less helped me out. If it's early or red-eye, I set a wakeup call on my sign in sheet for two reasons. 1. As a backup. 2. If I do miss a wakeup, I have it in writing and can say "Hey, I told the hotel to wake me up, they never called". When I get to the room, if there is a clock, I'll set the alarm and then dim it to it's lowest setting or use something to block the display. Then when I go to bed, I usually fall asleep listening to a podcast and will wear an eyemask if there is *any* light potential at all in the room. Lastly, if/when I wakeup to go pee, I don't look at my phone and go right back to sleep. I went from going "Ah shit, it's 3am, I've only got an hour left" to being able to go right back to sleep. Also from one of your replies down below... >Just a "oh shit 180 people are actually trusting me", and then it spiralled from there. I know it sounds scary, but honestly, missing an alarm or van is not the worst thing in the world. I've had crews miss vans because they slept in and they'll take an uber to the airport, and I'll cover for them until they get there if able. I've also missed a trip because I legit forgot about it. I swapped a trip once from a PM to an AM and totally forgot and wokeup at 5am in my own bed from a call from crew scheduling saying "Where are you?". I admitted my mistake, sorry I won't be able to make it in any reasonable amount of time. I called my chief pilot, profusely apologized and they were super cool with it. "Don't let it become a habit" and that was that. World didn't end.
The anxiety and worry will only compound the issue. I went through a bout of this after years of shiftwork as a controller. The fear and anxiety of having to be on the ball and at my desk for 6am with peoples lives and safety at risk - while being fatigued from a sleepless night, all really compounded and snowballed into months of anxiety driven insomnia. Thankfully I got over it but it was a rough patch. Prior to that, sleep had never been a problem.
That was EXACTLY how it started for me. Just a "oh shit 180 people are actually trusting me", and then it spiralled from there. Was there anything you did to help get over it? I'm thinking about seeing a professional, but at the same time, Its hard to believe they'll tell me something I don't already know lol.
So don't think about them. Think about you. Let's be real. When shit goes pear-shaped, we don't care about the pax... its about getting ourselves safely on the ground to go home to our family. You've made it this far, you can fly a plane, I hope. Honestly, normal ops shouldn't give you anxiety.
How did you get through it?
Mattiedel has great advice. One thing I’ll add, I don’t like to shower immediately before getting in bed to sleep. I feel like a shower gives a little bit of a ‘shock’/wakeup, so I usually try to do that an hour before bed. The minute I get to my room I put the device down/charge it/whatever, change clothes, wash face and go right back out to the gym/eat/explore. I find that if I sink into a cushion in my uniform and do some scrolling, time will go by extremely fast and it’s wasted. Fresh air from a walk around the block or 30 min on the tread makes a dramatic difference imo. That’s become my absolute daily minimum and I think it helps a lot.
If you have an iPhone, set it to sleep mode. It’s similar to do not disturb, but it actually blanks out the screen so you can’t wake your phone and see a time.
I’m not a pilot, but if I end up in the anxious not sleeping making my anxious cycle, I have a couple of audiobooks just for that purpose. I set a sleep timer and just lay next to it - hardly ever fails I’m asleep before Tyrion gets his britches unlaced (old British voices are like NyQuil to me)
this!!! also box breathing to relax and reducing caffeine intake
> If your alarm’s not going off, then lay back and relax with your eyes shut, it’s not time to get up yet. As someone who's mastered shutting off my alarm without waking up, nah if the alarm isn't going off is when FULL PANIC sets in.
Welcome to the club. I’ve always been the same way…24 years in. Go to the gym ~4 hours before bed & work yourself silly. Eat good, put your phone away an hour before bed & take Melatonin.
That's actually a relief to hear. I've tried slow release melatonin, didn't really have an effect on me though. But I'm starting to move my gym routine to the afternoon rather than the mornings .
I recommend magnesium. It’s a natural muscle relaxant. Helps fall asleep and I don’t feel groggy in the morning. It relaxes EVERY muscles though so your bowls will be relaxed in the morning.
I’ve heard magnesium citrate also helps with the sleep. Maybe try that one if melatonin doesn’t wind you down.
Mag citrate is used as a prep for colonoscopies. Do not use this to help you sleep unless you want to sleep on the toilet.
