The following information is NOT intended to endorse drugs or recommend therapy. While these reviews might be helpful, they are not a substitute for the expertise, skill, knowledge and judgement of healthcare practitioners in patient care.
Provigil has worked well at treating my Narcolepsy. I had to stop taking it when I was pregnant and resumed taking it after my daughter's birth. If you choose to take Provigil and have children, you need to be driven around for the duration of your pregnancy and up until you are back on the medication.
0 user(s) found this comment helpful. Did you?YesNo
I was diagnosed with narcolepsy in 1998. I have been on Cylert, amitriptyline, Ritalin, ambien, and now Provigil. The Provigil is a life saver. I did lose weight on it at first, but have leveled off and have not lost any weight since then. I have taken Provigil for 2 years now. It is not an "upper" and does not make me feel drugged. I take 200 mg in the morning. It does not wake me up, it helps me maintain the wakefulness that I need to get through the day. Without Provigil, I would not have a normal life. I am thankful to have found this drug. I would, however, like a generic to it that would help to offset the exorbitant cost of the drug.
4 user(s) found this comment helpful. Did you?YesNo
I was diagnosed with Sleep Apnea, for that I got a CPAP. But I also had trouble with zombie episodes and uncontrollable sleepiness (at work, while driving, very scary). I was diagnosed with Narcolepsy several years ago (not formally tested though). I have all the symptoms (night terrors, sleep paralysis.), but I have not been tested for it. Anyway, my Sleep Doctor put me on it primarily because of several driving issues. It seems to work well, I have not dozed off or had a zombie episode since I have been on it. I still feel tired, and I can sleep if I want to, so I feel a little more in control. I also don't feel like a speed freak, like Adderal. I am on 200 mg in the morning for the past 2 weeks. So far I am pleased with it.
0 user(s) found this comment helpful. Did you?YesNo
Provigil made me lose my appetite at first, I lost about 20 pounds. The energy was great for a few months but it lost it's effectiveness. It only took me four months to reach the maximum dose.
2 user(s) found this comment helpful. Did you?YesNo
For several years, I have been on Provigil, with a small dosage of Ritalin as a supplement. The Provigil was not enough for me, but it was much better than being on Ritalin alone. Ritalin had a tendency to make me anxious and talk constantly. Life is good now as a narcoleptic.
2 user(s) found this comment helpful. Did you?YesNo
I was recently diagnosed with narcolepsy and started on Provigil. I started with 100 mg in the morning and then 100 or 150 mg in the afternoon. The first few days I was a little dizzy at first, a little nauseous, lost my appetite, had a mild headache every night (ibuprofen took care of that), and tense jaw/neck muscles. It was working great, but once I started classes (i.e., inactivity), I was falling asleep sometimes before my noon dose, and everyday around 6pm or 8pm. So, my doctor upped it to 200 in the morning and 200 after noon. For all 3 days of it, I was awake, only crashing around 8pm, but I was having problems with my memory and concentration. Just switched to Ritalin.
1 user(s) found this comment helpful. Did you?YesNo
I was diagnosed with Narcolepsy about 2 weeks ago. For 2 months I had been nodding off at work and at home, it got really bad when I nodded off while at a stoplight driving and when I got "written" up for sleeping at work. I was given Provigil to help me out which when I started taking it, it was like a miracle drug. I felt alert and not drowsy all the time. After 5 days I started feeling nauseous and then 2 days later out of the blue it stopped working. My Doctor put me on Ritalin but I'm still having problems later in the day, on my way to see a sleep specialist.
1 user(s) found this comment helpful. Did you?YesNo
I was given Provigil for my narcolepsy, with dosage of 200mg/3 times daily. For the first 3 days it was amazing I had forgotten what it felt like to be 'awake'. Unfortunately, after just 3 days it was not effective at all. My neurologist nodded knowingly when I told him. He said that's how long it takes to metabolize. Apparently that's when you can tell if it will work for you or not. I'm now on Aderall, 20 mg/3 daily and it is working much better for me.
0 user(s) found this comment helpful. Did you?YesNo
I started taking Provigil about a year ago when it was suspected I had narcolepsy. I was tested and found it was Idiotic Hypersomnia (lack of melatonin) they call it Idiotic because they don't know what causes it. Provigil works one day for me then not the next. You can only take 200mg max per day. I went off it and on Ritalin. I am awake without any ill effects. I have recently been tested again for narcolepsy and was found that I am narcoleptic. The test given last year was done incorrectly (without my C-pap), it was supposed to be done WITH it on during my sleep study. All is good now.
0 user(s) found this comment helpful. Did you?YesNo
I took Provigil for 6 months with varying doses (100-300mg/day). It only took about 20-30 minutes to kick in and lasted roughly 7 hours. It gave me an incredibly high level of alertness. I also have mild cataplexy and sleep paralyzation, and it seemed to help keep both of these under control. However, it also gave me very bad nausea and an even worse headache. When the medicine wore off, my body reacted by immediately having a strong "sleep attack". If I didn't take my next dose before the first had worn off, the second didn't seem to work. Also, my urine smelled strange and the smell got even stronger when I drank more water. This stopped as soon as I changed my medication to Adderall.
