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Provigil vs Nuvigil
Does anyone currently take medications to help with excessive sleepiness? I have been on provigil for about 2 months now. I started off with 1/2 of a 100mg pill twice a day. Then I bumped up to taking 200mg a day. I'm currently taking 400mg a day. Still feeling fatigued. My doctor prescribed me Nuvigil (my copay was $45- I'll be looking to get reimbursed). Tomorrow is day one of 250mg of Nuvigil once a day.
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Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Mary Z on
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I understand some people with sleep apnea never get over the excessive daytime sleepiness. I takke Nuvigil 250 mg, not every day, but a couple of times a week. I works well for me with not side effects but the hit to the wallet!
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Permalink Reply by Jay Polatnick on
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'Banned by the FDA' doesn't mean that a substance is legitimate or not. There are dozens of 'FDA approved' drugs that hit the market which have been responsible for either fatalities or heinous side-effects. Note, I don't claim that it's a cure, but just another bandaid like Nuvigil with no side-effects. I only use 2400 mg at a time and it slightly mitigates the effects. Ultimately, maxiofacial expansion will be the longterm treatment of choice in my particular condition.
Mary Z said:
Jay, when I did a google search of
Piracetam all I found was that it was banned by the FDA last year. This study was from 2008 and 12 grams/day sounds like a huge dose- I would only want to take it with medical supervision. It was also tested in a specific group of people with Multiple System Atrophy. It did not get AHI in the normal range.
Jay Polatnick said:Interesting research study on the natural supplement Piracetam and it's positive effects on Sleep Apnea, particularly by lowering AHI.
http://registration.akm.ch/einsicht.php?XNABSTRACT_ID=70600&XNSPRACHE_ID=2&XNKONGRESS_ID=71&XNMASKEN_ID=900
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Where do you buy it in the US and what kind of improvement do you see in your numbers? It would be worth a try if it made a significant difference In AHI. Very interesting, Jay.
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I started 200 ProVigil when my sleepiness started. I finally TURFed myself to a sleep doctor. He diagnosed OSA. I was still sleepy and ProVigil left me awake but not very smart. I also couldnt sleep between shifts. He tried 250 NuVigil. It gave me an anxiety attack and paranoid delusions. I tried 50 mg yesterday and today and havent slept for 27 hours. I also have a terrible Very Short Term and Short Term Memory and word finding and naming difficulties. This might be due to something else besides sleepiness.
The half life of these drugs is too long - and NuVigil is the longer acting component of ProVigil.
I think the FDA is trying to make Cephalon release ProVigil for generic.
I went to Stanford because I was still sleepy and my Dr thought I might have narcolepsy based on the dayimte nap test and other aspects of my sleep and sleep history. All they did was give me another sleep study and suggested BIPAP. My doctor showed me the numbers (which Stanford did not do, though they spent a lot of time with me) and clearly BIPAP was actually less ideal than CPAP.
So I cant really work at my profession yet. They say that whatever sleep you lose on the Vigils you MUST get later at some point and that has been my experience.
I am going to continue the NuVigil for a while and see if I get used to the 50 mg.
It is spendy so if it works I might go back to ProVigil
Marie
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Tried nuvigil. Initially took 150 mg upon waking and still felt sleepy. Went back and got 250 mg and that made me feel like I was on speed, very jittery and too hyped up. Then went back and doc. decided to give me 150mg, plus an OTC caffeine pill. That keeps me awake but now just taking either one or the other is enough to keep me going. Cost is an issue as nuvigil is about $2 each with insurance picking up 75% of the cost.
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I tried the Nuvigil and stopped using it after 30 days. I was waking up at 2 A.M. and
still falling asleep in the afternoon. Now i'm back sleeping till my normal 6:30 A.M.
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I tried Ritalin and it just made me babble for 30 minutes.
I do go through the coffee. Also Cokes.
Marie
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Hello, I take 200 of provigil as needed, it does help me but I'm not a "drug" person and really hate to take it. I will tell you this my wife took one and I was like what are you on. I do find it harder to sleep if I took one during the morning but I has insomnia as well then have to pop my ambein...so the cycle goes, I try not to start the cycle at all!
I hope you do well!
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It is, unfortunately, not five years, but FIFTEEN for patent drugs. Generics can be made after that date, unless, like the manufacturers of Colchicine recently, they change the formula in a miniscule amount and then apply for a new patent to keep others out of the market.
Joanne Williams, RPSGT said:It is my understanding that meds have name brand pattens for 5yrs; once that period is up it can be made generically. It's kinda like Ambien....when it went to generic, here comes Ambien CR. My Dr Rx Nuvigil to me just last Friday. I went to get it filled and to my surprise it was going to be OVER $300 (I have Rx ins too). Let me just say I had taked Provigil in the past and know it really works, however, as of right now I am not a sell on the New "Nuvigil". I speculate it is all about the all mighty dollar! GRRRRRR......
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Hi All, I am a clinical specialist at a sleep center and wanted to help clarify things with provigil and nuvigil. They are indeed both made by the same company, Cephalon. Nuvigil is the newer medication and is supposed to be longer acting than provigil. Provigil is not generic yet and probably will not be for another two years. Some insurance companys are requiring a trial and failure of Nuvigil before authorizing provigil. There is a co-pay card available through your doctor, for up to $50 off your co-pay, for 12 months, reducing the cost to $20. If your doctor says that he does not have any of these, please request that he get some from the rep. Also, please be careful about recommending alternative medications such as Adderal. This medication is in a complete different class of medications, and the decision to place you should only be made by the physician. Adderal and Provigil/Nuvigil are NOT the same type of medication. Hope this helps
Beth
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