Nuvigil is making me feel tired, stupid & unmotivated
 

Ugh.

Nuvigil was a lifesaver when I began 4.5 months ago. I felt alert, energetic and just plain "normal." What a wonderful sensation!

Now I find I'm tired, irritable and stupid.

Its affecting my sleep.

I'm depressed.

I go thru the motions, but I'm apathetic.

I don't clean the house. I don't fix dinner. I made cookies with my grandson yesterday (usually a joy) and it was an effort.

I've had some really bad achy days.

I can't think. I play a quick trivia game daily and hadn't even realized I missed participating yesterday until right now.

I haven't prepared my Sunday School lesson for tomorrow.

I have a rash around my mouth. (Yes, I know about the danger).

I just got a new Rx filled, but the pharmacist gave me the wrong (lesser) dosage, so I haven't opened it.

Have been taking half a 250 mg. pill daily (very expensive stuff!)

I think I'll forego tomorrow's dose and see what happens. I'll probably sleep all day.

I haven't found much conversation about this drug in NT, so thought I'd post.

Methinks I'm worse off than when I started taking it. Funny thing is, I began it to get rid of the lethargy and brain fog -- now its back.

Sure was fun while it lasted!

That sounds very similar to my reaction to provigil. I briefly checked, and they are "chemically similar", whatever THAT really means.

I never really did find out whether I was experiencing side effects, or whether the drug was losing its effect and I was back to the new normal.

Provigil affected my sleep...I was shaky, had nightmares, etc. It's been a while, so I can't remember all the details. I told my neuro that I'd use caffeine, or I'd just be sleepy all the time--couldn't be worse than how I felt on the provigil. Of course, I'm not working so who cares if I'm sleepy. Thought it was going to be my wonder drug. I wonder why I thought that.

When I started beating you a few times in Trivia I rejoiced. After awhile I thought "What is up with Twink?". Hey B2Y (who I don't beat) Maybe she should start taking this stuff again. 8-D 80{

I tried Provigil years ago, but it made me so tired. My PCP confirmed my theory. Like Ritalin (an upper) helped my Hyperactive students (we're talking true hyper, they were boinging worse than Tigger!) Uppers (stimulants) have an adverse (opposite) effect on Hyper kids, brings them down. Just a theory. Knew a Psychololgist, his theory was Coffee for kind of Hyper kids (Like his own child), felt it "raised" the gate (awareness) of behaviors and helped them manage them. Two different theories but on same problem. My PCP answered my question if I was a little hyper with "Well, yeah." B2Y, you were cleaning your toilet tank! Twink, you seem like a happy up person. Me, I used to multi-task and organized Block parties with kid fairs in them and Halloween parties. A little "Up" makes the world go round but drugs with Vigal (DH calls it wiggle) don't seem to help us.

It's not unusual for drugs, that have been so effective, to just stop working, Twink. You sound like you are back where you were before. Perhaps a new med of a different kind. I've never tried P or N, because I know that all *uppers* cause me anxiety and heart palps.

I find that Prozac gives me a little boost, even after the 5 years I've been on it (40 mg), while keeping the depression and dulldrums at bay.

Tell your Doc the darn stuff isn't working anymore and tell him/her you need a battery charge..:D

Hi Twink,

I can't take any medication used for fatigue.

I have paradoxical reactions to stimulants: increase in fatigue which gets worse the longer I try and take them, concentration/focus gets worse, become more emotional/irritable and I have less energy than when I started the medication. I have tried most of the medications used for fatigue and my reaction is the same with each one.

This reaction includes coffee or anything with caffiene. I have even tried a non-stimulant ADD medication and have the same problems :icon_eek:

Thank you, my friends. *yawn ... stretch* (just woke up from a long winter's nap!)

Your responses are very much appreciated.

Today I skipped my pill and enjoyed a long nap.


***BUT***

tomorrow I must go to work and be alert! :eek:

Guess I'll just fake it till I make it. :) I'm usually busy enough that I don't have time to nod off. I think I'll be okay -- at least until I get home.

Hey Twink. My gut reaction is to stop this pill. More negative than positive.:hug:

I agree, Cyn. I didn't really make it clear in the above post, but I'm going to skip tomorrow's pill and see how I do.

Try more than one day to get the medication out of your system, IMO. I think three days is good to do in order to make a good assessment.:)

Has anyone tried those tiny 5 hour drinks that are supposed to give you pep? Just wondering if they're like the diet pills that make you jittery & give you palpitations.

I'm sure you're right, Cyn. Already the rash around my mouth has nearly disappeared.

Debbie, I've never tried the energy drinks. Am curious tho.

Twink, I find that if I take Provigil every day, it loses it's effectiveness for me, I imagine the same could happen with Nuvigil. Have you tried skipping it when you don't have to work or do anything energetic? I TRY to have a down day or two every week or three, it doesn't always work out, but when it does I skip my provigil and just let my body be, and find that when I take it the next time, I am good to go.
I've been on Provigil for years and it still works very well by following this method (for me)

Yes. No palpitations. but no energy either. But that's PPMS me, your results may differ. I did Red Bull and Diet Dew religiously for a long time. No help but #$%@ they were expensive!!! Can't believe I'm not rich now I've stopped.

