Anyone using Provigil?

General Discussion on any topic relating to CPAP and/or Sleep Apnea.
Joe A
Posts: 54
Joined: Tue Feb 22, 2005 9:50 am
Location: NJ

Anyone using Provigil?

Post by Joe A » Thu Mar 10, 2005 2:30 pm

Guys:

Does Provigil help with cognitive function? Or does it just aleviate daytime sleepyness?


The saga goes on! I now do not seem to be having events. I am not sleepy, I am not tired.I no longer am snoring in the mask or waking up with a sore throat. My brain just doesn't seem to fire on all 8 cylinders until ~5 PM. By then my day is shot.

My sleep Dr. wants me to "Hang in there" as perhaps the 1 month of bad sleep I had due to the ineffectiveness of the FP HC431 Mask may have thrown my circadian rythms out of wack.

If the condition doesn't improve...he may want to write me a script for this stuff. From what the website says, they make no mention of cognitive improvement after sleep therapy.

Zees Pleez
Posts: 77
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2005 9:08 pm

Post by Zees Pleez » Thu Mar 10, 2005 2:43 pm

I am taking it. It does make me more alert. I don't take it every day and my scrip is for 1 or 2 as needed, so I see the difference it makes. It doesn't make you jittery and if you take it early in the day it doesn't interfere with night time sleep. If i am really foggy in the morning I take 2, if I am just dragging but not terribly so I take 1 and on better days (more and more of these recently) I take none. The doc wrote me a scrip for a month's supply that can be refilled twice and has no intention of renewing that. Some people get addicted, though I think attached is a better word. Apparantly when people with no fatigue take it they turn into dynamos. It is a banned substance in the sports world. The generic name is monofadil (sp?). If you drink a lot of coffee, cut back on days when you take Provigil or you will get jittery (at least I did). For me, it makes the fatigue far less noticable and has a lesser (but some) effect on cognative function.

Also, there was an article on it in Reader's Digest a while back.

Zees Pleez
Posts: 77
Joined: Tue Mar 01, 2005 9:08 pm

Post by Zees Pleez » Thu Mar 10, 2005 2:58 pm

Posting an addendum instead of editing in case you already started reading my first post...

My doctor prescribed this prior to the sleep lab; an earlier attempt at battling the fatigue. I had given up on it and was going to toss it (not because it wasn't working at all, but because it didn't do enough) and he advised me to hang on to it, tried an antidepressant, didn't work, ordered the sleep lab. At that time he advised me to continue it since it seemed to help some. What I did not want is to end up with a long term drug habit as the "cure".

User avatar
Hugh Jass
Posts: 126
Joined: Fri Dec 17, 2004 7:55 am
Location: Montreal, Quebec

Post by Hugh Jass » Fri Mar 11, 2005 6:56 am

This has been discussed in the past. You may gain added insight by following these links:

http://cpaptalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=864 ... t=provigil
http://cpaptalk.com/viewtopic.php?t=107 ... t=provigil

Regards
Trying is the first step towards failure.

InternetDiva
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2005 9:38 pm

Provigil

Post by InternetDiva » Fri Mar 11, 2005 9:43 pm

Hi

I just started on Provigil yesterday. I was diagnosed with Low Level Sleep Apnea after a sleep study in December 2004. I finally got a CPAP machine on January 21, 2005 but have continued to have "sleep attacks" where I wil fall into a deep sleep for 5-10 minutes. It hasn't been good at all. I spend all my energy all day fighting sleep. This has been going on for over a year now. So I went back to the Dr and I asked him to put me on Provigil. I took my first pill yesterday and immediately noticed a difference. I wasn't fighting sleep and today was even better. I don't know why it takes sooooo long to diagnose diseases with todays technology?? So far

InternetDiva
Posts: 3
Joined: Fri Mar 11, 2005 9:38 pm

Post by InternetDiva » Fri Mar 11, 2005 9:44 pm

Sorry I didn't get to finish my message. I hope I continue to improve. The medication is expensive but I am self employed and being without a job, because I can't stay awake, would be worse than paying the co-pay each month.

Kelly

User avatar
Bullwinkle
Posts: 37
Joined: Fri Mar 04, 2005 9:39 pm
Location: Dallas, Texas

Post by Bullwinkle » Fri Mar 11, 2005 10:01 pm

I've been on Provigil for about 5 weeks now. I take 1 and 1/2 in the morning, and then 1/2 at lunchtime. No jitters, no hangover, nothing like that.

For me, I find that I still have the daytime fatigue/sleepiness; however, my cognitive abilities seem to be accelerated such that I am able to work through the fatigue that was leaving me debilitated two months ago. Kind of feels like someone is over-clocking my CPU to borrow a term from the PC world. I'm still constantly exhausted, but it isn't stopping me from doing what I want/need to do as much as it used to.

I'm just beginning my CPAP therapy tonight, so I have only had the Provigil to keep me going until now. Bottom line, I wouldn't give up the Provigil for anything at this point.

-Jeff

sharonokc
Posts: 83
Joined: Thu Oct 28, 2004 12:30 pm
Location: oklahoma city, ok, usa

Anyone using Provigil?

Post by sharonokc » Fri Jan 20, 2006 4:26 pm

I have been using Provigil for several years now. Prior to that I uses 2 other drugs (alternating) that were harder on one's liver. I use the Provigil because in addition to my apnea I have what my doctor calls "idiopathic hypersomnia". This was diagnosed with a daytime sleep study. I believe it was called a multiple sleep something or other. (It has been over 10 years since the test.)
Provigil works on the parasympathetic system, and theoretically does not raise one's bloodpressure.
I can definitely tell when I do not take the Provigil. Sometimes it is a physical sleepiness, sometimes a mental one.
Unfortunately it is an expensive drug. My insurance company just moved it to the classification of special drug, which requires using a specific mail in pharmacy. I have no idea how this will work out.
Good luck with you daytime sleepiness.

As an aside, you might check into using l carnitine. My nephew has a deficiency in creating this, so his mom (my sis) was checked out, and she had a decreased creation of carnitine. This has somewhat to do with sleepiness also. I have stated taking it, and have been more alert. As with any supplement do check into the side effects.

good luck in staying awake

sharonokc