Provigil

[Treesap]

I went to my pulmonologist today because of the continued daytime sleepiness I have. I've been 100% compliant with CPAP since getting on the hose 15 months ago. I do feel better, but I am not 100%.

3 weeks ago when I went, they took blood to check thyroid levels and gave me a wrist oximeter to check my oxygen while on CPAP. Everything came out normal. So he decides he wants to do another sleep study to determine if I have narcolepsy. ??? Then what? I get a prescription for Provigil. If I don't do the sleep study, then he still wants to put me on provigil. I have 2 weeks of samples. But I'm not impressed with the outcome or lack of information. I thought for sure there would be more tests. I plan on going to my regular GP to check other things.

I am exhausted right now, and it's only 6:00 p.m. I haven't done anything extraordinarily exerting besides a day in the office. I KNOW if I sit down and watch TV, I will fall asleep. I get anywhere between 7-8 hours of sleep each night.

Even when I get more sleep on the weekends, I still feel tired. Does anyone else have this problem? Do you have any suggestions?

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CPAPopedia Keywords Contained In This Post (Click For Definition): hose, CPAP, Prescription

[Woody]

I have the same problem but I traced mine down to a change in my chlosterol medication. I was put on simvistatin about 7 months ago
and all of a sudden I couldn't get enough sleep. I changed back to lipitor
about 3 months ago and I seem to be geting over this. I tried the Provigil
but besides it being so darn expensive it made me verry irritable!!!

[IndyJudy]

I talke provigil every work day. I was prescribed 200 mg a day, but only take half a day. I don't take it on weekends or vacation days.

Prior to taking it, I would be VERY tired during the work day, miss work, etc. My work habits were very poor.

I have had a great experience with Provigil. I do agree, it is very expensive. With insurance I pay $60 for 30 pills. Since I cut them in half (they are scored) it lasts for 60 days. No withdrawl, rapid heart rate, no problems falling asleep at night...I'm pleased with the results.

Best of luck to you!

[Lee22633]

Instead of giving me Provigal (I suppose because of my special circumstances and injury) my Pain doctor put me on the generic form of Ritalin. I looked at how the two work differently and he is great. The Ritalin does more than keep you up. Of course there might be problems with the other drugs I take if I were to use the provigal. It is also used for narcolepsy. It truely acts as a CNS stimulent with me.

[kteague]

The usual questions of "How's your data look?" and "Are you mouth breathing?" come to mind.

Then, any chance you have limb movments disturbing your sleep?

I wouldn't think narcolepsy until I was sure there was no other answer. If the solution is to use Provigil either way, guess while you're trialing it you can judge how helpful it is for you. I'd just advise you to not let any "lift" the Provigil may give you sidetrack you from seeking further answers for a cause of the remaining sleepiness.

Kathy

[Treesap]

Kteague,

My numbers have been great. My AhI is ALWAYS pretty far below 5. Hardly any of that is AI. If it is, it's like .5. I'm not a mouth breather. I hardly see any leaks registered. It weird because I can get 8 hours of sleep, and I still have a hard time getting up in the morning. Even on weekends when I sleep 9-10 hours, I still feel really groggy. My doctor didn't ask me any questions. He instantly went to the sleep study answer.

I could get a sleep study, but right now I'm kind of stretched financially. We remodeled our whole house this past year, and now we have to replace our air conditioner. We live in Arizona, so there's no way around it. I feel I cannot afford $600 for a sleep study right now. But I know I need to reconsider it because it is my health. Because my numbers are so good and very consistent, I can't see what the problem is.