Provigil
 

Good afternoon gang,
Today is day 3 of Provigil and I wanted to give a report.

I *LOVE* it. It has made a marked difference in my ability to process and concentrate. My Neurologist gave me samples at 200 mg, because they're rather expensive if insurance doesn't pick it up. I called her today and asked her to go ahead and call in a prescription for me. (I think my actual words were, "this is good stuff- sign me up!"

I looked up the cost on my health insurance site (United Health Care) and it states that the monthly cost is around 250.00 :eek:. My co-pay is only 45.00, thankfully.

I do feel a wee bit euphoric (my husband likes to refer to it as obnoxious, rather than euphoric!), but I think it's just because I feel so much better.

I've performed lots of research and there is nothing addictive about this drug thankfully. I can see becoming addicted to feeling this good though. :rolleyes:

I'll be the first to admit that I'm not opposed to using drugs if it's something that will make me feel better, so I hope that I don't offend anyone by my drug 'pushing'. Just wanted to get the info out there for someone who might be interested.

Have a great day,
Lori

Lori
 

Thank you for that. I am going to the Doctor on Friday and asking if I can try Provigal. I googled it and feel that I would be ok - the teeth grinding bit may be a pain as I have done that in the past, though with my dothiepin I don't seem to. Nothing like has been uptight perfectionists! I have private medical insurance so if the Govt system doesn't pay I will be able to claim it back if I haven't gone over my quota. I would be lovely to be not distracted so easily!!

Lynlee

Are we twins? Are we?
 

I am constantly amazed at how alike we are. I guess that all A-types are alike, eh?

Anyhoo- I ordered myself a mouth guard to wear during the day and night. Of course, I do not plan to wear it when I'm in the office. They already think I'm a little strange....

The jaw clenching/teeth grinding has been a real problem since I bonked my head, so taking something that's making it even worse is rather annoying.

I bought a mouth guard for night time last week, but it's just one of those cheapie deals that you boil in water and mold to your teeth. It's not keeping me from clenching during the day. This thing looks like it'll keep me from clenching as well as grinding.

We shall see....

Interesting on teeth clenching
 

The place where I purchased the mouth guard had a link to philosophy- I thought it was interesting and encouraging:


Awareness
We strongly suggest you begin wearing the SleepRight Night Guard 30-60 minutes before sleep. Keep your “lips together and teeth apart” while in your conscious state of mind, never allowing the teeth to bite down on the bitepads. This will increase your awareness of the habit to clench and grind your teeth. Conscious awareness of “lips together, teeth apart” is necessary for the brain to make the appropriate changes to relax while you sleep. The SleepRight Night Guard does not attach to the teeth. The soft strap and learning to control the muscles of the mouth will keep the appliance in place.

Accountability
You must accept the responsibility to manage your own health care. The SleepRight Night Guard bitepads will establish the space that should exist naturally between your teeth when you are relaxed. Do not bite down on the bitepads…this is very important, although the urge to do so will test your concentration. Finding evidence of clenching and grinding on the bitepads show your efforts to concentrate on “lips together, teeth apart” must be raised to a higher level.

Behavior Modification
The brain does not distinguish between good and bad learning, it just learns. You must repeat the desirable model, “lips together, teeth apart”, until it is a healthy habit, no longer needing your conscious supervision. Your ultimate goal is to eliminate the dependency on a night guard as soon as possible. Everyone’s learning curve is different, so be patient.

If you guys have any pharmaceutical questions, I'd recommend that you check out

www.crazymeds.us

It's quite possibly the ugliest site on the internet, but it provides comprehensive descriptions of the potential positive benefits and side effects of most every brain related drug on the market, all written in PLAIN ENGLISH instead of confusing medical jargon (I found this site to be an invaluable resource when I tried the western medicine route to wellness a few years ago).

I found the Provigil entry particularly hilarious. Sounds like some fun stuff!

http://www.crazymeds.us/provigil.html

PCS McGee
 

Well there is not a lot I can say to that is there!!!! All I want is to be able to stay awake all day!!!!! Not a lot to ask for is it!! Don't care so much about the rest I just want to be able to stay awake all day!!!!! Lynlee

I've been to that site before, you're right- it's kind of ugly.

But I really didn't see anything negative in the post except the rumors that it's going to be banned in sports. I think that's a bunch of hogwash, because it certainly doesn't give me super powers.