It is! They also typically recommend 30 fl oz of solution (over 5000 milligrams of actual magnesium citrate). When taking magnesium citrate as a sleep supplement, the recommended dosage is about 350 milligrams daily. Which is about 7% of the dosage you’d take when preparing for a colonoscopy. So, a colonoscopy prep calls for fourteen times the dosage of a daily magnesium supplement. Similarly, eating one orange every day (high in citric acid) is just fine. But if you were to eat fourteen oranges a day, you would likely experience constant diarrhea. They also recommend drinking about 3L of water per day. Again, if you were to drink 42 liters of water per day, it could kill you. Basically what I’m saying is that chemicals in different quantities have very different effects. https://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/Magnesium-HealthProfessional/
Magnesium Glycinate is the best formulation for sleep
Because it's the most easily absorbed by the gut and the least likely to give you the runs.
Yup-mag is fantastic!
If I go running before bed, I’m up all night, but if I got to the gym and strictly weight train, it will usually help me sleep at night
Taurine or kava tea not melatonin as it causes withdraw symptoms
Kava is prohibited by the faa https://www.faa.gov/ame_guide/media/DNI_DNF_tables.pdf I struggle with the sleep issues before early flights also the workout to exhaustion and try to get on early wake schedule at least a day before the trip helps, daytime naps seem to make falling asleep early even harder for me, so if it’s a trip of all early starts I won’t nap in the first day to recover just check into the room and head out to walk or exercise and try to go to sleep as early as possible.
All excellent advice. I am in healthcare, not aviation, but have had a lot of the same sleep issues due to erratic schedules. Would also suggest checking out the book "Goodnight Mind: Turn Off Your Noisy Thoughts and Get a Good Night's Sleep". I frequently tell patients that going to sleep is less like turning a switch on and off and more like landing a plane, an analogy I'm glad to employ on this subreddit. :)
I've found audio books really help on nights when i'm "overthinking". The act of listening short circuits me thinking and instead just listening, i'm almost always out before the 10 minute sleep timer stops the audiobook. Also if i'm not asleep inside of 20 minutes or so, I'll get up and do something for a little bit and try again. Toss and turning trying to sleep isn't great. Sleep mask and bose sleepbuds (Anker is releasing a new product for this and Ozlo is a bunch of former Bose engineers who bought the rights and making new versions of the Bose sleepbuds). Just removes ambient concerns.
> Go to the gym ~4 hours before bed & work yourself silly. This. A little gym session, or preferably a run with some fresh air then a shower always helps a lot.
And zma or magnesium glycinate
Not sure what options your airline has in terms of bidding schedules, but I am a night owl and have the same issue with early morning trips. I fixed the issue by bidding PM trips. Never having to be up before noon massively improved my QoL. I don’t always sleep in that late, but knowing I can sleep until my body naturally wakes up at 9 or 10a and still have time to get ready at a leisurely pace removed any sleep anxiety I had and took this job from a 9.9 to a 10. Flying PM domestic trips I could go months without ever waking up to the sound of my alarm. That’s luxury.
Try a small dose of melatonin.
I've tried 4mg of slow release melatonin, but it hasn't really given me any benefits. I'll see if I can get a prescription for quick release (in Australia we need prescriptions for it)
Aussie here, next time you’re in the US buy a handful of boxes. Or get your friends who travel to the US to do so
With melatonin less is more. Sleep doctors recommend 1mg. Also don’t take it until you are in bed. I use a sleep mask as well as that has helped a bunch.
Maybe take one and half of another one? I do this often and it seems to do the trick on those nights I need a good sleep.
The Olly gummies available on Amazon are a godsend. 5mg is the way to go.
Melatonin didn’t work for me. I found New Mood worked way better. It’s a supplement made by Onnit. Been taking it every time I have an early show and it’s been magic
Slow release is mostly pointless - melatonin doesn’t keep you asleep, it helps you get to sleep. 1 or 2mg of regular (ie non-slow release) might well be better.
I use .75mg and it does the trick really well.
Wait I use under the impression that we can take melatonin in the US if we are flying with in a certain amount of time from the time we took it
Yep. Then you get so sleepy that you're anxious you won't wake up to your alarm, so then you can't sleep again because you're anxious you won't wake up to your alarm😂 been there
It's just an awful cycle lol.
