Provigil (Modafinil)
Brand Names: ProvigilRelated Medications: Adderall, Cylert, Dexedrine Spansule, Effexor, Effexor XR, Eldepryl, Nuvigil, Pexeva, Plegridy, Ritalin, Sarafem, Silenor, , Xyrem, Zoloft
There are many people who suffer from extreme sleepiness caused by such sleep disorders as narcolepsy, difficult or irregular breathing while sleeping and so on. The good news is that they can be treated by taking Provigil, a medication that also helps patients stay awake when working at those hours that interfere with their normal sleeping routines. It’s not certain how this medicine works to boost users’ wakefulness, but it may influence specific chemicals in their brain that are responsible for controlling sleep and wake cycles. However, Provigil shouldn’t be taken to treat tiredness and hold off sleep in those patients who are not diagnosed with any sleeping disorders.
People need to take Provigil with and without their food, normally only once in the morning. If they want to treat shift work sleeping disorder, it’s necessary to take this medicine one hour before going to work. If they need to get rid of sleep apnea, they should take it once a day and their regular doses are prescribed according to their health condition and individual response to this treatment. Sometimes, Provigil is responsible for developing an addiction, and that’s why users are not allowed to increase their doses or alter their treatment without consulting their doctors.
The use of Provigil may result in experiencing such unwanted symptoms as:
Most of those patients who undergo this treatment don’t have any of these symptoms. In very rare cases they may develop such serious side effects as:
Once the above-mentioned serious symptoms are noticed, patients need to go to the hospital immediately.
Before taking Provigil, users need to inform their physicians about their existing allergies and other serious health conditions, such as heart problems, reactions to stimulants, hypertension, liver and kidney problems, drug or alcohol abuse and so on. They should understand that this medication may reduce their ability to react fast and make them feel dizzy, so that it’s advisable to avoid those activities that require full alertness. Patients also need to avoid drinking any alcoholic beverages when undergoing this treatment.
This medication shouldn’t be taken with certain drugs because patients may end up with serious reactions. For example, they need to avoid combining Provigil with beta-blockers, meds for hypertension, blood thinners, rifamycins, street drugs, pills that influence liver enzymes, azole antifungals, anti-seizure tablets, SSRIs and some others.
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