Provigil – good or bad?

    • Anonymous
      July 2, 2006 at 8:57 am

      I posted this on the Adult GBS thread, thought I may have some answers here.

      [QUOTE] Hello friends,

      I have been on Provigil for 11 days now, and I am absolutely [B][I]amazed[/I][/B] at how I am feeling. I am not in a continuous zombie state, or comatose, and as a result have a sense of homor past 9:30 in the morning, [I][B]and[/B][/I] as a result am more patient and ‘fun’ to my children. I do still feel a [I]little[/I] tired and I can still do with a nap in the afternoon, but wake up after a while feeling like I can easily get up, and I do, and it seems without the bad “old lady” shuffle. I was scared initially that maybe I was imagining it, but this feeling cant be my imagination. I have always said that all I pray for is a pill that can help me with my fatigue, (in the past I have been so anti pills) and I try not worry about the pain in my hands and feet as it isnt too debilitating.
      HOWEVER ……. I have my reservations as in the warnings it speaks about dependency, which among other things is concerning.

      The following is a quote [I]Chrissy[/I] found on the web and sent me in her post from the Cymbalta thread. [B]Granted[/B], it is someones opinion, but from what I read, it seems to be pretty much on the mark.

      [I]Quote:
      [I]Provigil (modafinil). Provigil is one weird drug. Its primary function is to promote wakefulness in people with narcolepsy, but it is being prescribed off-label for just about everything. It is approaching Neurontin (gabapentin) in the snake oil sweepstakes. At least the people at Pfizer know how Neurontin works and what it does. Provigil is a true mystery. Other than binding to a few dopamine sites in the brain, but not releasing any more dopamine like amphetamines do, the good folks at Cephalon haven’t published (for the 2002 edition of the PDR) just how the hell Provigil does its magic, because they didn’t know! They do know that monkeys like it as much as cocaine. The IAAF still doesn’t know if it’s stimulating enough to affect an athlete’s performance, and who better to know about drugs than a sports federation, right? They plan on banning it next year. The World Anti-Doping Association has just banned it. Even though it doesn’t do jack shit for an athlete’s performance, except maybe in the biathlon. Anyway, Kelli White mentions how it helped her with narcolepsy in this article. I found it to be moderately useful for ADD and to counter the lethargy induced by my Topamax-Neurontin-Risperdal-lorazepam cocktail. I’d have enough concentration, focus and wakefulness to have a bit of a life until about 3:00 or 4:00 p.m. Then it was time to just watch Buffy and eat a reheated supper until the meds caught up with me and he fell asleep in front of the TV around 8:00 p.m. Believe me, it was a vast improvement. At least the food got made, the bills got paid and the dishes got washed. I was most grateful for having that much of a life every day thanks to Provigil. Through experimentation I found that 200 mg first thing in the morning worked best. Any more got me wired and vaguely hypomanic, and hypomania is a potential side effect for the bipolar. Taking extra in the afternoon or dividing the dose to take some in the afternoon just made me hyperaware of how god damn tired I was. Provigil has been found effective as a treatment for ADD for children in studies. According to my doctor, it works best for ADD if sleep disruption or brain injuries are involved. Why, just like me and Mouse! [/I]
      [/I]

      I know someone on the forum (dont know if I can mention his name) was on it for a short while, and then changed to another drug that is similar. Provigil is VERY expensive, and we had to get pre-approval from my insurance company to see if they would cover it. They do, and my copay is just short of $50.

      So after that looooong story, my question to any of you is…….. Are any of you on Provigil, and, please give me your thoughts and/or experiences.

      P.S. Am posting this in CIDP as it may help someone, or someone may be taking it.
      [/QUOTE]

    • July 3, 2006 at 8:56 am

      I tried it briefly and decided against continuing it. Granted I felt like I just had an IV of caffeine, it did not help with the muscle fatigue that I get.
      I can get a similar effect if I drink 2 cans of a caffeinated beverage (I normally don’t drink any) with fewer side effects. I do know some MS patients who tried it and found it beneficial in making it thru the day.

      Any drug that has the potential to be addicting should be carefully considered. If it works for you, go with it. All it did for me was super-charge my alertness however the rest of my body still moved in CIDP-mode:)

    • Anonymous
      July 13, 2006 at 2:34 am

      Ali — I use provigil occaisionally, when I hit the big wall of fatigure and need to work, mainly. I find it works quite well when I really need it, but I don’t like some of the side effects (headache, some other weird stuff) so I don’t take it very often.

    • Anonymous
      July 13, 2006 at 3:50 am

      i find the fatigue fighting ability negligable. also the headaches it causes for me occur nearly every time i take it. i use it more for a pick me up when i have a long trip, or similar event where i need to be a bit more alert. maybe if i used it daily i would have better results?