As for monkeys liking it as much as cocaine, I can see that. I've never tried cocaine (I grew up a nice lil' Mormon girl), but from what I understand cocaine gives you energy and makes you feel like you can do anything.

That's kind of how this drug feels.

Although.... it was a super rough day today. Even the provigil didn't do a lot for me. But the other 3 times I've taken it, it was great. Not sure what was different about today.

Yeah- I'm a monkey, I guess. :D

The good, bad and the ugly of Provigil
 

I have a theory.....

I took Provigil four days in a row. Day 1 and 2, I was on TOP of the world and went crazy doing stuff. Day 3, I worked from home, so just did my normal stuff- worked and not much of anything else.

Yesterday (day 4) I was in the office. I was SO tired, I felt like a zombie and I couldn't think to save my life (ok, that's an exaggeration). Today I didn't take the Provigil (worked from home today). I didn't set my alarm and didn't wake up until 8:30 a.m. (I usually start at 7am on my at home days and leave the house at 5:30 a.m. on my in the office days). I was up for two hours and then had to go lay down. I slept until 3:30. SOLID sleep.

I was exhausted. Thankfully I have the ability to work whatever hours I want when I work from home- so I'm busy catching up for the hours I was asleep. Even with all that extra sleep- I think I'll be going to bed early tonight and sleeping well. I'm still very tired.

So, here's my caution and lesson. Just because you feel better (artificially), don't overdo it. I'm 47- you'd think I'd know that by now. I guess I'm a slow learner. :cool:

I think I'll be more selective on how often I take it- maybe just the days I go into the office. AND I'll try to not overdo it, as is my natural tendency.

Lori
 

HI - der.............. I have answered re the provigil on the Lyrica thread - can you go and look at that please. Just reading back on here I note about not over doing it - and that is one of the things I asked the doctor this afternoon - it will hide the symptons but they were still be there and will need to be careful not to crash = but at least it is an option! Not over doing it will be very very difficult. I can remember what I was like when I had a few days of morphine - a woman possessed .... the things I did - it was the first time in about 4 years that I felt ok and I just had to take advantage of it - was like having a load lifted and not dragging myself around like normally feel about 6/10. Anyway if we can get the drug into the country I will have an option!!! Great,

Lynlee

and PCS McGee I note your comments.

Lynlee
 

I truly hope your doctor can bring it into NZ for you AND I hope it gives you a little boost.

Boy, I sure learned a lesson about overdoing it. At least you have me to learn from, eh? You're probably smarter than I am and could have figured out to not go to town with your artificial energy. ;)

Doing so, makes the brain fog even worse than it was.

I was relating on my blog that my mind is like trying to start a car when it's cold outside. You keep turning the key and hear the engine trying to start, but it doesn't. You try again, and again, and again. If you're lucky, the car will eventually start. Sometimes you just end up flooding the engine.

Yesterday was one of those days. If you sat in the desk next to me, you'd hear me constantly saying "come on... come on..." just like I would when trying to get my car to start. I even sometimes pounded the desk- kind of like I'd pound the dashboard if the car wouldn't start. (I'm not a desk pounder- I'm a kind and gentle person!)

My job sometimes requires building databases with lots of functions in them and it's SO HARD to make that stuff come to the surface. I used to be able to do it practically in my sleep. Yesterday really depressed me because it was such a struggle.

Oh well, it WILL get better. I know it will, and that's what's important.

Keep me informed on the Provigil!

Your so right it will get better. Remember brain fog is something we get at times just because we are us.

I have learned to take those days a little slower. Hard as it is.

Donna

Yep, I need to learn that 'slow' speed thing. I'm going to try my best!

Lori
 

HI thanks for your comments about the provigil, have lots of questions to ask you about, but am feeling awful at the moment, I am thinking I got too excited about the doctor looking into the drug and the possibility of being able to stay awake all day for the first time in 6 years, 5 months and 6 days - see I am counting!! I had been out shopping on Thursday night getting some Xmas presents, work yesterday was horrid as well - I feel absolutely lousy. Lynlee

Lynlee
 

Ask away when you're ready. I completely understand the feeling lousy stuff. I'm there myself.

I'll be here when you're ready.

xoxo:hug:

http://www.impacttest.com/managerecom.php

This website lists two meds to try for memory and concentration problems under the section for PCS. I realize that they are recommended for students, so don't know if they would work for adults.

