Nuvigil for Narcolepsy User Reviews

• Luna
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• December 16, 2013

"I was diagnosed with Narcolepsy about 18 months ago after battling constant fatigue no matter how much sleep I received at night or how many naps I took throughout the day. Nuvigil has changed my life! I take one pill daily, and I am able to live a normal life outside of the fog that I was constantly living in before my diagnosis. I had a lot of side effects when I first started taking Nuvigil, which included headaches, dry mouth, cramping, nausea, loss of appetite, and dizziness, but those were nothing compared to being able to finally live my life fully for the first time! I felt like before I was swimming in murky water, unable to see or function, and after the medication, I can actually experience life and interact with people!"

• Lynne
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• March 2, 2018

"I have been on nuvigil for almost a year now, this has been the only stimulant to work for me. I have narcolepsy and ADHD. So adderall and it’s relative medicines actually make more more of a zombie, albeit a very focused zombie. Nuvigil does not cause my heart to race ( I also have mitral valve prolapse ) it does not negatively effect my anxiety. This medicine has been a life saver for me! It does effect my ability to feel hunger. I don’t get hungry until around 2 pm but honestly, this is a good thing bc when I eat I become very tired. This is due to the nature of Narcolepsy. We are low on orexin, so when we eat what little orexin we have gets ‘turned off’. Orexin is the chemical in the brain that helps regulate wake and sleep. Orexin on means awake, orexin off means asleep. Orexin is directly effected by food intake."

• Kris
• December 7, 2013

"I have Idiopathic Hypersomnia with long sleep time. Before Nuvigil, I would sleep 16-20 hours per day, and nothing could keep me awake. This medicine has completely changed my life. I am on the highest dosage (250mg). At first, the medicine gave me a terrible headache and made me feel somewhat sick to my stomach. After about two to three weeks, the side effects almost completely subsided. I feel like a normal person now. I take the medicine early in the morning when my first alarm goes off. Sometimes, I fall back to sleep, or I can stay up and relax watching T.V or something. An hour or two later it is easy to wake. Energy throughout the day, and doesn't keep me up at night. This allows me to live "normally". I feel little to no side effects and get sleepy before bedtime, energized all day."

• TRWRN
• November 19, 2013

"During a yearly checkup, my doctor impressively picked up on my sleep disorder (personally, I thought he was nuts; I felt it was just all the crazy stress in my life that made me want to sleep at any chance I got). Well, my sleep study came back severely abnormal. What?? Are you kidding me??? He was right! I was diagnosed with excessive daytime sleepiness/narcolepsy without cataplexy. Since then, I have been on Nuvigil 250mg. I cannot begin to tell you the difference it has made! The response was immediate for me, and I'm so glad I no longer have to sleep my days away! What an interesting field of medicine! I believe what they know about sleep now is just a scratch on the surface on how it impacts our health and well being."

• Joano
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• May 5, 2020

"I have been on nuvigil 150mg for almost 4 months. I was previously on Adderall 20mg twice a day for several years and Ritalin before that. Nuvigil does absolutely nothing for me. I can't stay awake, cannot function, very depressed. I would much rather go back on Adderall."

• Lindsey...
• August 16, 2015

"I found myself sleeping all day against my will and it was depressing to be so unproductive. After I was accepted to vet school, I knew I needed to figure out why I was so tired all the time. I was diagnosed with narcolepsy without cataplexy. I immediately started Nuvigil in an attempt to get regulated before I started school. About a week in, I experienced anxiety, and a racing heart on a few different days. My symptoms soon subsided, and I found my quality of life drastically improved. I take it in the morning before class, and I was able to stay awake all day with very little problem. I still have good days and bad, but my worst day is still better than my life before it. I am so thankful for my doctor and Nuvigil."

• Bambi...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• September 4, 2018

"This medication takes time to get into and out of my system. The transitions are terrible for me. Lots of anxiety and scatterbrains. I am very emotional on this medication. When I am tired of the lump in my throat I quit taking it. When I can't stay awake and my job is at risk I try again. The end results are always the same. I don't want to do anything, go anywhere, and can't quit crying. The first time I took it 2 months. The second time I took it 5 months. And now I have been on it 5 days and am calling it quits. It does not keep me awake. I get huge headaches. There is no reason to live for me while using this medication."