    • Anonymous
      July 13, 2006 at 4:53 am

      Before I was diagnosed with CIDP my doc sent to Vanderbuilt University hospital, and they give me several drugs to try, one was Provigil. It had a short term positive effect on me. Before I finished my one month script I could not tell any difference.

    • Anonymous
      July 13, 2006 at 12:47 pm

      I have to say that I am beginning to question if it is making such a huge difference anymore. I will have to see what it does in the next couple of weeks, and if my headaches become too overpowering.

    • Anonymous
      October 5, 2006 at 2:28 pm

      Bring to top for Nat

    • Anonymous
      October 5, 2006 at 3:44 pm

      Thanks Ali.

      I did try it once about two years ago and it just made me feel a bit manic and speedy. Mental energy (too much at that), but no physical energy. My doctor suggested trying adderall but I don’t like pills if not absolutely vital.

    • October 7, 2006 at 7:08 am

      I’ve been on two years now, no head-aches or other side effects that I can tell. Doing the 200 mg in the morning and about an hour nap in the afternoon. Compared to sleeping my life away I’m extremely happy with it, and I haven’t had to increase the dose. I’m doing 1000 mg of Solu-medrol Iv treatments every 6 weeks, come home from the treatment and sleep 24 hours, so maybe I’m not of the norm,lol, and not a good example to go by. I figure if it helps me have more of a life, great. Imagine what all those steriods are doing to my body, I guess what I’m saying is everyone is different and you have to weigh in quality of life to possible side effects.

Provigil – good or bad?

    • Anonymous
      July 2, 2006 at 8:53 am

      Hello friends,

      I have been on Provigil for 11 days now, and I am absolutely [B][I]amazed[/I][/B] at how I am feeling. I am not in a continuous zombie state, or comatose, and as a result have a sense of homor past 9:30 in the morning, [I][B]and[/B][/I] as a result am more patient and ‘fun’ to my children. I do still feel a [I]little[/I] tired and I can still do with a nap in the afternoon, but wake up after a while feeling like I can easily get up, and I do, and it seems without the bad “old lady” shuffle. I was scared initially that maybe I was imagining it, but this feeling cant be my imagination. I have always said that all I pray for is a pill that can help me with my fatigue, (in the past I have been so anti pills) and I try not worry about the pain in my hands and feet as it isnt too debilitating.
      HOWEVER ……. I have my reservations as in the warnings it speaks about dependency, which among other things is concerning.

      The following is a quote [I]Chrissy[/I] found on the web and sent me in her post from the Cymbalta thread. [B]Granted[/B], it is someones opinion, but from what I read, it seems to be pretty much on the mark.

      [I][quote][I]Provigil (modafinil). Provigil is one weird drug. Its primary function is to promote wakefulness in people with narcolepsy, but it is being prescribed off-label for just about everything. It is approaching Neurontin (gabapentin) in the snake oil sweepstakes. At least the people at Pfizer know how Neurontin works and what it does. Provigil is a true mystery. Other than binding to a few dopamine sites in the brain, but not releasing any more dopamine like amphetamines do, the good folks at Cephalon haven’t published (for the 2002 edition of the PDR) just how the hell Provigil does its magic, because they didn’t know! They do know that monkeys like it as much as cocaine. The IAAF still doesn’t know if it’s stimulating enough to affect an athlete’s performance, and who better to know about drugs than a sports federation, right? They plan on banning it next year. The World Anti-Doping Association has just banned it. Even though it doesn’t do jack shit for an athlete’s performance, except maybe in the biathlon. Anyway, Kelli White mentions how it helped her with narcolepsy in this article. I found it to be moderately useful for ADD and to counter the lethargy induced by my Topamax-Neurontin-Risperdal-lorazepam cocktail. I’d have enough concentration, focus and wakefulness to have a bit of a life until about 3:00 or 4:00 p.m. Then it was time to just watch Buffy and eat a reheated supper until the meds caught up with me and he fell asleep in front of the TV around 8:00 p.m. Believe me, it was a vast improvement. At least the food got made, the bills got paid and the dishes got washed. I was most grateful for having that much of a life every day thanks to Provigil. Through experimentation I found that 200 mg first thing in the morning worked best. Any more got me wired and vaguely hypomanic, and hypomania is a potential side effect for the bipolar. Taking extra in the afternoon or dividing the dose to take some in the afternoon just made me hyperaware of how god damn tired I was. Provigil has been found effective as a treatment for ADD for children in studies. According to my doctor, it works best for ADD if sleep disruption or brain injuries are involved. Why, just like me and Mouse! [/I][/quote][/I]

      I know someone on the forum (dont know if I can mention his name) was on it for a short while, and then changed to another drug that is similar. Provigil is VERY expensive, and we had to get pre-approval from my insurance company to see if they would cover it. They do, and my copay is just short of $50.

      So after that looooong story, my question to any of you is…….. Are any of you on Provigil, and, please give me your thoughts and/or experiences.

