it did something, but not all that much. kind of like coffee but w/o the acidic tummy burn. though for some people it is much more effective than it is for me.
after many arguments, my cfs + my add resulted in my doctor finally giving me adderall, which has been much more helpful. though if it's a bad day, nothing will help, you know?
but provigil is a big help for many, and it's a pretty safe drug as far as i can see.
you may have a hard time getting it through health insurance if you aren't narcoleptic, but after a month of wrangling i got mine convered.
if your doctor has samples, i'd ask for some to see if you like it before you have to go through the insurance co. arguing (though not all ins is like that.)
best, borealis
[ 26. September 2005, 09:14 PM: Message edited by: borealis ]
Posts: 12 | From california | Registered: Sep 2005
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lightfoot
Frequent Contributor (5K+ posts)
Member # 2536
posted
Hi!! It wasn't all that helpful for me. Some swear by it.
-------------------- Healing Smiles.....lightfoot Posts: 7228 | From CO | Registered: May 2002
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lymeHerx001
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Member # 6215
posted
Gave me the worst headache of my life. I did wake me up in a speed kind of manner though.
But I got a MIGRANE ,,it was horrible. Advil wouldnt touch it.
It was so severe all I could do was lay down. When I woke up the next day my headache was gone though.
I did some research and lots of people have had this side effect.
I dont know If it goes away with time.
Its just that I couldnt wait that long because its safe to say this was the WORST headache of my life.
Posts: 2905 | From New England | Registered: Sep 2004
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Foggy
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 1584
posted
That stuff made me really wired and jittery. I was climbing the walls. Mepron treatment gave me more energy thus I think Babs was the source of my fatigue.
My PCP was so sure I had CFS and thought Provig, Ritalin, or Adderal would put me back on track, not! stimulants are a double edged sword.
I tried ENADA NADA and it didn't do much, but I had no side effects.
Posts: 2451 | From Lyme Central | Registered: Aug 2001
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heiwalove
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Member # 6467
Michelle M
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7200
posted
quote:Originally posted by heiwalove: has anyone taken provigil for chronic fatigue? thoughts, experiences?
thanks, heather.
Hi Heather.
My LLMD gave me a couple packs of samples because I am having an increasingly hard time staying awake at work and worse -- falling asleep driving.
I fell asleep while sitting in line at road construction the other day. (Very scary.)
I've been taking half a pill (the pill is 200 mg) around 2:00 -- my worst time for tiredness. I find it keeps me more or less lucid till bedtime, without keeping me up all night.
It does kind of give me a funny feeling -- like my body is sagging but my brain and eyes are still up and running. But I'll take that over driving like a drunk any day or being caught sleeping at my desk.
I'm hoping that continuing ABX will eventually make this extreme exhaustion stop. Then I won't need the Provigil anymore. I hope, I hope, I hope.
Michelle
Posts: 3193 | From Northern California | Registered: Apr 2005
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posted
I tried all the stimulants and couldnt take any of them but Provigil had the most dramatic awful side effects.
Like someone above said it gave me the headache from hell and Ive suffered from migrains that put me to bed. This was the king of all headaches. In spite of that I was so desperate I kept trying to ease into it but my body just screamed NO NO NO so I had to stop.
Posts: 561 | From connecticut | Registered: May 2004
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I have used Provigil to get me through some times when I had no choice but to push through the pain.
It helps me cognitively and with my energy. My only problem is that I wasn't tired at night so I had to take something for sleep then provigil then something for sleep. I started feeling like a drug addict so I stopped.
I have taken it on a few occasions since but not for any prolonged period of time.
I was also told to start with 1/4 pill and work up to higher doses. That helps with the side effects.
Take care,
Corgilla
-------------------- "I'll never forget good old Whatsisname." Posts: 694 | From PA | Registered: Jun 2003
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posted
I can't believe everyone had such an awful experience with provigil. It's the only thing getting me through colleg right now. Since I started taking it I have much more energy and stay awake throughout the entire day. It really helps with my brain fog.
-------------------- Laura French Posts: 39 | From Bloomington, IN | Registered: Sep 2005
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posted
This may be a bit tangential but my PCP recommended provigil for my fatigue. I didn't go for it. Later, my LLMD tested my thyroid, which turned out to be low. Levothyroxine has helped my energy levels tremendously - like night and day, really - without any negative effects. I would check thyroid prior to taking provigil.
My $.02
Posts: 261 | From San Mateo, CA | Registered: May 2005
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liz28
Unregistered
posted
So far, it's been working pretty well. I just started on 100mg (half a pill) in the morning, and basically it feels like what coffee used to feel like. You get a bit more focus, energy and initiative.
