Provigil and Nausea: What Users Say

• Ama...
• May 26, 2016

"I seriously do not know how this medicine is approved as a stimulant. I suffer from obstructive sleep apnea, narcolepsy, and shift work sleep disorder. This medicine in no way kept me awake, alert, or focused. If anything, I had a complete opposite effect. I felt some sort of brain fog, my performance at work lagged, and I couldn't keep my eyes open. I had no motivation to accomplish any tasks or get out of bed for that matter. Along with these negative effects, I had headaches and nausea. I would not recommend this as a stimulant or something for sharp cognitive effects. But maybe more like a sleeping pill. I felt like it was a sleeping pill but struggling to stay awake after taking it. Tried for one week."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 12, 2012

For Narcolepsy "I have only been on Provigil for a month, but it has caused extreme nausea and headaches. I have a history of cluster headaches and migraines, which had diminished, but are now back in full force. I've also had stomach cancer twice, and Provigil makes me very nauseous and losing weight due to an inability to eat. I'm glad that it is effective for some, I just wish that I was in that group because I am TIRED."

• Sle...
• July 23, 2009

For Narcolepsy "I took Provigil for 6 months with varying doses (100-300 mg/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 paralysis, 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."

• doz...
• July 28, 2009

For Narcolepsy "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, 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."

• Anonymous
• July 31, 2009

For Narcolepsy "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 every day around 6 pm or 8 pm. 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 8 pm, but I was having problems with my memory and concentration. Just switched to Ritalin."

• SL8...
• September 18, 2011

For Narcolepsy "I'm a 36-year-old female, and I've been living with narcolepsy for over 20 years and was just diagnosed about 2 months ago! I have been on Provigil for 1 week, 200 mg twice a day. With that, I still feel like a walking zombie. I have not noticed a change, with no side effects. I was taken off of Nuvigil 150 mg 1x/day. I did notice a huge difference with that. I remember feeling... wow, this is what it feels like to be awake. But it would die out by noontime and barely get me through the rest of my day. I also experienced a dull, constant headache and random nausea. It now seems almost worth going back to it and dealing with the side effects."

• Anonymous
• March 6, 2009

For Narcolepsy "Works like a miracle, but have nausea."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• November 29, 2017

For Obstructive Sleep Apnea/Hypopnea Syndrome "Jittery, dry mouth, shortness of breath, tightness in chest, exacerbated hand tremors, diarrhea, nausea, headache, hot flash every day. Excessive daytime sleepiness (EDS) marginally improved at best."