      P.S. Am posting this in CIDP as it may help someone, or someone may be taking it.

    • Anonymous
      July 2, 2006 at 2:07 pm

      Hay Ali,
      I took that some.
      When I took it as perscribed, it messed with my head. I got to talking, how to say this? out of my head. I would just talk about things that made no sense to my wife. She broke down crying one night, and said, I can’t understand what you are talking about anymore. I was daytrading at the time and I would get to talking about charts, the market and on and on… kinda complusive obsessive about things. I felt like I could see things in those charts, like I was in on some kinda secret and they were talking to me. I stopped taking it. Things went back to normal, whatever that is. My wife just came thru, I reminded her of that time. She said you scared me allright. I had no idea that I was gettin mentally wasted…I took one a few days ago, first time in a long time. Good energy booster and all, but I won’t take em for long. once in a while maybe… Make sure someone is around that can give you a reality check every now and then. Other than that *looks around nervously* I liked em…

    • Anonymous
      July 2, 2006 at 8:24 pm

      My aunt takes it and swears by it. I took one and was awake until 4 A.M.

    • Anonymous
      July 2, 2006 at 8:39 pm

      Andrea,

      Yes, unfortunately I also had that horrible experience, my first few pills were taken early in the afternoon. Believe me, I wont make that mistake easily again 😮 , was also up until dawn. I now make sure I take my pills before 9am, I try by 8, but it isnt always possible 😀 .

      Soapy, there were a few days that I seemed a little ‘wired’, if one could call it that, but I’ve kept a close watch on that. This is some weird drug man, but its doing me some good, or is it evil ……. :rolleyes::eek: ?

    • Anonymous
      July 3, 2006 at 12:15 am

      yeah I figured that out the hard way. 😮 But I think I might get the doc to write me a script, the only thing I worry abt is they do give u pep, I just don’t want to take em everyday and overdo it all the time. Would be a bad thing if I get sick cuz I have overdone it and not be able to help Dave out.

    • Anonymous
      July 3, 2006 at 7:31 am

      Andrea,

      I know exactly what you mean. I was feeling so good last week, I was teaching vacation bible school and had second graders in my class, that I think I overdid it. The effects werent as bad as they usually are, but I do need to know not to overdo it. Im not sure, but I think I read somewhere that one needs to take the pills continually otherwise it doesnt work well. I wonder if you took half the dose (its easy to break in half) if it would still have the desired effect for you. I started off taking half a tab for 4 days, and it definitely did make a difference. Maybe your doc has samples like mine did, you could always give it a try for a week or so and see how it goes. 😉

    • Anonymous
      July 9, 2006 at 9:44 pm

      I have been taking provigil since November. My doctor gave me samples to try. Took 2 months to convince me to give it a try but was well worth it. 😀 I can actually stay awake long enough to see my family. My doctor continues to give me samples, as they are $$$ as mentioned.

    • Anonymous
      July 10, 2006 at 8:11 am

      I am so glad to finally have someone else who has a similar experience to me! Im trying to find out if the headaches Ive been getting recently are possibly a side effect. Thank you for your post. 🙂

    • Anonymous
      September 7, 2006 at 4:08 pm

      Bringing this up for Doug

    • September 7, 2006 at 4:40 pm

      this is interesting. I have stopped all stimulants like coffee, soda, even excedrine (which was the only thing that helped with my headaches…hey!! I just realized something!! I havent had a headache in almost 9 weeks. Wow!). I find that anything with caffeine sends me into a tailspin. I buzz hard and feel as if I am going to jump out of my skin or could run and run and run until my heart burst. Only had that problem if I had a double espresso in the past, but not now. Anyone else have this problem with GBS in the beginning? Does it get better? I miss Dr Pepper.

      Would this med cause the same effects? Most days I have energy and dont need a nap but I caught a cold and now my body is busy and wants me to get much more rest. I as a bit worried about the need for extra rest but I guess coughing thruout the night and not being able to breathe thru my nose is pretty taxing. I just want to be there for my family and maybe have a life again with them. I’d also like to be able to get back to work with my graphics but it kills me to sit for very long at my desk. *sigh*

    • Anonymous
      September 7, 2006 at 7:39 pm

      Ali,

      I’m happy to hear that you are getting good results with Provigil. Isn’t it wonderful to have some energy?

      I’ve been taking it for approximately a month now. I do find I have a bit more energy, but not alot. It may be that the dosage is too low.

      My doc started me on 100mg, and said if it didn’t help in a month to try taking 200mg. I start that tomorrow. I post how that goes.

      No problem with headaches so far.

      Best wishes,

      SuzyQ

    • Anonymous
      October 5, 2006 at 2:25 pm

      Bringing this post up for Nat

    • Anonymous
      October 5, 2006 at 9:16 pm

      I’ll ask about it again this week, Miss Ali. Thanks