Quote:
Originally Posted by Mark in Idaho
Provigil is basically a neurostimulant. I will be surprised if it helps you long term. It will likely exhaust your brain until you reach a point of fatigue.
Some have tried Ritalin and caffeine and other stimulants. They help short term.
The side-effects of Provigil are troubling. Check out:
http://www.emedicinehealth.com/drug-...article_em.htm
One comment says: This medication may impair your thinking or reactions. Be careful if you drive or do anything that requires you to be alert.
Off label can be problematic because you don't get to see how the med effects a specific condition is a clinical study. Often, there are other conditions that were studied but the med was not found to have a conclusive action. |
Thanks for responding Mark. I always enjoy your insightful comments and do appreciate the time.
For me, it's experimental for sure and I remain cautiously optimistic as I monitor myself carefully. As you mentioned, I'd love to have studies to refer to. However with nothing else working for me, I have to experiment beyond the norm.
When I asked about side effects etc, my neurologist said he "loves this drug" and that it has the least amount of side effects out of the other neuro drugs out there. *Most* of the comments I've seen have been stellar for Provigil. From .com execs trying to keep up their motivation to patients like us. I've seen mostly good examples over years of use. There are always exceptions of course.
After 1 week, it's been working scary good. Just the opposite of the comment you mentioned. Thinking from mindfulness to reactions has been fantastic. My IQ seems to have been given a boost. It's not the typical stimulant. For example, caffeine increased my dizziness and foggy head horribly. Whereas Provigil has the opposite effect.
I avoided lights, loud sounds and too much thinking for the past 1.5 years. They all made me dizzy and tired. After several days on Provigil I went to a 5 hour concert as a test. My first one in 2 years. I thought I might stay 1 hour then leave. I felt fine the whole time, it really was a great feeling to have my brain back and enjoy life like "normal people" again.
As I do realize it's also a stimulant and my brain still needs rest (even though I don't feel like it). I'll continue my afternoon naps and try not to burn myself out on too much work at once.
I'll report back as time goes on for others considering Provigil as a solution to PCS.