Taking stimulants?

[irishpeacock]

Since I'm still getting used to my CPAP - not sleeping as much as I should be, and not always getting through the night on it - I still need a nap everyday to get me through. It's difficult with school just getting through the day's lectures, nevermind doing the work for them. I'm hoping this will get better over time as I tweak my settings, and get used to my machine. I was given 100-200mg Provigil to help, however I also suffer from anxiety and the Provigil tends to raise it. With 10mg Lexapro I was able to ward the anxiety off most of the time, but now taking the Provigil I feel that tightening grip all over again. Its give and take - too stressed to do my work properly or too tired.

Has anyone else had experience with Provigil or other prescribed stimulants? Has anyone has success with them?

[sparkinson]

Before I was diagnosed with OSA my doctor reluctantly tried me on ProVigil to help me with fatigue / tiredness- it actually made things worse for me, but I didn't get anxiety. We then tried Adderall and that definitely helps, but as its an amphetamine that may increase your anxiety- it hasn't had any negative side effects for me but I still don't really like taking it. It has helped me to lose a few pounds which is a plus. When I was researching meds, I saw that several people had success with ADRAFINIL when ProVigil didn't work for them (the two seem to be related but Adrafinil takes a couple of weeks to kick in) .

Simon

[carbonman]

. I was given 100-200mg Provigil to help, however I also suffer from anxiety and the Provigil tends to raise it. With 10mg Lexapro I was able to ward the anxiety off most of the time, but now taking the Provigil I feel that tightening grip all over again. Its give and take - too stressed to do my work properly or too tired.

Has anyone else had experience with Provigil or other prescribed stimulants? Has anyone has success with them?

Provigil w/sleep apnea......seems like a hugh oxymoron to me.

A few years ago, when I was completely beaten down by OSA, I was in
severe depression. I was lucky, and went looking for mental therapy help.
In that process, I did use Lexapro and Xanax, as tools when in the dark
depths of that journey. I was involved w/a very talented therapist whose basis
of therapy was Cognitive Behavior Therapy. I was fortunate to be able to
do some very positive and constructive work. I don't think the long term use of
these drugs, such as Lexapro or Xanax, are a solution.

As my brain comes back to life, I am going back to what I call my CBT tool box.
With my improving cognitive brain functions and my returning energy, I am
able to more effectively use those tools to mangage the fears and anxieties that
I confronted in that journey to my personal hell. Now, more than ever in my life,
I have the energy to fight back. I am beginning to realize that much of my
depression was simply being too tired to fight back.
Just another service that OSA provides it's victums.

Maybe it would be worth a try to seek out some positive mental therapy help to deal
with the direct cause of the anxiety and forgo the provigil and give your
cpap every opportunity to do its work.

Hope this helps. All the best on your journey.

[blowfish]

.

[goose]

Having just been diagnosed with ADHD and facing some kind of drug therapy I'll keep all of this in mind and report back on how it's affecting me.
I see the second therapist tomorrow (he's the one that can prescribe the meds), so we'll see how that progresses....

Being on the xPAP machine has helped my energy level and my daily fatigue, but it has done nothing for my focus, attention and concentration. If anything, it's actually worse since I have more energy to let my mind wander.....my biggest problem is that my brain is a thousand places all at one time and won't slow down -- makes it difficult to fall asleep, but once I'm asleep, I now tend to sleep much deeper than I have in almost 40 years (but that's another story - after Vietnam, I'd wake myself up all night with the rustling of the sheets as I'd turn over.....).
I still can't sit down and read a book, magazine articles can be a challenge depending on how long they are. I still can't sit down and watch a movie (without pausing it about every 20 min. or so).......

We'll see what transpires......
cheers
goose

[OutaSync]

Y'all be careful with that lexapro. I just weaned myself off of it. Four weeks of brain zaps. That is what the doctor put me on instead of ordering a sleep test. For doctors, drugs are the easy way out. As patients we need to take charge of our own care. Drugs don't replace good sleep, and some of thse drugs, although easy to take, are hard physically hard to stop taking.

Does insurance cover cognitive therapy?

[blowfish]

.

[carbonman]

Y'all be careful with that lexapro.

Does insurance cover cognitive therapy?

I totally agree. I was on lexapro for 3mths.
Long story short, it helped me get through a very trying time,
in my therapy. For that I am grateful, but, it effected my personality and
killed my libido. I could feel that I was well on my way to a passive,
almost vegie state. It was not good.
As I was backing off it, I had wild mood swings that sometimes I
could not control. It was not good. I was very fortunate to be involved
w/a great doc who listened and watched and really helped me through it.

Yes, for me, my insc. did cover it. It was just listed as mental health therapy.

I don't know how you find a good doc for this. For me, the Universe
was watching and guided me.