I've tried the 5 hour energy. 2x a day and it did not work. I tried the nuvigil and it did not work. It worked for about a week and then I was as miserable as ever. I was working full-time, going to grad school, working out and going to physical therapy. I cut everything but the job out and I was still fatigued both physically and mentally with the little drink. It got to be too expensive to not work. I think I am going to try provigil. There is some kind of difference according to the drug co. but according to all my research, they just changed it and basically supposed to do same thing but generic became avail. so used new active ingredient to retain exclusive drug rights.:mad:

I once drank half of a "TAB" soda (I believe it was, energy type drink) and I was shaking uncontrollably/room felt like it was spinning. I made the decision to not touch any further 'energy drinks'. I don't believe said beverages are good for you either...

I agree -- I haven't touched a caffeinated soda since I was preggo with my #1 child. Yikes! Can that be 37 years ago? I was such a sweet, innocent young thang.

I only take my Provigil on days I know I really need it. Since I don't work and my DD's at school all day I only take it a few times a week, sometimes less. When I do take it I end up crashing in the early evening and I hate that feeling.

Twink I hope you start to feel better after being off of it for a few days. :hug:

Twink, did you talk to your Doc yet? I don't like you being down in the dumps..:hug:

Thanks for your concern, Sal. :hug:

You needn't worry -- today (Tuesday) was my day off. I wasn't down in the dumps at all. I've been off NuVigil for 3 days now and doing pretty good.

Wisht I had more energy, but it didn't keep me from doing some shopping and making some chicken soup.

I'll talk to my doc soon -- want to get that EMG? test (carpal tunnel) first. That's on Nov. 17th.

Thanks for thinkin of me! :heartthrob:

I'm very sensitive to caffeine and am so very aware that it is a drug. My kids think it's funny, Mom's "dose" of Diet Coke. Whether it's coffee (blech), soda, or Dove dark chocolate, I have to be conscience of how much I "take" and when.

When I used to drive back and forth to my parents', I would have a half can of Diet Coke at lunch, and that kept me alert enough for the ride home. Once I substituted some Mountain Dew for a change--WRONG! I was still yapping away at midnight, listening to my tachycardia, and then I had nightmares during my three hours of sleep.

My friends say "You just don't have caffeine often enough. Have it more often and you'll get adjusted to it." Um. Why would I do that?

Hope you find something that works, Twink. Hobson's choice.

I used to take Provigil and it stopped working for me. At first, it was a wonder drug and then nothing! According to my neuro, Nuvigil is just a little tweak of Provigil - just enough to get a new patent and charge a lot of money for a very similar drug to the one who's patent was expiring. So, he didn't even try to rx it for me because he didn't think it would really do anything more for me. He put me on ritalin which works better for me than Provigil did.


I was just posting about my neuro's new idea on the Daily Insights thread, so I will copy some of that on here, too.

Due to my depression issues and pain from spasticity, my neuro decided to try a new attack. He decided to send me to a neuro-psychiatrist. I got confused because I'd been to a neuro-psychologist before for cognitive things and also therapy. He said this guy is different because he specializes in brain injury and MS and has a knack for tweaking meds enough to really help brain chemistry. Since he is a psychiatrist, he is an MD and can rx drugs.

He is hopeful that this guy will be able to tweak the meds for fatigue and depression and also help with pain. He said that he sends a lot of MS patients to this guy and that he has come up with some great combinations of meds that have made a big difference in some patients.

Either I killed this thread or everyone fell asleep. LOL

I take Nuvigil, I break off the end of the big dose and take about 3/4. On my day off I only take a half. I worked up to the larger dose gradually.

It helps me to keep up with my crazy busy schedule then get home and have a couple of glasses of chardonnay to wind down.

I've gained over 20 lbs the past year and don't know if the Nuvigil is causing the appetite increase or my crazy job hours.

I empathize with your problems with this because I wish I didn't have to take it. :confused: I see my neuro in a couple of weeks and I'll see what he thinks? I might need a different AD? I don't want to stop working but if the Nuvigil is doing this I don't know that the answer is. I hate unnecessary meds but I still need to work. :confused:

It's been 1 week
 

I haven't taken NuVigil in over 1 week.

Felt fine until today (well, technically yesterday -- still awake!:eek:)

Got home from church and took a 4 HOUR NAP!!! Yikes!

Then fell asleep watching TV at dinnertime. Double Yikes!

Of course now I'm awake at 3:00 a.m. Have to be to work in 5.5 hours. Yeesh.

Ewiz, I'm interested to know what your neuro says. And Holly -- tell us what your new doc suggests.

Good luck to all! :grouphug:

I was just reading the title and wanted to say that I feel tired, stupid and unmotivated and I'm not taking anything!! :rolleyes: :cool: