Provigil/Modafinil

[SallyG]

Hello everyone,

I'm hoping someone might be able to help me. I commenced Provigil 200mg OD in the morning around 8 weeks ago. It completely changed my life around. My insomnia disappeared. I felt amazing! However, around ten days ago I took a turn for some unknown reason. I'm now absolutely exhausted, my pain is now horrific and I now pretty much bed bound again. I'm just wondering if anyone has experienced this before? Perhaps I have quickly become tolerant to the dose and need to increase it. I'm just really struggling to cope mentally and physically after getting a taste of "semi-normal" life again and now it has all slipped away.

I would be so appreciative if you could offer me some advice. Thank you

 

[paolo]

Sadly provigil is not a cure for a condition like CFS. It may give you some short term relief, though. I also use it, but only for short periods of time. Taking provigil, for a CFS patient, is somehow the same as taking it for a person who has a flu.

 

[minkeygirl]

@SallyG When you use a stimulant and go past what you normally could do, it's not natural for you and inevitably you will crash.

That is most likely what happened to you. As @paolo said, it's not a cure or even a treatment. It's a bandaid to get you through a tough day.

Look around here. There are threads where people talk about this. One is @heapsreal. but there are more.

 

[heapsreal]

My advice would be to stop modafinil for a few weeks atleast. Then try lower eg 50mg but have a lower expectation of what 200mg was like. Try to use it intermittently . Than try slightly high doses on an intermittent schedule if u think u need more.

Also , every so often try to take a week or longer break from it has this helps reduce tolerance .

I think 200mg may have masked your fatigue too much and or used it too long in a row and cause a crash??

Time to rest aggressively , maybe some b12 shots may help your nervous system to recover some??

 

[MeSci]

Just thought I would post this anecdote from the BBC about someone's experience with modafinil, in case it is useful.

 

[Chriswolf]

So to clarify, does this medication basically tap you of your catecholamine reserves and then leave you with an empty gas tank as it were? Or does it simply affect the receptors in a way so that they shut down?

I was thinking myself about approaching the subject of a medication like this with my doctor, although I suspect he won't be so receptive. I am still however interested in what everyone knows about this medication via personal experience, or otherwise.

 

[heapsreal]

So to clarify, does this medication basically tap you of your catecholamine reserves and then leave you with an empty gas tank as it were? Or does it simply affect the receptors in a way so that they shut down?

I was thinking myself about approaching the subject of a medication like this with my doctor, although I suspect he won't be so receptive. I am still however interested in what everyone knows about this medication via personal experience, or otherwise.

I only use a low dose, 50mg, normal is 200mg. I feel like it just turns my brain on and concentrate better. I guess it can mask fatigue and u could push beyond your limits and crash. If u dont push way beyond your limits and dont use it all the time, i dont feel like its emptying the tank.

Just like many antidepressants , it makes the neurotransmitters last longer than they would normally , not stimulating the adrenals to pump out more adrenaline etc

Its trial and error as everyone is different . I know non cfsers who have used 50mg dose of modafinil and felt nothing. They needed to use 200mg, but maybe they are after more stimulation , not just cognition being turned on.