Provigil - What's your experience?

[lawdognellie]

I've been on Provigil for almost a year. I take 400 mg 3 times a day (which is a crazy amount). Frankly, it makes me jittery, but I can still fall asleep on it. Starbuck's coffee has a better pick me up. Which makes sense since studies are showing it has the same effect as a cup of coffee.

Sarah

[Cliff]

If it turns out your settings on cpap are correct and your still tired, you should try the free 7 day trial provigil provides on their website, or get samples from your doctor and see for yourself if it helps you.

Making life altering decisions based on other peoples experiences, well, let's just say if I took 400mg of provigil 3 times a day, (as the previous post indicated), I would be dead.

Having said that, should you decide to try Provigil, remember not to make your judgement based on how you feel the first day. In my case, if my lawnmower would have started, I would have been mowing my yard in the rain!

It was like, "Oxygen, meet energy", for like the first time in 20 years. The effect tapers off after a few days as your body get's accustomed to not being so tired. Now I feel normal if I take it and tired if I don't, and I am also 100 compliant with CPAP.

If it works, your kids will thank you. Just make sure you have that "to do list" on hand that very first day, then your wife will be thanking you as well.

Cliff

[roster]

[quote="Cliff"]If it turns out your settings on cpap are correct and your still tired, you should try the free 7 day trial provigil provides on their website, or get samples from your doctor and see for yourself if it helps you.

Making life altering decisions based on other peoples experiences, well, let's just say if I took 400mg of provigil 3 times a day, (as the previous post indicated), I would be dead.

Having said that, should you decide to try Provigil, remember not to make your judgement based on how you feel the first day. In my case, if my lawnmower would have started, I would have been mowing my yard in the rain!

It was like, "Oxygen, meet energy", for like the first time in 20 years. The effect tapers off after a few days as your body get's accustomed to not being so tired. Now I feel normal if I take it and tired if I don't, and I am also 100 compliant with CPAP.

If it works, your kids will thank you. Just make sure you have that "to do list" on hand that very first day, then your wife will be thanking you as well.

Cliff

[Guest]

Cliff said
"Now I feel normal if I take it and tired if I don't, and I am also 100 compliant with CPAP."


Cliff, I would have to say my experience is similar to yours but it took a long time Here is my summary of side effects. I have been taking it for 18 weeks now

Headaches - slight but regular for the first couple of months, never bad enuf that I would have taken anything for them. Very rare now

Dizziness - I had pronounced dizziness for several weeks at the start, but I have had postural vertigo in the past so I can't be sure bout which was the cause. haven't had any for several weeks now

Anxiety - lasted the longest, faded away so slowly I cant be sure when it ended, maybe a couple of weeks ago

Rash - had something going on with my skin, but could have been some other cause, seems to have abated

Lightening of the wallet - I see where someone said that 30 200mg cost $400 in the US? WOW. The Canadian version, Alertec, costs me $70.81 for 50 of the 100 mg. the medication is identical, they just don't want people to know.

Right now I feel pretty normal, like I said above, I may have had most of the side effects but now I don't notice, I just know how bad I was and now my cognitive performance is back to acceptable level

From other sites I have been to it appears to me that the med is often being wrongly prescribed. The research I saw said it is only to be used in OSA where CPAP is effective and compliant. In fact the one article is titled "Residual Hypersomnia in OPTIMALLY treated Sleep Apnea" (the journal CHEST in 2003)

My CPAP was fully effective right out of the gate, yet I still had residual problems for 14 years. Tried 6 other meds in those years, only one other really worked but I had to quit taking it due to nasty side effects. Right now I would say that my cognitive performance is as good as it has been in 25 years.

For anyone trying it my experience would say give it a fairly lengthy trial to see if you get past the side effects. And maybe only try 100 mg a day, it's working for me.

[linuxgrl]

I was on Provigil for at least a year before I was properly diagnosed with OSA. It was pretty great if I remember correctly. Problem was, you can't take it with birth control pills because it makes them ineffective. Plus it causes birth defects! The nurse practitioner that prescribed it to me did not tell me any of this, I had to read it for myself on the sheet they give you at the pharmacy. The pharmacy didn't say anything about it either.

The only real side effects I had were jaw tightness and the occasional headache. I was on a low dose (100mg I believe) and so I didn't feel jittery - I just felt awake! I remember being amazed - I could stay awake in class when the teacher dimmed the lights. I didn't feel the need to constantly take naps. Couldn't fall asleep for a nap in the afternoon if I wanted to.

After awhile the effects started to wear off so I had to take a couple days off now and then - reboot the system so to speak.

Good drug, overall. It kept me from flunking out of school.