3 user(s) found this comment helpful. Did you?YesNo
This is the first prescription I have taken for Narcolepsy. It has been 3-years now while taking 200mg's 3x a day. It turns out that naps are going to be a part of life. More particularly for the peak periods just to get over that tough time during the day. I would highly recommend letting your employer know about this condition. Narcolepsy is a handicap, of which you are protected. In other words, if you are caught sleeping on the job, they can not fire you for it. They need to make considerations for this condition and develop a work schedule that allows you ability to work a full shift. Provigil has worked well for me. I wouldn't want to go back to the way it used to be.
2 user(s) found this comment helpful. Did you?YesNo
The first one I tried and it was not good for me.
The constant headaches, dry mouth (very bad at night time), made me have very real like/scary nightmares, and after 2 days did not even change my energy level/random sleep attacks. Still had to have a nap to make it through the day.
3 user(s) found this comment helpful. Did you?YesNo
I have been taking Provigil for 1 year now. I take 200mgs 3 x daily. It has helped me more than any other drug I have been prescribed, however I do get headaches and find myself dehydrated.
6 user(s) found this comment helpful. Did you?YesNo
Provigil works great for me, at 200 mg once in the morning. I usually feel dull-witted and fatigued, but I don't suddenly "switch off". After about a week of steady doses, however, I often develop a bad headache and have to quit taking the stuff for a few days. Maybe that's a good thing, if it keeps me from getting habituated. Ritalin did nothing except make my hands shake.
3 user(s) found this comment helpful. Did you?YesNo
I have been on 2 x 200 a day for 10 months now, and it has not been the miracle drug for narcolepsy that some people talk about. I have given it a lot of time, but still have excessive daytime sleepiness. Works better for others I suppose. Also, does anyone else notice that it makes your urine smell weird?
8 user(s) found this comment helpful. Did you?YesNo
I hear people rave about Provigil and I was excited to try it. Unfortunately it did not help me. I slept just as much as I did taking no medication at all. I am still in testing and trying different medications. Hopefully I will find one that will help me stay awake eventually.
7 user(s) found this comment helpful. Did you?YesNo
I was diagnosed with Narcolepsy when I was 17 and still in high school. That was about 14 years ago. Out of those 14 years, ten of them have been spent on Provigil. It has obviously worked for me. I take 200mg 3 x a day - One in the morning and two at lunchtime. I haven't had any side effects, other than not being ready for bed at night but that could be me just not wanting to go to bed. All in all Provigil keeps me awake and functioning. Oh, I do agree with everyone about the cost - it's not cheap.
9 user(s) found this comment helpful. Did you?YesNo
I have used Provigil for about 4 years now and I really like it. I feel completely normal when I take it. In fact the only time I notice the drug is when I forget to take it. However, it is costly but I did find a substantial discount in my insurance's mail order program. Also, for someone who asked earlier, I stopped taking Progivil as soon as I found out I was pregnant. There is too little known yet and my kid was not going to be the Gineau Pig. Surprisingly, something changed because of being pregnant and I did surprisingly well for thoes 8 months. I just made sure to take regular naps.
6 user(s) found this comment helpful. Did you?YesNo
This was the first drug that my doctor prescribed for my narcolepsy. I didn't experience any side-effects but it didn't improve my wakefulness to any discernible degree with two doses of 300mg. (one dose of 300mg upon waking in the morning; one dose of 300mg around noon).
5 user(s) found this comment helpful. Did you?YesNo
This is a wonderful medicine. Costly, but great. However, I have found that it is best to take it an hour before eating or if need be an hour AFTER eating. This medication changed my quality of life. Future downfall....if I decide to have kids. Then what? Consider this if you are thinking about having kids.
5 user(s) found this comment helpful. Did you?YesNo
Compared to ritalin, which I was taking before this drug, this produced a much more alert and natural awake feeling. Unfortunately for me it also made me practically psychotic and in a moment of thoughtfulness I thought this must be how people feel when they talk about "snapping". I could not control my emotions. I went back to my doctor and promptly switched off the medication. Too bad the side effects were over the top as the alertness was amazing. I took the drug for less than two weeks.
11 user(s) found this comment helpful. Did you?YesNo
Works great for my Narcolepsy; the only complaint I have is that the price is prohibitive. It is the only medication that has worked effectively for my condition and with dramatic results.
23 user(s) found this comment helpful. Did you?YesNo
I experienced much greater effects from Provigil on initial exposure than I have during regular, ongoing treatment. Had the initial effects (perfect alertness without excessive excitability) continued it would merit a rating of 10. However, I still find it indispensable and would be hard-pressed to give up that particular prescription.
57 user(s) found this comment helpful. Did you?YesNo
scottf6904 said: 
toots1201 said: 
