Excellent question...I've wondered the same thing. My shrink gives me concerta for ADHD, and my neuro gives me provigil for sleepiness from sleep apnea...he insists it does nothing for ADHD, but I think it does. I stopped taking concerta cuz it actually makes me sleepy, but the provigil helps me stay awake. Just my $.02. Anyone else have any input?

Quote from saxgirl:

Excellent question...I've wondered the same thing. My shrink gives me concerta for ADHD, and my neuro gives me provigil for sleepiness from sleep apnea...he insists it does nothing for ADHD, but I think it does. I stopped taking concerta cuz it actually makes me sleepy, but the provigil helps me stay awake. Just my $.02. Anyone else have any input?

Sleep apnea causes ADHD symptoms, so maybe you just have sleep apnea and not true ADHD. Would explain why your sleep apnea meds are so helpful for your ADHD symptoms.

[QUOTE=free~spirit]Well you did say that your sleep apnea treatment helps your ADD, was just a thought ya know. :)

Sorry, I meant I use a bipap machine to treat the sleep apnea. Even after the apneas were gone, I was still too sleepy, so I got provigil. You're right though, it's hard to tell if the improvement's from being awake or from the provigil.

i am sleepy all day and usually take long naps in the afternoon despite getting rest at night. does provigil work good for you to help keep you awake? seems like all i wanna do is sleep!!

Yeah Provigil is starting to be used more in people with AD/HD. It seems to work with about the same success rate as say Wellbutrin, some say it works while others claim it does nothing. It's usually/almost always used in adults, and usually inattentive AD/HD, much moreso than the other AD/HD subtypes.

Quote from brainf0g:

Yeah Provigil is starting to be used more in people with AD/HD. It seems to work with about the same success rate as say Wellbutrin, some say it works while others claim it does nothing. It's usually/almost always used in adults, and usually inattentive AD/HD, much moreso than the other AD/HD subtypes.

i am currently taking 450mgs. wellbutrin and have never experienced any stimulation what-so-ever from it....my body has a very high tolerance for drugs. i am going to see a new doctor next month and he wants to put me on dexedrine so i am excited about that. my current doc. keeps on giving me antidepressants and none of them worked but he just doesn't get it LOL

Quote from vasdef:

Just recently I've been diagnosed with Narcolepsy. My doc has prescribed Provigil to keep me awake during the day. I suspect that I might have a.d.d. and have heard that Provigil has been used for people with a.d.d. Does anyone here take Provigil for a.d.d. and if so, I would like to hear about it. Thanks

I am in my 30's, male, 190 lbs, with ADD inattentive type, recently diagnosed. I began self-medicating with provigil before I knew I had ADD; this is what led to my diagnosis. I took 50 mg. 2-3 times/day and it was highly effective at helping me concentrate at work and initiate and complete tasks. Provigil also made me a little more desirous of interpersonal interaction: I found conversations more interesting. I'm not sure if this was because I was paying attention to them more of for some other reason, but I felt slightly more outgoing while on provigil. The effectiveness in terms of task initiation and completion seemed to wear off, however, after three to four months. I increased my dosage to 100 mg. 2 times a day but had trouble with my short-term memory and felt a little spacey so I returned to 50 mg. It was highly effective at keeping me alert, and enabled me to work into the night with no loss of mental acuity, without interfering with my ability to fall asleep when that is what I wanted. Prescribed doses for sleep disorders are often 400 mg. or more per day, so my side effects at 200 mg. might have diminished if I had maintained that dosage for more than a few days. I noticed provigil's benefits the first day I took it. I am now trying other medications to find the best one for me, but may try going back to provigil for a few months if none of the others work for me; I am finishing up my first trial of another medication but will be trying something else shortly. I believe that provigil is currently in either phase-II or phase-III testing to obtain an indication for ADD. I noticed no adverse side effects other than what I've described above, but it is known to diminish the effectiveness of oral contraceptives in women.

Hey guys,
I would be driving somewhere and all of a sudden realize I was going totally in the wrong direction. I could feel myself being zoned out while driving. I was watching the road but spaced out somewhere. Sometimes I would have to pull over and go to sleep for a good hour. I was Lazy, tired and totally unmotivated. WHen I did try to do something, I swore I must be getting Alzheimers because I could not remember what I was suppose to be doing. Anyway, after many tests, results showed nothing out of the norm. My doc decided to try me on Ritalin. It helped so much with the focus stuff. However, the tiredness was still there. I then tried adderall but that didnt seem to help as much. I am now taking dexidrine which is helping but I still cant get the sleep thing fixed. If I force myself to get up and get dressed and leave the house in the morning after my kids go to school, I am good all day. But if I sit and have breakfast, read the paper, talk on the phone or go on the computer, I start to feel an incredible tiredness and end up giving in and going to sleep for a couple of hours. I start work at 1 pm and once I am there I am ok. I just get so frustrated because I get nothing done and sleep my time away. I have just tried taking Provigil which is perscribed for Narcolepsy in addition to the dexidrine but it doesnt seem to help. Don't you wonder how people ever functioned before we had all these drugs to try to help us function normally?
pattibuckle

hi! i have sleep apnea. can't use the machine because i take it off while sleeping. use ambien but u can only use that for a few days.......so tired, so depressed, been "daydreaming" for a long time. tried to get provigil a couple of weeks ago and the family dr said i had to ask the sleep dr. short of funds for dr right now and not sure if my sleep dr would be willing to experiment with any thiing.... more depressed now and tired....opinions???
right now caffienne is my "stimulant of choice", ie vivarin excederin etc,,,doesn't work well anymore

I have sleep apnea too, and though I use my CPAP every night, I still feel half asleep about till 2:00 in the afternoon. The only productive time is after dinner! IF, I'm not tired out from functioning "while tired".

I've thought about Provigil, but I also have generalized anxiety and depression and take Prozac 20 mg in the a.m. I'm wondering if something like Provigil would increase the feelings of anxiety? Oh, I also can't hold two thoughts together or remember things. No concentration. It actually hurts my head to think hard and try to concentrate and learn new things. I leave magazines open all over the house, as I space out and "move on". I have huge trouble finishing tasks.

What do you think?