[bo53]

Hi all, I am a new member to this site, my name is Bob and I am 53 and was diagnosed with severe OSA when I was 24. I have been pretty faithful to my cpap (bipap) therapy 90% of the time since then. My pressure is 20/16 I have used my machine like clock work for the last 2 years but about 6 to 7 seven months ago I stated to have daytime sleepiness getting worse every month. I went to my sleep doctor 2 days ago and he said since I was getting older and still heavy 274 lbs that is was common for the daytime problems to get worse. My pressure is so high he said lets try Provigil for 6 weeks and also put me back on a full face mask ( the new Mirage Liberty) I currently using the Mirage swift nasal pillows.

Now he also asked me to try and drop some of the weight and see what happens. I am anxious to see how the Provigil works and the new mask, I was wondering if anyone has experience with the medicine and or the new mask. I will keep this up to date to see how I do if anyone is interested.
thanks,
Bob

[Guest]

I like to abuse stimulants, both scripted and bought on the corner... Provigil was a one of a kind feeling... alert but not spun out, high or anything. 100mg a day.

[LavenderMist]

I wish I could try it. Hate feeling tired. My doctor says that because I've had palpitations in the past that I cannot take it.

[roster]

[quote="rooster"]The sleep doc will do another titration. She mentioned if they have the pressure right and my fatigue/sleepiness/mental fog continues, she may prescribe Provigil.

In general, I try to avoid taking pharmaceuticals and I know little about Provigil.

What is your experience with Provigil?

[Guest]

I have tried Provigil - between 50 & 150 mg per day. Honestly, I could not tell the difference with or without it. What a disappointment!

[Bamafanatic56]

Provigil (Modafinil) is a central nervous system stimulant. It's not a substitute for sleep however it does help with alertness. It made me a little anxious at times. It's nice to have in the medicine cabinet...take it as needed. I broke the 200's in half so I wouldn't get the jitters.

[DreamDiver]

This week I started drinking a diet Coke during my morning commute. I have been a zero-caffeine person for years. It is amazing how that small amount of caffeine in a 12-ounce Coke energizes me and improves my mood throughout the day and into the early evening.

If I drink one every morning, I wonder if the good effect will diminish over time? For now, Diet Coke is my "mini-Provigil".

Aspartame gives me very bad headaches. There is no long-term research on residual effects, no matter what FDA says.

If you are unwilling to take a 'wake up pill' like provigil during the day, have you considered taking another tack? Maybe better sleep will allow you to stay awake better during the day.

Before sleeping, I sometimes take a product called Mag Relax - a combination of magnesium carbonate and citric acid that when combined with water produces magnesium citrate. This form of magnesium makes me fall asleep within 20 minutes. Not habit forming. It's great for 'restless legs'. Magnesium is an awesome dietary supplement that, according to the product, 'promotes nerve, bone and cardiovascular health' without side effects. Sweet.

Melatonin is another product that induces sleep readily. I don't usually take a whole pill because I'll sleep for three days. Continued use gives me nightmares. Not habit forming, but effective for short durations.

[amandalee]

I tried taking Provigil for the first time today. I took half of a 200 mg tablet this morning when I woke up. Within 1 hour, I was so nauseous that I couldn't even stand up. I've spent most of the morning just sitting at my desk because if I move too quickly I'm afraid I will throw up. This can't be normal, right?
It's been over 3 hours and I still feel sick, but other than that, it seems like the medication is not having an effect so far. I'm not sure if I even want to try taking this again tomorrow.

[Lucid]

I have been on Provigil for about six months after telling my doctor I felt tired all the time.

I was recently diagnosed with severe OSA (AHI=45), so that explains the tiredness.

Doctor has told me to keep taking it since I am just starting CPAP (this is my first week).

I take 100mg twice a day. I do feel a slight dizziness sometimes. But the Provigil keeps me alert without the side-effects I get with coffee (i.e. anxiety, high feeling then crashing, etc.)

[MrGrumpy]

[quote="Anonymous"]POSITIVE! A) it helped, B) I had NO PROBLEMS with withdrawal when I quit it.

In fact, I'd love some right now... I've been so beat up the last few weeks. I'm so exhausted. I think it's related to my arm pain keeping me up at night.

My experience was that I could only tolerate half a tablet. I took the full tablet ONCE. I was up until 10 pm frantically scrubbing a friend's house.... I felt "methed up" all day, was jittery, was just crazy frantic. Next day I cut the tab in two and was fine.

I also experimented with skipping days, and had no withdrawal or undue tiredness. When I ran out, I just quit, and NO PROBLEMS AT ALL.

Socknitster tells me it is JUST an antihistimine, and I take lots of those, so I have had no worries about it.