Yes, melatonin works well in some scenarios, for me it doesn't have the "knock out" affect. Of course I understand why tizanidine isn't approved for flight, it knocks me out in 25 minutes. However it seems to be out of the system within a couple of hrs so I expect there is a 24 or 48 hours prior requirement and that is what I was wondering if anyone had experience with.
It isn't a show stopper as I barely use it and can drop it if needed, just wondering how extreme I need to be.
With the FAA, there is more too this situation than, "...I'll just cease taking it..." Often they want to know every small nitty detail about the situation of why it was prescribed, how frequently filled/taken, and more. All this needs to come from the doctor who evaluated you and wrote the scrip. And the letter needs to be written in such a way that the FAA reviewers don't (1) return it for more information, or (2) get suspicious of any other conditions that may or may not be present. Oh, and (3) simple language, not something that looks like your doctor swallowed a medical thesaurus.
Again, what needs to be done to successfully obtain your FAA medical certificate is way above the pay grade of everyone here. All we can do is offer guesses and conjecture.
To get this done correctly, seek out the advice and paid services of Dr. Bruce Chien in Peoria.
www.aeromedicaldoc.com
If you are not familiar with Dr. Bruce, use his name as search keywords to find past threads about him. He is one of the nation's top airmen advocates to the FAA's Airman Medical system. He is one of the few that knows every FAA senior medical reviewer (the doctors in OKC) and every simple to oddball to complex aeromedical situation. If certification is possible, he will do his best to obtain it with minimal delay, especially where other AME's would just stuff you into deferral hell.
One big tip. He is known to be a very nice guy when you listen to him and do as he asks, including being fully honest. But if you lie or omit, he has a very short fuse because dealing with the consequences of that action creates delays, paperwork, and frustration that takes away from his ability to help those who need it.
So again, to get or renew your medical now that it's known you have taken Tizanidine, seek out the counsel of Dr. Bruce Chien.