• Polly
• December 1, 2019

"My son has been taking this medication as he has fallen asleep behind the wheel and is tired all the time (narcolepsy). This medication is working for him he has so much more energy and isn’t tired when he has it. If he doesn’t take it he sleeps all afternoon"

• Anonymous
• June 15, 2009

"Idiopathic Hypersomnia - Nuvigil has been available for prescription for two weeks; I have been taking it for five days. 50mg once in the morning. I do not have trouble falling asleep at night, which I did on Provigil. Nuvigil is rather expensive to fill, more than $1 per pill for my copay. It has helped my daytime sleepiness somewhat, but not taken it away completely. I still get strong urges to nap, but they are more resistible. I sleep less at night, more like 7-9 hours than 8-10. The big problem is that Nuvigil appears to be triggering migraines for me. I have chronic migraine syndrome and I usually get one per week, but for the first four days on Nuvigil I got three migraines. I will have to discontinue it if this side effect doesn't stop."

• KamyM...
• June 8, 2013

"I diagnosed myself after reading a pamphlet in the Doctors office the other day. It was like reading the story of my life for the last couple of years. She put me on Nuvigil and I'm currently on my second day of it. I've noticed a lot more awakeness and anxiety. Slight heart issues I think like racing from time to time and one severely sharp pain yesterday but otherwise I really feel much better. Too bad it's too late to save my marriage but at least I will be able to build a new life where before there would have been no way to cope. Wish me luck guys. I've had no headaches or jaw issues either."

• Anonymous
• December 11, 2009

"I have been taking Provigil 3 x 200mg tabs in the morning. It works but not great. I would be sitting at my desk and do "head bobs". This is not acceptable to me. My doctor suggested I try Nuvigil. I started taking it last week. I took one 250mg in the morning. It is a sleeping pill to me. This week has been the longest week for me. I am fighting to stay away at work. I am interested to see if other have this same reaction to Nuvigil."

• mjeap...
• September 25, 2014

"I have been dealing with narcolepsy since 1992. Nuvigil was introduced to me in 2014, wonder pill all the way. Unfortunately with my insurance my out of pocket expense will run approximately $550 for a 30 day supply. So tell me do I feed my family of 5 or buy medicine. What a choice to have to make."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• March 21, 2015

"My experience has been very positive: a complete elimination of sleep attacks, at least until the medication wears off (I take it at about 7 AM and usually around 2-3 PM I can tell it's worn off). When I first began the medication, I experienced fairly severe insomnia at night for a few days and suffered from headaches (generally dull, low-grade ones) for a couple of weeks. Those problems have long since ended and I have no trouble falling asleep at night. My doctor suggested not taking the medication on weekends, when I do not have to work, which seems to have helped prevent it from losing any effectiveness. I am fortunate enough to have had no trouble getting my insurance to pay for Nuvigil. My cost is $27 for a 3 month supply by mail."

• Sleepy
• December 8, 2018

"Been telling Drs 20yrs about being excessively tired. Finally broke down bawling to my current Dr this year, she sent me for Multiple Sleep Latency Test (MSLT) and I failed test. Finally had my diagnosis. Dr put me on Ritalin LA 20mg, lost potency within 5 days, increased dose to 30mg, still didn't work, seen sleep specialist, he put me on nuvigil, took it couple days, did not help at all! In fact it made me feel like I was going through withdraw from suboxone I take and felt it made narcolepsy worse. I take suboxone because 10yrs ago I used pain pills to "give me energy", I got addicted to pain pills obviously. Been on suboxone 6yrs. I was hoping I finally have a diagnosis of narcolepsy I could get on right meds and get off suboxone. My Dr wanted to put me on ritalin 20mg LA for morning and ritalin 10mg for afternoon but insurance wouldn't cover it. Only 30mg as a whole. I honestly think the dose she wanted to put me on would have helped but the insurance knows best right? Makes me so mad!"

• 23 Fe...
• July 16, 2009

"I was diagnosed with Narcolepsy about a 2 weeks ago and I have been taking Nuvigil for about a week. I have to admit it works. The urges to fall sleep are there but I have a choice now. I still sleep at night. About 7-8 hours, but I still wake up frequently. The only thing is, I get headaches and my mouth is really, really dry. I'm not thirsty, I am hydrated, I drink plenty of water, but I can't shake these two symptoms. So either I enjoy being awake and deal with the side effects, or I quit the medicine, and continue being tired. The first two days on it was great. But after a week, I feel sleep deprived, but I am still awake. I am waiting on a medicine to help me sleep better at night. So I will continue to give Nuvigil a shot."

• Amber...
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• December 21, 2013

"I have been on Nuvigil for about 3 months now and see a little bit of difference. Previously I was on Ritalin which worked pretty much the same as Nuvigil. My doctor is currently giving me a trial period for 150mg once daily. I take one daily at 6-8 am and it lasts me till around noon. I then start to crash and when driving I still have a hard time staying awake. My doctor says it is because I need a higher dosage and will hopefully be starting that the next Drs visit. I highly recommend Nuvigil if you can afford it but if not Ritalin in my opinion works just as well."

