Posted by Ktemene on May 19, 2004, at 1:49:49
In reply to Provigil, anxiety, ADD, posted by zeugma on May 17, 2004, at 17:53:14
> I am thinking of making a trial of provigil after I finish ramping down on nortriptyline (currently at 50 mg). Lowering the nortriptyline dosage has already helped my fatigue, but I have always have serious anergia and many narcoleptic symptoms (frequent sleep paralysis and hypnagogic hallucinations), which are mostly blocked by Strattera, the nortrip I am discontinuing, and 15 mg buspirone just before I go to sleep. My ADD is improved by the Strattera, but I still expend lots of energy trying to concentrate, and I am anergic to begin with. I also have social phobia/ general anxiety which is helped by clonazepam (ciurrently, 1 mg/day). My recent depression (which i am still struggling with) is exacerbated by the fatigue, so lowering the nortriptyline has helped with this.
>
> My questions are:
>
> Did Provigil cause anxiety? Does it lessen fatigue? What sort of impact does it have on ADD?
>
> I have heard that it works well in concert with Strattera. I currently take 80 mg in the morning. I think Strattera probably works better as a BID drug, owing to its short half-life, but I seem to need 80 mg to keep my concentration going into the early afternoon. Then it seems to fade. My thought is that with Provigil I could divide the doses of Strattera and still obtain the benefit of improved concentration during the workday, while the Strat in the late afternoon/evening would actually help my sleep (NE reuptake inhibitors block the secondary symptoms of narcolepsy that i mentioned above). I am looking for a stimulant, but one that will not increase anxiety or cause insomnia.I've been taking Provigil for more than a year now, for depression (I have the sleepy kind) and ADD. For the last three months I have been taking Provigil together with 80 mg Strattera, and before that I took Provigil with Wellbutrin. My experience has been that Provigil does not cause anxiety but it does lessen fatigue dramatically. The strangest thing about Provigil for me is that it does not seem to have any effect I can notice apart from reducing sleepiness and fatigue. Since I haven't tried Provigil by itself, I can't say whether it is helpful for ADD, but the combination of Provigil and Strattera has helped my ADD a lot. I take 200 mg Provigil as soon as I wake (I keep the bottle and a glass of water on a table next to my bed so I don't even have to get up to take it) and in the late afternoon when I begin to fade I take another 200 mg Provigil. It always gives me more energy, but if I want to sleep, it does not keep me awake. It has been a great medicine for me. I hope it works for you.
poster:Ktemene
thread:347935
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20040515/msgs/348460.html