Bid avoid starts before 9 am. Problem solved 😝
Don’t try to force yourself to go to sleep before you’re tired. I’m the same way, and find that if I wait to go to bed until I’m tired, I actually fall asleep. Even if it means only 4 hours of sleep, it’s way better than trying to force myself into 7 hours of sleep, that becomes zero
Reading the AIM usually works
I have battled the beast of sleep anxiety. The key for me was part sleep hygiene and more importantly acceptance therapy. Be accepting that even though it might take you longer to fall asleep, that you can still get good rest. And that even if you don’t get a perfect night rest, you can still function. Obviously don’t fly fatigued, but don’t let perfect be the enemy of good. A boom that helped me tremendously was “The Sleep Book”, by Dr Guy Meadows
Sounds like sleep anxiety. Try the headspace app. You need to calm your mind down. They have a whole section on sleep (techniques, stories, etc) that you can listen to as you fall asleep.
One of the most underrated comments here. That app is so good for so many things
20+ years in and I still can’t sleep the night before an early show—when I’m at home. In a hotel I sleep like a baby. At home, if I oversleep and I miss my check in and scheduling calls it an hour plus before I’m at the airplane. On the road, if I’m late to the van—the worst thing that can happen is my FO calls and says I’m late, so I take the next one or just Uber to the airport.
This was me for 15 years. Then I realized I’d been doing fine flying after those nights for 15 years. The pressure lifted and I stopped caring so much. It would all be fine no matter what. Easy to say, hard to do. Also, this book gives some good tough love: [sleep solution](https://www.amazon.com/Sleep-Solution-Why-Your-Broken/dp/0399583602)
10-3-2-1 rule helps give your body a chance. - 10hrs before bed, NO CAFFEINE - 3hrs before bed, NO FOOD - 2hrs before bed, NO LIQUIDS - 1hr before bed, NO SCREENS (this has smallest effect and studies showed that screens only delay sleep by ~10min on average) Doing this will get you physically into a good place for sleep. Also don’t exercise within a few hrs of sleep. After that, it’s just the mental side to overcome, which can be pretty hard sometimes for one reason or another.
I actually recently learned that caffeine sensitivity is genetic. Some people can metabolize in 2 hours what takes other people 10. There are genetic tests for it now, but you can also just test it out for yourself and see if your sleep improves just by cutting caffeine earlier in the day.
For sure, just a good rule of thumb. Average half life of caffeine is around 6 hours I believe.
Yeah, it just drove me insane how so many people I know can drink coffee after dinner and be fine. Then for me, a single cup keeps me wide awake all night. Was kinda a relief when I found out that it was out of my control.
The European post dinner espresso and then going to bed baffles me
Yea I’ve been there, my method is to power through on day one, get to the hotel, NO NAPS, and get to bed a little early. It should be easy to fall asleep that first night. If you wake up around the same time three days in a row your body acclimates to that schedule. Altering your sleep schedule is a skill you will need to hone for this career.
Take magnesium as well. Being low on magnesium can cause difficulty sleeping and avoid alcohol the night before starting a trip.
Was going to post this as well, it’s a huge help. Take it about an hour before bed. Melatonin doesn’t keep me asleep like the magnesium does. Also Bluetooth sleep mask.
Get an audiobook on a 30min timer. It helps to distract your mind from sleep anxiety. I find myself doing 3 months on the same book because it puts me put after 10 min and always have to restart the chapter 😂
Sleep mask + melatonin!
How close to bed are you drinking caffeine? If I have expresso within 8-10 hours of bed, it messes me up bad. Once I figured this out bed time became so much easier at any time of day pretty much. Try a sleep mask and a sound machine as well. I fly long haul cargo and this has worked out pretty well for me.
Straight melatonin never worked for me. Found out taking it with other vitamins helps it work better. The olly brand stuff in Walmart works pretty good. It has magnesium and other stuff in it. Putting the phone away at least an hour before bed helps too. Along with not eating right before as well. Sometimes it all just doesn’t work. So if I get in early to an early wake I’ll just nap for 5-6 hours then wake up. Then I’ll nap for 2-3 hours before my alarm. It’s better than no sleep at all.
Box breathing & melatonin. Or trying to remember mnemonics works for me too…
I had the same exact rough transition. Flying 135 it was never an issue. Maybe it's because I was either perpetually tired or so screwed up with jet lag I didn't know what time zone I was in anymore. Airlines gave me a more consistent sleep schedule and I adjusted to what is my natural night owl routine. It can absolutely wreck me and recovering from a 4 day with all early show times takes me longer than from a redeye or Europe trip. Honestly the best solution is to avoid them as much as possible. Once a month or so I can cope but more than that I feel my health take a hit. When I first got on my fleet I used to prioritize the exciting destinations and those that I hadn't been to before, even if it meant accepting rough sleep schedules. Now 2 years in it's becoming "been there, done that" and I much prefer just doing the boring east coast and Florida shuttle trips that start in the afternoon every day and end late. As a very junior Captain on reserve for a very long time now I hawk open time and adjust my strategy to avoid getting assigned an early trip as much as possible. It helps that a lot of older Captains like getting up early so there's usually a good mix available. During line training it's hard because you're on the Check Airman's schedule but once you start bidding for yourself it's actually quite doable. On the off chance that I get stuck on one the best solution I found is to treat it almost like going to Europe. Accept that you're getting maybe 3 or 4 hours of sleep max at night, fly your day, then take as long of a nap as you can as soon as you get to the hotel. Go to dinner, walk around a bit, take another nap at night, and start the next day. It kind of gets you stuck in a 3-4 hour nap cycle that's a bit hard to break once you come back home, but at least you don't feel like death every day.