• Sytse
• Taken for 1 to 2 years
• January 22, 2017

"It was effective, but it made my hair fall out. When I told the doctor, his response was, "That's not a side effect." I did my own research - It IS a side effect. It is a serious side effect that the doctor's don't tell you about. I switched doctors and medication."

• KG414
• Taken for 1 to 6 months
• February 12, 2016

"Diagnosed with narcolepsy and had frequent daily cataplexy. Nothing else worked, prior to getting diagnosed, hours and hours of sleep mixed with coffee, energy drinks and abuse of workout stimulants. After adjusting to the jitters and slight nausea, I've never felt better. Every now and then I will need a small nap, but I am sleeping deeper and sleep walking much less. I went from several cataplexy a day to only three in the last month. Those three only happened because I hadn't gotten enough sleep that night. This drug works the best for me when I get more than 6 hours of sleep, ideally 7 or 8 hours though. I am very happy overall, but it is ridiculously expensive if you aren't on an insurance plan, like me (just switched jobs)."

• N3rd1...
• Taken for 5 to 10 years
• February 28, 2017

"I have been taking nuvigil since 2012 started on provigil built a tolerance against it in 2 months. I take 250 mg a day but I split the pill and take each half at specific times usually between 6-9 am the other at 3pm to 6pm (depends when I took the first one) seems to help me stay awake a little more that way. It lasts for about 1-2 hours on me with each half."

• Anonymous
• April 2, 2012

"I'm a 21 year old college student. I was diagnosed with Narcolepsy without Cataplexy recently, even though it's been there basically my whole life. I'm currently on 250mg Nuvigil in the morning, and he's going to add another medication soon to help my brain sleep at night. Since I have such anxiety levels and it affects my sleep. It has helped me stay awake in class, but I still can't focus. I really don't feel much difference. I still take naps a few times a day, and I feel like the medication wears off by around 2:00PM and then I'm falling asleep again. The side effects I'm feeling are daily migraines, extreme cotton mouth, and sometimes an upset stomach."

• Anonymous
• Taken for less than 1 month
• July 26, 2017

"I am 38 and I have been taking this medicine two weeks and I am having serious problem breathing and getting a deep breath in, my inhaler does not help. I have diarrhea and my face has broken out worse than it ever did when I was a teenager. I have also had random pounding, sharp, shooting headaches come out of no where."

• Kmpor...
• Taken for 6 months to 1 year
• June 10, 2014

"I was diagnosed a year ago. I have cataplexy as well. I've been taking 250mg daily of Nuvigil for about 8 months and I'm very happy with it. The only complaint is that (as another person said) it doesn't last all day, I also crash out in the afternoon. If you have this problem I suggest eliminating idol time. I have noticed that if I keep myself busy I have no problem going through the day normally. I haven't experienced any side effects whatsoever. Most of the other medications may keep you awake all day, but seeing as the side effects can be devastating for many people, I'll take the extra effort to keep my idol time to a minimum and unlike the other medicines I've tried, I don't feel like I need a higher dose every 3 months."

• DK2727
• August 5, 2013

"I've been on Nuvigil for 4 years and it's stopped being as effective. I'm currently on 125 mg twice a day, and 37.5 mg Adipex twice a day. The Adipex has absolutely helped my weight (down 14 lbs in 15 days, 40lbs to go) but not much help with the wakefulness. I'm falling asleep in the afternoon and driving is a nightmare. It takes A LOT for insurance to cover. Without all the hoops my doctor has agreed to jump through, it would be $685 per month."

• Anonymous
• Taken for 2 to 5 years
• May 14, 2012

"I have taken 250mg daily of Nuvigil for two years now. Without/before it I couldn't think straight, I dropped stuff, couldn't perform the simplest daily functions. Nuvigil has given me my life back! I couldn't drive for a year, I can now. My narcolepsy is pretty bad and if I miss one day of the Nuvigil I can't function. By the afternoon I can't stay awake or hold on to anything. The other medicine I was on didn't even compare to Nuvigil!"

• Lacie...
• January 28, 2013

"I took Nuvigil for a little over a year. It changed my life. I have had chronic fatigue for 13 years and the Nuvigil gave me the energy to live a normal life. I had a few side effects, but being awake was more important to me. Occasionally I would sleep lightly or stay up until 2 am. The more noticeable side effect was the fogginess. I would often forget what I was doing, why I walked into the other room and I couldn%u2019t get words out quick enough. I always had the %u201Cit%u2019s stuck at the tip of my tongue%u201D feeling when talking because I couldn%u2019t remember certain words. Overall, I was very satisfied with this medicine and it was effective. Once I lost my insurance I couldn%u2019t afford to take it anymore. $565 a month is a bit much."