Thursday, January 21, 2010

No More Nuvigil

I had planned to keep taking a half pill of Nuvigil every morning until I was running out of samples, and then report to my doctor. Well, that's been my plan three times now, and I keep running into stomach problems and stopping it after a few days. Last time it was nausea that got me. To be fair, it might have gone away after awhile. I know the headaches and the drugged wonkiness would have, so it wasn't those that I was worried about. It was just that after three days I had absolutey no appetite and literally couldn't stomach eating anything.

This time I wasn't nauseated, but the lack of appetite was still there. It came on faster than last time, and I've had stomach cramps, especially at night. Besides that, yesterday was pretty crazy- I was either so awake I was restless and antsy or so sleepy I couldn't keep my eyes open, and the two states would transition pretty suddenly. I'm guessing that would probably have settled out over time though. The past two nights have been similarly nuts- I'd find myself suddenly awake in some random part of the night, then get pulled straight into vivid dreams again, maybe sleep soundly for awhile and then be wide awake for a minute or two again. Which also may have settled out eventually. But it's the lack of appetite that convinced me that Nuvigil isn't a good idea for my stomach. I spent over a year with no appetite on a higher dose of Xyrem and I refuse to deal with that long term again. I have no urge to be back under a hundred pounds because I hate all food and have to force myself to eat. Not healthy.

I'm not sure what my doctor is going to say about this. He keeps suggesting meds to help keep me awake, which of course I need, but every time something gives me a side effect and I stop taking it he gets a little frustrated. He wants me to try things for long enough to make sure the side effect won't go away, or that it won't be worth dealing with to have the benefits of the medication. Which is perfectly reasonable. But I'm kind of through putting the experiment ahead of my present well-being, if that makes sense. In other words, I suppose I would rather feel okay now than go through a lot of feeling crappy in order to feel slightly better- or maybe just the same or worse- later. Who knows, maybe it's just a phase. Or maybe it's my own way of growing up.

5 comments:

  1. I have cerebral palsy. This means I don't have a lot energy because walking and moving makes me tired. All my muscles are really tight.

    I just tried this drug for the first time today. The Dr put me on 150mgs. I actually love the mood it puts me in. I can move freely now with out being so tired during the day. It has a side effect that causes dry mouth. I have a drooling issue. So that is really awesome.

    But I did notice that my feet and hands get hot. Also it makes me gag for some reason I can not explain. I also got a upset stomach because I didn't know how hungry I was. Not sure if that has to do with the gaging. I am going to try it a few more times and see if things get better. The benefits are great for me. Thanks for your information. It was very helpful.

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  2. Glad I could help. Good luck with the Nuvigil; I hope it ends up working out for you. That's pretty cool that at least one of the side effects works out in your favor. :D

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  3. I've found that with Nuvigil you just have to slowly get adjusted. I now am on a full dose and am awake all day, no problem. I do experience the same side effects; NO concept of hunger or appetite.. I have to remember to eat. I get the stomach aches, but I believe they are related to the stomach shrinking and expanding due to irregular dieting. I also get the random gagging feeling.. very weird. Other than that it seems fine.

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  4. Please look into Candida. It is most likely the cause of both your narcolepsy and your celiac disease. I have been sick my entire life. It started as lactose intolerance as a child. Since, my symptoms worsened every year. Fatigue, joint and muscle pain, allergy symptoms, flu symptoms, waking up feeling hung over every morning, excessive daytime sleepiness, night time insomnia, digestive problems, frequent UTI, hair loss, depression, anxiety, and excessive thirst are just those I can think of off the top of my head. I spent a ton of money on doctors and test, was given several Dx that did nothing give some of my symptoms a name and Rx that were costly and did not help. My sleep study was the only test that ever revealed anything of value. My night study showed 50 minutes to fall asleep, a little longer than normal no sleep disturbances. My daytime showed that the average time it took for me to fall asleep during 5 separate 15 minute naps, 2 hours between each, was 3.2 minutes. The last time I felt at all decent was 4 years ago. I went on a water only fast. I realized it had to be something I was eating. I started a gluten free diet, adhering to it VERY strictly. I felt better but the symptoms slowly crept back. After a lot of searching, no thanks to doctors, I found out about Candida. I am in the process of ridding myself of this horrible candida. It is not easy. I wish someone would have told me about candida decades ago. I am 40 now and this candida has been growing for at least 30 of those years. Please contact me if you have any questions at tlkarns@att.net. I am NOT selling anything. I am just trying to help as many people who are where I am to get better and those who are not yet this far from getting here.

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  5. I started taking Nuvigil about 3 months ago, I do have spastic cerebral palsy. I have noticed less fatigue during the time I am awake. I also have noticed a pretty significantly less amount of spasms. I do get "dry mouth" pretty bad. I'm on a couple of other meds that when I take them I'm ready to eat everything and anything insight as soon as the meds hit my stomach. Nuvigil has helped there as well. It took a good week or two of taking it like I was prescribed for it to work without any immediate side effects such as sleeplessness, or no appetite. Overall I do not have anything bad to say about Nuvigil other than it had helped me out so far. Like I said earlier, im new to this drug, only going on month 4 of taking it but I have to say that the pros outweigh any cons that I might have. I'm thirsty usually all the anyways but the nuvigil does give me some terrible cotton mouth mostly if I'm really active about an hour after taking it.

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