Provigil - who takes it?

P

Pen

Veteran XV
So I have sleep apnea. I use the machine and it helps between 80-95% but I am still frequently sleepy during the day. Part of it is that I have a hard time sleeping more than about 5 hours - 6 is the max.

I am doing OK at work, but I feel like I could be doing a lot better and I could be more consistently productive if I did not feel like hell in the morning.

Provigil is supposed to help people with this kind of problem and a lot of people take it just for added alertness.

Anyone out there taking this? What are your experiences?

This is what I am curious about:

1. How did it affect your work performance?
2. Some people report ongoing weight loss. A few report gain - did it affect your weight?
3. Are you taking it for a sleep disorder, or just personal enhancement?
4. If you are in the US, where do you get it and what do you pay? Does your insurance cover it in part?
5. After taking it, has the government ever approached you to go along on some really long bomber missions (like 25+ hours)?
 
My sleep doc tried to prescribe this to me. It's a narcolepsy drug that some docs are throwing at apnea patients also. It's supposed to keep you more alert.

I take Ambien CR about 3-4 times a week to help deal with the machine. That's helped me out quite a bit and taking it only a few times means I don't get dependent on it.
 
I don't know anything about this drug but I don't think its a great idea just to be underslept your entire life in terms of aging/health.

I'm really surprised they are trying to give it out to apnea patients. I have a hard time getting a full night's rest as well. I wish they could just fix that. I wake up so many times. I don't have apnea though ... I don't think.

I thought about Ambien CR but there's no generic available
 
Apnea fucking sucks. I have never been tested, but I have it. My dad needed surgery and now he is on the machine for it. My sister got surgery and the jawpiece. My gf says I stop breathing in the middle of the night all the time. I can sleep 10 hours and still feel unrested. This is what happens when you can't afford a sleep study and the equipment to treat apnea :(
 
Out of curiosity, if you have a hard time sleeping more than 5 or 6 hours, why are you trying to force it? Not everyone needs 8 or more hours a night. I know that I actually feel way better if I only get 5 hours of sleep. More than that and it's harder to get out of bed in the morning and I feel groggy for the first few hours.

But hey, why listen to what your own body is trying to tell you? What could it possibly know about what it needs? Drugs! Drugs are what it needs. (Maybe some Brawndo for good measure) Drugs are the only answer! Pop those pills and force your body to be "normal." Or at least what has been determined by a board of pharmaceutical company executives to be normal.
 
I took it several years ago as an antidepressant enhancer. It actually triggered a hypomanic episode, which was kind of neat, and eventually led to an accurate diagnosis when I found some competent doctors years later. The $400/month price tag was less nice - Anthem initially would not cover it (being prescribed off label). They approved it after an appeal... about 8 months after it was filed, and 4 months after I could no longer afford it or treatment.

:fu: Anthem
 
Rooster! said:
Unless you get sleep tested you'll never know if you have apnea.
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I have been sleep tested and I didn't have sleep apnea. I do wake up in cold sweats and have a headache in the morning, and never really feel rested. Don't know what the deal is with that shit.
 
Does it typically happen near a full moon? Are there unexplained claw marks on your bed and walls?
 
I have Narcolepsy and was prescribed this stuff. It definitely made me more alert in the day but it messed up my sleep pattern and gave me horrible RLS.


If you are having major sleep issues and have been to a sleep doctor there is a drug out there called Xyrem, XYREM: Home
It's made from GHB the date rape drug but costs a fortune every month. Check and see if you can qualify. The Narco's I've talked to that take it say it changed their life.
 
vempire said:
Out of curiosity, if you have a hard time sleeping more than 5 or 6 hours, why are you trying to force it? Not everyone needs 8 or more hours a night. I know that I actually feel way better if I only get 5 hours of sleep. More than that and it's harder to get out of bed in the morning and I feel groggy for the first few hours.

But hey, why listen to what your own body is trying to tell you? What could it possibly know about what it needs? Drugs! Drugs are what it needs. (Maybe some Brawndo for good measure) Drugs are the only answer! Pop those pills and force your body to be "normal." Or at least what has been determined by a board of pharmaceutical company executives to be normal.
Click to expand...

Have yourself checked fro an overactive thyroid if you do fine on 5 hours of sleep a night. I had this wonderful super power for 5 years, then almost died from my thyroid failing.
 
BurnYaBad said:
Have yourself checked fro an overactive thyroid if you do fine on 5 hours of sleep a night. I had this wonderful super power for 5 years, then almost died from my thyroid failing.
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I'll look into it, but my sleep patterns have always been pretty weird. I tend to sleep with my eyes open a fair bit of the time. If there's something in my line of sight it will figure dominantly in my dreams. I can sleep pretty much anywhere. It doesn't matter what kind of noise is around, if I want to I can go to sleep. The biggest thing though is that I can enter a dreaming state within minutes if not seconds on a regular basis. Not just a light daydream either, but a fully vivid realistic dream. I can take a ten minute power nap during my lunch break, be fully dreaming and remember the dreams afterward and wake up fully refreshed. I'll talk to my doctor about my thyroid, but I tend to doubt there's anything going on with it. I'm just a mutant when it comes to sleep. :p:
 
Like I said, I do have apnea and I do have the machine.

What people don't realize is that even with the machine, everything is very touchy - there are a lot of factors in a complex system and small changes can mess you up.

It works best for me when I sleep on my side a certain way. Once I fall asleep like that, I sleep well, but past the 6 hour mark, my chest gets sore and I get - I don't know what to call it, "bed weary" - just plain sore and miserable from being in a fixed position too long.

What I have now is a LOT better than before I was on the machine but it's not good enough. I have a hard time being very productive before about 10:30-11:00am at work. I am the most senior employee in my company except for the managing partner, but I feel like I could do better and I worry that it may get worse or I may slip up and put my job in jeopardy.
 
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