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posted
I have been on jProvigil for geez two maybe three years...... 1.First off, doctors should warn patients that initially it can have a sort of symergistic effect with caffeine. In other words, in the start, stop caffeine and slowly see how it interacts with the provigil. I started on 200 mg after drinking a giant coke. AAAAAAHHHHHHHHHH! Ididn't sleep til the next day. 2.Second, don't freak out at finding yourself clenching your teeth like a speed freak. This happened to me in the beginning and when on a high dose. Can be relieved by taking a lower dose. Being aware and stopping it consciously help. 3. Caffeine and provigil are a potent combination....be careful. I know that was number one, but bears repeating. 4. It does have a somewhat mood happier effect. 5. I NEVER take it after about 12 or one pm. Unless I want to be up all night. 6. Some days it just doesn't work. Either I am sick or in my morning fog, I forgot to take it or I took the wrong pill. 7. I started out at 200 mg. and stopped caffeine initially. I now take 300 regularly and 400 when I haven't slept much or am sick. 8. My brother takes 100mg after a head injury a couple of years ago. I think there is a genetic predisposition to daytime sleepiness that may be triggered by brain damage by injury or disease. 9 When I don't take it, I suffer no withdrawal symptoms. I simply begin to return to my pre-pro-vigil state of living to sleep. 10 There is more to life than sleep 11 Yes, it is horrendously expensive. But if I didn't spend the money on it, I might as well stay home and quit working. 12 I have heard of a case where, to get it approved by insurance, a patient had to be prescribed and issued a CPAP machine for sleep apnea even though they didn't need one.
-------------------- Lyme is like the flu. You can get it and recover, but you can always get it again. Posts: 607 | From (deer tick)Heaven! Angeles National Forest | Registered: Oct 2000
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5dana8
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7935
posted
I have a script for this & am chicken to try it.
Has anyone had stomach upset on this meds?
I am supposed to start ay 1/2 a pill but if I get my nerve up I may just try 1/4.
Any & all feedback welcome.
Thanks & Blessings Dana
-------------------- 5dana8 Posts: 4432 | From some where over the rainbow | Registered: Sep 2005
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Michelle M
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 7200
posted
Dana - I was a little scared to take it, too, but it was really just fine, at least for me. I had no bad reaction at all. Practically NO reaction, except I could stay awake.
As BugBarb says, some days (when you're REALLY sick), it just doesn't work.
Don't take it late in the day as it really will push your bedtime up really late!!!
If you're like most people, it's not going to have any noticeable side effects other than you won't be dropping in your tracks of exhaustion as much.
Try 100 mg. to start if that's what your LLMD recommends. That's what I do; no later than 1:00 in the afternoon.
Try it BEFORE your typical "sag" time hits.
Don't think it is bothersome to the stomach at all.
My LLMD tells me that about 50% of his patients who try it are helped by it.
When I drive to my LLMD, I typically drink a couple cups of coffee, take a Provigil, and drink a Mountain Dew. (It's 75 miles.) Amazingly this does not even make me "wired" but simply makes me 'normal' and able to avoid seeing double and falling asleep at the wheel.
Bottom's up. Report back, dearest!
Michelle
Posts: 3193 | From Northern California | Registered: Apr 2005
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5dana8
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Member # 7935
posted
Thanks Michelle
for the feedback
Still chicken but I may try it soon after the holidays.
Happy holidays Dana
-------------------- 5dana8 Posts: 4432 | From some where over the rainbow | Registered: Sep 2005
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MariaA
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 9128
posted
It helped me when I REALLY needed to be alert and had extreme fatigue from Lyme- I took it only on days when I had work, or for long drives.
I did the smallest dose that helped- 50 mg (a pill splitter will help cut up 200 mg pills). I got jitteriness and a bit of the teeth clenching that was described above, and doses that are too large made me horribly distractable, but all of that was dose-dependent.
People get habituated to it somehow and you start having to take larger doses to get the same effect (it's not addictive per se)- I didnt take it every day, just when absolutely needed.
It really helped me though.
I second the bit about not taking it with caffeine!
I found it cheaper from foreign pharmacies- it's about $8 a pill (200 mg) from Costco pharmacy and much, much less from Canada or New Zealand (I was looking at pharmacychecker.com, I never ordered it there but another friend of mine gets his regular seizure medication from pharmacies listed there at a fraction of the US cost).
Since it's a special, controlled substance prescription, I don't know if you'd be more likely to get the drugs impounded by ordering from abroad than if you were buying 'regular' prescription drugs from Canada, but the price of the pills was something like $2 each from those pharmacies.
-------------------- Symptom Free!!! Thank you all!!!!
robi
Frequent Contributor (1K+ posts)
Member # 5547
posted
i take it for hypersomnia (I sleep a lot). It helps but is not magic .........
NO side effects for me with this one.
robi
-------------------- Now, since I put reality on the back burner, my days are jam-packed and fun-filled. ..........lily tomlin as 'trudy' Posts: 2503 | From here | Registered: Apr 2004
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