Lori
 

Haven't been able to speak to my doctor yet about what he has found out about the provigal via the chemist, we have been playing phone tag. so will let you know what's what soon. I am thinking it will end up being February before I get the opportunity to take it. In the meantime you can stay my guinea pig - that's what friends are for!!

Lynlee

Lynlee
 

Glad to be the guinea pig here- y'all have been lots of places that I've learned from- so it's time I pay back.

:grouphug:

Lori, Lori Lori
 

Guess what - I am picking up the provigil - modavigil here tomorrow!!! The Doctor was just telling me that start with 100g a day - what is your dosage - I note you are now taking half a tab morning and mid day - so what doseage is that that you are halving - I think that I might wait until Boxing Day before I start. I don't want to go upsetting my current "balance" until Christmas Day is over. Thank you so much!!!!!!!

Lynlee

How exciting!
 

I hope it works well for you. I'm actually halving a 200mg tablet, so in essence taking 100 mg in the morning and 100 mg at 11:30 or noon. NO LATER- or you'll have problems getting to sleep.

I can't wait to hear how it goes!:hug:

my provigil experience
 

Hi - on the 26th took 100mg, didn't really notice anything except headache - thought that could be from the energy put into Christmas Day. Any way on the night of the 26th didn't sleep.

So feeling better on the 28th took another 100 mg and after about 1/2 to 3/4hour I felt like a heavy curtain coming down in my brain and the horrible PCS headache coming on, then became nauseous and ended up in tears. I just felt absolutely terrible - couldn't sleep couldn't do anything. Then roughly 11 hours after started feeling better but really really tired and of course no sleep that night.

So, then yesterday the 30th thought that I would take 1/2 tab - 50mg - same thing all over again, though I felt better by around 4 p.m. in the afternoon and I did sleep last night.

I am not going to do this to myself again - PCS McGee I looked up your drug site again, but couldn't access it - kept coming up page not available.

I do wonder what would happen if I took the recommended dose of 200 mg....... Too scared to do that now.

So that is my story

Jeffn can you try finding out how Pono is - he worries me - please

Lynlee

:hug: Lynlee, since you could pull up the site i copied what is said about provigal. i hope this helps.

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 **** 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!
Mouse finds it to be better much better than Ritalin but less effective than Adderall. She only takes it if her Adderall prescription is screwed up and she runs out. I found Provigil to have the mildest of antidepressant effects, although it is prescribed off-label as an antidepressant. Some people are finding it best when taken in a cocktail with other antidepressants, so maybe that dopamine action is just the boost their other antidepressants need. If the lethargy of mood stabilizers is just too much to bear, and believe us, we know about it being too much to deal with, Provigil is an option to discuss with your doctor. If you get samples, get a prescription right away. I found Provigil to be one of those drugs that if you stop taking it and start again it is less effective, although Mouse doesn't have such issues. I did great on samples of 100 mg, but then when I got a prescription for it and got it filled from Canada it took 200 mg to achieve the same effects, and nothing else changed in my cocktail. Some meds are just like that. Headache and nausea are really common side effects, but I didn't experience them. However, I have since had to start taking Provigil again, combining it with Strattera (atomoxetine) for ADD. This time 100mg of Provigil combined with 40mg of Strattera is most effective for concentration, focus and dealing with the lethargy, although I do get the headaches now and then.

Freakiest rare side effects: hallucinations and flatulence.
Initial dose is 100-200 mg in the morning and may be increased to 400 mg either as a single dose in the morning or divided into two doses. Doses above 400 mg are not recommended for anyone who does not have narcolepsy. Provigil is rated for doses up to 600 mg a day.
Provigil's half-life is 15 hours. I used to buy this med as Alertec from Canada, but the FDA or DEA rescheduled it right in the middle of my order being processed, which really hosed things. Anyway, no more purchases from overseas. For non-narcolepsy usage, the monthly cost is about $120-$330. For narcolepsy that can go up to around $500. Cephalon.

Hi Lucy
 

Good Evening Lynlee, Sorry to read about your bad experience with Provigal no fun. I did look up this medication on the website Mc Gee posted and it does not look very promising for treating TBI/PCS symptoms.

Thanks for the website Mc Gee Bookmarked that one.

Pono was on line this am but did not post anything and the last 3 post on the another thread were to go get some help, lets hope that is what Pono is doing.

Take Care Jeffn

Lynlee
 

Well it sure sounds like the Provigil is NOT for you! I'm so sorry that you went through that experience.