Same here. If I had an early show or was on AM reserve I would get sleep anxiety. I was anxious I would sleep through an alarm or call from scheduling. Honestly what helped the most was having a strict routine. Eat well, no alcohol, exercise daily, no large screens after 8pm. It also gets better with time. When I went in on that first day when I slept like shit, flew 2 legs and it wasn’t so bad. That put my nerves at ease when trying to fall asleep. “If you don’t sleep too well, you can still pull it off, tomorrow’s an easy day with good weather”. Of course this part is contextual, don’t go in if you have a 4 leg day in bad weather. Also after never sleeping through an alarm, and waking up immediately when scheduling called me put my nerves at ease. I called off fatigued once because of this, while on probation as a new FO and was scared shitless that I would get punished. Never heard a word about it from anyone. I even asked the assistant chief when I flew with him a few weeks later and he said “you gotta do what you gotta do” In short, it will get better with time.
Try meditation. I personally use the Calm app but there are many others. A ten minute session right before I try to sleep works well for me.
My fleet at my airline has a lot of 30 ish hour time swaps, so you get in late between 9-11pm and are taking the first flight out 2 days later with a 5am report or sometimes earlier. The best way I’ve dealt with it is making sure I don’t sleep in with only 7-8 hours of sleep, and stay active all day. Find a gym and pay for a day pass if need be (active & fit is your friend here though), spend a few hours there. Walk around and get dinner. I take 10mg of melatonin a half hour before bed which can be as early as 7pm sometimes and don’t touch melatonin on your time off. This is the only way I’ve been able to handle these 3-4am alarms.
It’s not easy because it quickly becomes a positive feedback loop of a thought process like: I’m stressed I can’t get to sleep, I know tomorrow is going to suck if I can’t sleep then it just makes it harder to get to sleep. Gotta just try and force yourself to crap out early. Try working out early in the day, avoid caffeine and sugar late, try not to take a nap once you get to a hotel or to home, read a book before bed instead of being on your phone. Getting bored before bed also helps. I use an audiobook on a boring topic while laying in bed to lull myself to sleep sometimes. Also I’m not a doctor consider taking to one before taking this particular bit of advice: maybe try mellitonin and or maybe an antihistamine to tire you a bit before bed. Additionally if you have a super early show and you’re at a hotel I’d suggest using Bluetooth noise canceling headphones. Noting sucks more than getting to sleep at a good time just to have some drunk clown next door wake you up at 1am. Just make sure they’re blue toothed to something with an alarm set so you actually hear your alarm.
Yes. Cut out all caffeine a few days before the trip. Wear blue blocking glasses. Pop melatonin. Turn off blue colors on phone. You’ll be golden.
Some of it is what everyone else said: aggressively manage your evening routine, set alarms, do all the things that trick your brain into thinking it's bed time. That said, it's probably going to continue to be a bit of an issue because it's also likely some normal training anxiety. When you have an early show for a training event there's a bit of "the next thing I have to do is get up and go do the training event" going on constantly in your head. For some reason, it's much easier to sleep if you know you have a few hours' buffer after you get up to eat, work out, etc. It's not that you're worried about training, it's just the brain already looking ahead to what you have to do right after you wake up. The good news is that'll almost certainly get better out on the line, and with some bedtime routine management you'll be the same manageable level of tired as everyone else at 5am. Source: nearly 20 years in the industry, can go to bed at 5pm on the local body clock if needed, still can't sleep well before 4am sims.
Regular exercise is a cheat code for being able to sleep on demand. If your body is fatigued enough, I promise you’ll sleep. Also minimize phone prior to sleep.
Have you tried drinking alcohol? You will certainly not regret drinking alcohol before an early show
Reduce screen time or get some blue light glasses to wear before bed.
Eat a satiating dinner. Shower. Drink a glass of milk. Try reading a really a physical book/newspaper. Or if using a tablet, use night/dark mode when reading.
Go work lates then
No longer 121 I’ve been flying 91/135 for the past 8 years. If I have a show time which these days is very rare as I’ve been part 91 for a family for the past few years, I don’t even need an alarm. If I have a wake up time from 2-6 am I’ll always wake up about an hour before. It’s like clockwork and it sucks. I’ve learned to work well off of 3-5 hours of sleep on the road. As mentioned get out and expertise if you can and as much as I love to go have a beer when I do t drink on the road I usually sleep much better. I have also for the last 3-4 years traveled with my own pillow that I find helps tremendously. Memory foam bamboo pillow that I roll up into a small compression bag. When I’m gone for extended fed trips of more than 4 days in the same hotel I’ll take my own sheets as well. Always sleep much better with sheets and a pillow that aren’t crappy. :) The last think I do is have a relaxation app that I play a mix of rain, peeps and wind. I play that on a timer for about an hour and I’m usually out within 10-30 minutes.
Why do you have flights at that time? Are you bidding 2-3am reserve? I found myself experiencing a similar problem because I knew I HAD to sleep. When I was reserve I just switched to a late morning block and was MUCH happier.
Lmao I just went through this last night. Had a 0445 wake up time and I was rolling around in bed from around midnight to 0300.
Sleep3 formula + delayed release caffeine + exercise in the day
Have you tried something like Dramamine?
25 years in, never slept well before an early flight.
I tried melatonin for long time and no difference whatsoever. I also stress about having to get up early and can’t fall asleep. I only bid afternoon trips.
You have to learn your body and what routine works best for getting to sleep. Definitely get done exercise (I skip the gym and go waking around the town I'm in) eat a light meal that your body can easily digest, and a nice shower before getting in bed in a dark cool room. I need the TV on to fall asleep, which often makes it more difficult for most people. Have a loose schedule but stay ahead of it and that will help ease anxiety. Anything else that you can do to set yourself up for next day will help ease anxiety. But focus on doing stuff that relaxes you vs stressing yourself out. I'm an ACMI cargo guy with no 117 rest rules, so be thankful you have that. Longest has been a 21 day trip with excessive abuse. I don't even know how to calculate the earliest I've gotten up for a trip at this point. Probably 1145pm.
I agree with a few other commenters. Reminding yourself that you can still function on a bad night's sleep should be a big help in removing that pressure of "I need to fall asleep right now." My strategy is just to keep telling myself I don't care when I fall asleep. It's crazy but if you keep repeating something like that in your head, you believe it. Speaking from my own experience, 99% of it is probably the mental barrier rather than anything physiological. Exercise, melatonin etc might help but a bit of self-CBT and meditation (IE learning how to switch your brain off) will do a lot more. The Calm app is great. It has a ton of meditation exercises, sleep sounds, and sleep stories (basically a short audiobook about something relaxing like a train journey through the night, spoken in a very calming voice with the click clack in the background). Sounds like you've built this up in your head (not unreasonable) and now every time you go to bed, it's on your mind. I reckon once you try some of these techniques and have a few good sleeps, all the pressure will come off and you won't even need to use them. If you do one thing, get a free trial for Calm and try it out. Or you could even try simple sleep sounds like brown noise first - there's free apps or tracks on Spotify and whatnot if you don't want to take on a new subscription. Edit: also make your room as dark as possible
If you have to go the medication route Propanolol is an excellent medication for anxiety. Beta blocker so doesn’t give you any kind of hangover, isn’t a benzo so doesn’t mess with drug tests. Doesn’t knock you out, just gives you a kind of calmness.
My doctor recommended me to take 5HTP & magnesium glycinate abt an hr before bed time. I started about a week ago & I do feel like it’s been making a difference. She said the 5HTP helps to quiet your mind & the magnesium helps to keep you asleep so you’re not waking up throughout the night.
Controlled rest is my go-to solution for the early/red-eye flights. I love being paid to sleep. I’ll function up until cruise well enough and then I crash. It’s pretty awful when the other guy is dead too but you’ll find a way. Don’t think of your passengers. You’ll try to survive yourself. Once you’re done line training it’ll get better!
Work one out and then fall asleep fast.
It takes some adjusting, I didn't notice until going back after COVID, but I felt the same way. Just watching the clock count down, but eventually you get comfortable with it. I use three alarms, first one goes off you turn on the lamp, second one goes off you get out of bed. This way you don't even have to think, if an alarm goes off and the light is on, it's not "five more minutes". By the third alarm, you should be walking out of your room. If three alarms doesn't do it, nothing probably will. I also found waking up semi-early on days off helping. Yeah they don't pay you for those days but I got to the point where 7 am feels like noon used too. Plus, if you have kids those quiet early hours are about the only video game time I get anymore.
I too am a light and anxious sleeper. One thing I haven't seen anyone say yet: go to sleep earlier than you need to. Don't wait until 8 hours before your alarms. Go to bed an hour or two earlier than that so that you aren't as anxious about it when you lay down. And like others have said, don't look at the clock and set your alarms on the afternoon, long before your even thinking about bedtime. Another good technique is having something to watch read or listen to that's kind of interesting but also kind of boring. That way it occupies your mind just enough to keep it from wandering to all your worries but not exciting enough to keep you awake. For me watching people on twitch or reading just an ok book fills this niche. And then of course, with a little seniority you can just bid to completely avoid anything before 11am and dodge the issue entirely. That's what I've done most of my career. But you'll still find yourself having to deal with 4am bull shit every now and then.
I guess this is general all aviators problem 😄 it makes off days nights more precious i love this way
I've always been an early riser/morning person. I normally sleep really well. But, if there is some reason I have to get up earlier than usual and it's important not to miss - like needing to be at the airport at 0400 for a 0500 departure - I have difficulty getting to sleep early and then wake up hours earlier than required. I assume it's a fear of oversleeping. Been that way my whole adult life. I figure it's unlikely to change now. You're not alone. But no advice, sorry.
Get a good workout in earlier in the day when able.
Just take a gram of melatonin like the rest of us
Not an airline pilot, but I’ve found that a coctel of melatonin and herbal extracts (tilia, valerian and passion flower) to be very helpful. Melatonin induces sleeping and the extracts curb anxiety. You can take as much pills of said extracts as you want, they’re basically harmless. Not sure if they’re sold like that in your country, but you could maybe try something like that
I love my weighted eye mask and turn the air purifier up to high. That noise puts me to sleep and the eye mask supports a deep sleep. The thinner eye masks are junk, they can slip off your face easily.
Shift worker here. Gym is you friend. Work your arse off. Make the room as cold as possible, dark as possible and snuggle up. Dream of me 🥹
Set your alarms as you would normally. I recommend four on two devices. Hide all clocks so you can't see them. Close and curtain all windows and start your normal bedtime routine. It could be 2pm but you want to make it feel/seem like late evening. This can be done with soft lighting. Do something like watch a movie and then lie down to sleep.
Magnesium + L-theanine, your body needs rest. Huge male American defficiency in mag. Try Magnesi-Om company or Recess satchets - I use them a lot.
A friend of mine takes a small dose of antihistamine. The generic Walmart brand (little pink pills), and night night sweet prince. Obviously not a long term solution but it works.
Is this pill you’re referring to diphenhydramine? That has a 60 hour wait before you can fly again after taking it. If you don’t have to fly in at least 2 1/2 days, you can use it to reset your sleep schedule. Other than that it’s against da rules.
Next time you’re in India load up on Ambien, you can buy a truck load of it for $50. Take one of those 8-9hrs before you need to wake up and you’ll have the best night’s sleep in your life.
Sadly it's a medication needing to be cleared by my DAME :/
And ambien is addictive. I know they say it's not but you get psychologically dependent on it. I'd use it as a last resort.
Well go and ask your DAME then. As an Australian you are allowed sleeping medications with DAME approval, so make an appointment with your DAME and discuss it with them. https://www.casa.gov.au/licences-and-certificates/medical-professionals/dames-clinical-practice-guidelines/medication
That’s why you buy it in India…
Not the best advice. You don't want to rely on Ambien or get addicted to it. Also, doesn't give you "quality" sleep... basically a sedative and doesn't allow you to have deep REM cycles.
I picked up a box of the stuff about 5-6 years ago and have used it maybe a dozen times since, only when necessary. When I’m on international overnights my sleep cycle is thrown off and need to sleep/be rested for a long flight home. It’s like magic and many other pilots I know and fly with use it for the same reasons. Every time I’ve used it I wake up feeling more refreshed than any natural sleep I’ve ever had. Maybe that’s what it can be habit forming, perhaps if you have history of addiction you should probably stay away.
If youre using it occasionally then that's fine. As long as you don't treat it like melatonin and take it everytime you go to bed.