Advice for Overnight Flight

[MJDK]

Hello Friends, My RLS is controlled very well with .5 mg of ropinirole and 5 mg of hydrocodone. Sometimes I have break through issues and take just a tiny bit more of each. Question - in two weeks I'm flying to London - the flight leaves at 6:30 pm. I desperately want to be able to sleep but taking ambien on a flight makes me zombie-like but no sleep. It's miserable. I've tried Carbodopa Levodopa - - - - which just put my brain in a weird state. That was for attending a matinee. I'll talk to my doctor about what he might recommend to help me sleep in addition to the ropinirole and hydrocodone --- but I wonder if anyone else has any recommendations. Thank you in advance.

[Rustsmith]

You might ask for a small supply of a long acting opioid, such as tramadol ER, just for the flight. If you are able to get it, try one before you leave since some opioids cause an effect that is sometimes called "alerting". Alerting wears off after about 6 to 10 hours, which isn't an issue with tramadol ER since it is a 1/day med. Tramadol ER is rather pricey when compared to the other generic opioids (but nothing compared to the price of Horizant and Lyrica) and it probably isn't something that you want to take regularly since it is also an anti-depressant, which means that you have to taper to get off of it if you take it for an extended period (months).

If you do get tramadol ER, the conversion ratio for hydrocodone to tramadol is 1 to 10, so you would need 50mg tramadol to provide the same relief as 5mg of hydroc.

[Yankiwi]

My RLS is fairly severe (up for over an hour two or three times each night until legs settle down).
I live in New Zealand and my family are all in Maryland so I have a 12 hour flight as well as another six.

Tell the flight attendants that you have restless legs and might need to walk during the flight.
When the lights are off I spend hours standing in my seat reading a book or kindle. During one set of very long flights in both directions I watched 13 movies.

Whatever happens, the flight will end. Good luck.

[Polar Bear]

I have flown Lodon to West Coast USA and it is indeed a long flight especially when those around you are asleep and you don't want to disturb them, never mind cope with your own RLS. In recent times I have had benefit of cocodamol 30/500 as part of my treatment and when I am on a flight I add extra. This helps greatly. If I still have breakthrough I get to my feet.
When booking seats we ask for those next to the toilet. Yes, you may have a short queue beside you at times but it also means that you can use the little extra space around the toilet area to stand and to walk in tiny circles. (Or just make your way to that small area) Explain your condition to the flight attendants.
Also I like the very back seats beside the toilets and which noone really wants because the seats don't recline because it means I don't have to worry about annoying folk behind me.

[MJDK]

Thank for for all the great advice! I am going to call my doctor tomorrow.

[jul2873]

My primary care gives me a prescription for oxy—usually just ten tablets. I usually rely on kratom and save the oxy for times when I can’t wLk around. So because I rarely use it I have no tolerance. Even on a long, overnight flight— like from Honolulu to Newark— one, or at the most two oxy will usually get me through the flight. I think the trick is to use something you haven’t built up any tolerance to.