Taking 200mg of provigil "It's not helping"

Looking for advice!!!!

I have already been diagnosed with mild sleep apnea. Now they are thinking that I also have Narcolepsy. Due to my exteme day time sleepiness. My daytime sleep latency test average was about 7 min. Other symptoms include constant REM sleep with vivid dreams, muscle tiredness and trouble concentrating. I do use a CPAP machine for the apnea sometimes, but usually end up taking it off due to the fact that it's so uncomfortable that I can't sleep.

I am now taking 100mg provigil in the morning and another 100mg at 12:00noon. I am still extremely tired while at work, mind is foggy and very scatterbrained. I am having no problems falling asleep. In fact I often fall asleep after work on the couch for approx. 1 hour than go to sleep around 9:30pm that night . I sleep solid for approx. 10 hours every night. I awake in the moring feeling sooooooo tired that it takes me an hour or so to get out of bed by pushing the snooze button. I thought provigil was suppose to help with alertness. I feel no extra energy or wakefullness. Has anyone else had this problem???

Sleepy-girl

Do you or anyone you know suffer from excessive sleepiness? Are you currently taking the medication Provigil? Would you like to earn up to $275 by answering a couple of brief surveys? If so, please contact our customer service team at 1-866-275-3879 X 5. Please call soon as there are few remaining slots, all of which need to be filled by Friday, December 30th. This is a great way to start paying off some of your holiday bills!

I have been using Alertec, which I believe is the same as Provigil but my dossage is 200 mg in the morning and another 200 mg at noon.
I still have days where I have trouble staying awake late in the afternoon during meetings that do not require my participation.

400mg of Provigil is what I started at now I'm up to 600mg and still sleepy. My latency test was 3, 1 and 0. The doctor had the prescription waiting when I went in for follow-up.

Keep an eye on your iron also. If it gets too low -because we would rather sleep than eat- it drains me even more. Don't neglect going to your regular doctor for colds and regular blood checks. For lunch -if possible get a nap - You'll need a timer or something and take 20 minutes at lunch if you can a get a nap. When you get home FORCE yourself to go in change your clothes and then leave the house again and walk around the block or some kind of exercise. It gives me enough of a boost to get some house work done. The big part of this is to change your clothes I don't know why but it seems to help.

The main thing to remember is that this is not a -your lazy- your depressed - you need to pull yourself out of it - condition.

Being lazy and depressed of symptoms of this disease because falling asleep before I can do anything, depresses me; and falling asleep instead of finishing the wash looks lazy.

Remember your fighting a against something that if it catches while driving CAN KILL YOU. Provigil is for Sleepers like coffee is for regular people it helps us stay awake if we want to. IF WE WANT TO.
If the apnea is not allowing you to get a real 10 hours sleep at night then you need to toughen up and wear the CPAP, look what happened to Reggie White, the NFL player!

I am sorry if this borders on rude but I hate what narcolepsy has done to my life - THE YEARS I MISSED OUT ON. I am 43 and childless, with an ex-husband on the way, I married him out of some stupid belief that he was my last chance at a life. I was wrong.
I need the Provigil to be my safeguard. To give me the chance that I can take back my life. With the Provigil, I can now drive to the beach, I can go to the places I WANT. Do what I want...OK there are limits. I need to recuperate more. If I drive 100 miles to an event I like, then I know that I need to sleep before I leave and I need to sleep when I get there or I'll fall asleep instead of watching the concert I paid 200 dollars for. But it's possible. It's more of a life than I had before. I'm not scared of DOING now.

Since I am still falling asleep more than my doctor likes he said I may have to go onto Amphetamines. I am trying to adapt my life so I don't have to, but. . .

Revival of yet another ghost thread.

Sleep-girl wrote:Looking for advice!!!!



I am now taking 100mg provigil in the morning and another 100mg at 12:00noon. I am still extremely tired while at work, mind is foggy and very scatterbrained. I am having no problems falling asleep. In fact I often fall asleep after work on the couch for approx. 1 hour than go to sleep around 9:30pm that night . I sleep solid for approx. 10 hours every night. I awake in the moring feeling sooooooo tired that it takes me an hour or so to get out of bed by pushing the snooze button. I thought provigil was suppose to help with alertness. I feel no extra energy or wakefullness. Has anyone else had this problem???

Sleepy-girl

Hey Sleepy-girl,
My husband has mild narcolepsy,he was diagnosed with it about 5 years ago. When he first was diagnosed the Dr.'s put him on Provigil. Oh my gosh, he hated that stuff! He would sit down to put his shoes on for work and wake up 1 or 2 hours later. He didn't even know he had fallen asleep, all of a sudden he would wake up and be terribly confused. The longer he was on the Provigil the worse these "sleep attacks" got. He described that the meds made him super awake or stone cold asleep. They also made him really jittery, as he would say "cracked-out". After a few months of this, he switched to Adderall. He has been on that for about 4 years and is still on a very low dose, 20mg Adderall XR and 10mg Adderall IR. He also finds that the more exercise he gets the more awake he feels and sticking to a sleep schedule, even on his weekends, helps a ton.

Good Luck, I hope you figure it out. Try to find a Dr. who specialized in narcolepsy, not just sleep disorders. It will make a world of difference!

driving while being on this drug can turn nasty...talking from experience.