I still believe that it's good for me, as long as I don't take it two days in a row- because I tend to overdo it (as was the case this week. I'm STILL paying for it).

Today is my first day venturing out after my melt-down last Thursday. I've agreed to meet some friends for lunch- one of them being from out of state. I've been dreading it, to be honest, because I'm so tired. All I want to do is sleep and sit in a quiet room.

But- life goes on, so must I.

Again, sorry that this didn't work out for you. Isn't it interesting how our bodies are so different in the way they react to things?

Lori
 

Thanks, I was so disappointed that it didn't work and the pain in my head was awful - the strange thing was that I could actually feel it happening - even when I tried the half tablet - weird. I guess some part of my brain which has been damaged couldn't cope with the drug.

On the 2nd Jan, I was sitting on the couch and burst into tears and cried for hours and hours - nothing like the crying I had done previously - I think things had finally sunk in and the psych 'lessons" and the disappointment of the provigil not working finally really caught up with me - I don't think that I had ever really cried like that in my entire life - not even when my father died when I was 13. I was always so in control and when I felt like crying only ever got tears in my eyes and that was it - I think crying with physical pain is different. I'm raving!

Jeffn - I had studied it up on other sites and so had my GP - provigil was used for narcolepsy - and we had hoped that it could keep me awake all day instead of my 2 sleep times - honestly 6 years 7 months and now 6 days of this is enough.

I think that I will see what the craniosacral will do and then I guess my last option in the neuro feed back - I won't be able to do that myself - apparently some one has started it up in Auckland where I live so will find out about their qualifications and see if insurance will pay.

For about the first time in my life I feel like I have lost my sense of humour and seriously can't think of anything to look forward to plus I don't think I can drag myself back to work on the 21st Jan - don't know if it is the fact that all my holidays are gone until next Christmas or what. I suppose I should be feeling grateful that I can supposedly work 3 hours but at present I don't think I can any more.

And I hit my head again - car door frame again!!! Getting out of it this time - nothing seems to have come of it and the 3 days are passed but my distractability is at an all time high - memory also is hopeless.

Anyway - what do you call it Lori - a pity party - I think I have just been indulging myself big time!!!!!

Hope you are both doing OK and Lori - no over doing anything!!!!!!

Lynlee

Hi Lucy
 

Hi LynleeI've been useing Levothyroxine a thyroid suppplement for the last 30 days. This is helping with the chornic fatgue and mental alertness with no negative side effects and I'm able to stay awake all day.

I'm putting my money,time and research into neurofeedback and hope to have everything on line by the end of March. Yes March 08.I watched a documentary on PBS on sharks over in NZ pretty cool water and coast line over there.*OK Take Care Jeffn:)PS I wear my pink bike helment everytime I leave the house so I wont bump my head

Provigil
 

is a "strange" drug ... per previously cited info/Links esp. www.crazymeds.org site .
as I do recall from trying years ago, Provigil, did help w/ daytime sleepiness --which for me now is more Fatigue tho I do fall asleep if/when i sit, esp wathcing Tv. Provigil made my sleep problems (NOT sleeping at Nite) much worse... so that is main reason I stopped that drug + some other info (i can't recall now) along w/ other adverse side fx.

there was a question if I did have narcolepsy--due more to drop attacks that manifested as Catalplexy, which supposedly only occurs w/ Narcolepsy.
Drop attacks continue (w/out def. DX) as does Fatigue & other problems.

I'm again trying to deal w/ some of those w/ Vitamins , supplements, Herbs.

B12 (as Methyl B12) -- for fatigue, & other BRain /neuro problems/

Magnesium --for Headaches...

I"m trying Kava , as herbal tea, for sleep & pain.

and some others ....
there's lots of great info at Forum for Vitamins, Herbs, suplemts-here @NT--check out or go there to ask/post specifics.


but I'm still continuing to search for other options--alternatives ---as well as try/use RX & other things as seems appropriate, etc.
BOTOX is one--for HA which may be my biggest issue recently, but it's hard to isolate ONE ting-- Fatigue, sleep problems, other pain /issues -- all play roles.... and create challenges and difficulties in daily life/living.

we are each different, unique--- and works works for one may be anothers poison.....

wishing all the Best....


Jeffn.... think I'll have to get me one of those helmets too!! can't afford any more dings in dis head...




I do feel NEuroFeedback is a great option but also had problems w/ accessing in my area (same w/ good CraioSacral practioner)