provigil for ms fatigue

Hi all, My fatigue has truly gotten out of hand now. I have all of the types of fatigue correlated to MS, as well as a problem with falling asleep while driving and at my desk at work. I could deal with the general fatigue, but falling asleep while driving and at work are absolutely unacceptable of course. My doc has put me on Provigil, and it worked well for about a month. Now it is not helping me.

Are there any other meds for fatigue besides provigil? The reason I ask is because for the drug interactions for provigil says don't take if you're on beta blockers or amitriptline (sp). Which of course I'm on both. Thanks for any suggestions in advance. I see my pcp on Wednesday, and I want to be ahead of the game!

My Dr. just recommended Provigil for my fatigue and brain issues. It sounds like an upper to me, but without the edginess of Ritalin...like Bill says used by pilots duing the Iraqi wars...also people with narcolepsy and MS patients with fatigue, amongst others. I read on the MS forum that many members use and recommend it. I'm still waiting on a prior auth and trying to make up my mind about it. Right now...today....I feel really good, so I don't know that it's warranted.

I am also dizzy 24/7 and have been for 6 yrs. I take provigil for the fatigue. Its expensive but one of safer drugs, it is not narcotic either. And it works for me, i was given adderall but it didnt seem to work at all for my fatigue. Plus it is narcotic and addicting. I was recently in a drug rehab recently to get off of methodone that my dr had given me for pain, a long story...they also took away my sleeping pill.

i was told today the VA no longer will Rx provigil for MS fatigue. have to have a sleep disorder and get it from pulmonary now. they will, for MS patient fatigue Rx amantadine. i have battled MS fatigue for years and recently decided to try something for it, so the VA is Rx amantadine vs provigil. anyone on this list try amantadine for MS fatigue? just checking with the experts here (actual suffers). i thought provigil was what i needed.

I read somewhere that a lot of these aren't approved for helping with MS fatigue. Maybe that's why neuro's don't offer them that often? Maybe they know that insurance won't approve it. But, if I can help me keep my job and working full-time (and it's not tooooo expensive), then I can try to shell out the extra money for it. I'm saying this, but have no idea how much it costs. If it costs as much as my Copaxone, then I'd like to take back what I just said.

I have been fighting Blue Cross since January 2011. I have MS and suffer severe fatigue. I've been taking Provigil for about 4 1/2 years and it was covered by Blue Cross. I was notified in Nov 2010 that BC would no longer cover this drug for an MS diagnosis. My Neurologist appealed the Provigil denial 3 times and BC would still not cover it. She then tried to prescribe Nuvigil again BC denied and she appealed that 3 times.

I don't have MS (so it appears), but I have quite a few similar symptoms, including dizziness and the related brain fog and fatigue. Back in 2000, neuro prescribed Provigil, saying "we used to use Ritalin for this" but that Provigil is now favored because of fewer side effects. Provigil was very helpful for both fatigue and cognition, although I didn't like the late-afternoon "letdown" effect I got with it. It was rather unpleasant.

I take Nuvigil and it is extremely expensive. Plus my insurance wouldn't pay for it for MS because "MS doesn't cause fatigue". Apparently they believe only depression causes fatigue in MS patients. So...my doctor had to prescribe an anti-depressant for me and now they pay for it (somewhat, it is still over $100 a month for my cost).

I have MS and my neurologist said that that was a choice for fatigue. She said ther were several choices we could try though. She choose to try me on Provigil, for me it was an excellent choice as it has made a huge difference. Some days when I am staying home with nothing to do or planned I won't take it and I sure can trll the difference. I hope you find something that works for you. Good luck. I have been living with MS for ten years and have been lucky.

Has anyone heard that the insurance companies are starting to approve Provigil for MS? The company must have changed the recommendations for use. I did a prior authorization for a patient today. She needed Provigil for Sleep Apnea. Sleep disorders are what this med has mostly been used for. But this time, where the approved diagnosis' were listed, MS was on the list. It's the first time I have seen this since I have been doing the authorizations.

He wants to send me for a sleep study as we were discussing my fatigue issues. Is this a common step?

My current neuro prescribed Provigil for me the first day he saw me, but later I realized he had already decided I had MS. Provigil is used in the fatigue of MS, CFS, and Fibro. It is off-label, but has show itself to be quite safe and not have a dependence problem. Another possiblity is amantadine, but most people like Provigil better. If your B12 is on the low side, even without being deficient, I recommend the sublingual 1mg supplement of B12 in the "methycobalmin" form.

I went to my pcp yesterday, had one of my very violent myoclonic jerks while she had me on the exam table and I nearly gave her a heart attack. But, she began to realize that some weird stuff was going on with me and called a neurologist and had me go see him an hour later. He was a little disappointing in that he was more interested in talking about horses (I board horses) than talking about my symptoms.

fatigue, and of obstructive sleep apnea. It is being used commonly off-label for the fatigue of CFS, MS, Fibromyalgia, and for the mental focusing needed in Adult ADD and probably for many other things. It was the first thing Dr. M wrote for me, before he officially told me of the diagnosis of MS. It is a miracle for me, even at half-dose which I sometimes take. It has little potential for addiction and is a lot safer than many other things used for fatigue.

Modafinil is a drug for narcolepsy prescribed for MS fatigue. I am interested in knowing if you have narcolepsy or MS fatigue. Recently I have been experiencing extreme fatigue for which my neuro prescribed amantadine. It is working. The next step would be modafinil but I was told that many of their patients use Ritalin or adderall. Both are addictive so they start with the ones with least side effects first. So far amantadine has been helping get me through my day without crashing.

Hi, Many of in our community use Provigil or Nuvigil for fatigue. There are other medical options that you can discuss with your doctor. On a practical level. You have to learn to gauge your activity level to the time of day when you have the most energy. For a lot of us ,it is in themorning, for others like me-a night owl, I do better in the early afternoon. the secreat is NOT to overdo no matter how good you feel or you will pay the price the next day.

I was offered drugs for fatigue last year, all I have to do is call the Ms nurse and she will call the drug in to my local pharmacy, but I'm not sure which drug.

After all this time, three years at least, my insurance company is no longer approving me for Provigil. This drug is the one thing that I've taken that has made a huge impact on the quality of my life. Without it, I'm unable to think clearly and I'm too fatigued to get up out of bed or off the couch. I may have to retire on disability because there's no way I will be able to teach. The drug also helps with the ADD (diagnosed after the MS as an adult, LOL).

Provigil for ms fatigue

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