Posted by BJM on January 25, 2005, at 8:23:30
In reply to Re: Provigil and depression » BJM, posted by jujube on January 22, 2005, at 22:26:11
> I have been doing research on Provigil as well as gathering information on people's experiences with the drug as I am hoping to use it to augment the Celexa I am on.
>
> If you don't mind, could you please tell me if you have been using Provigil to augment an antidepressant? Also, has it had significant effects in terms of motivation and mood brightening (additional antidepressant effect) and reducing apathty? What start-up side effects did you experience? What dose are you currently using? And, finally, how long have you been using it?
>
> Sorry for all the questions. Anything you can tell me would much appreciated.
>
> Thanks in advance.
>
>
>
The Provigil definetly helped with mood brightening, motivation etc. I started using it as an add on to low dose Prozac because Prozac makes me beyond groggy and upping the dose makes my anxiety worse. Taking something for anxiety doesn't really help because then I am just sleeping again. Plus most anti-anxiety meds make me more depressed.
In the beginning the Provigil made me a little pleasantly hyper but then I started feeling anxious and even more depressed. I felt like I was sinking deeper into the depression. That was when I started breaking the dose up. Usually 50mg am and 50mg around 1pm. I've since gone up from there depending on how the lethargy is. Usually I take 150 - 200 mg per day. Sometimes all in the morning and sometimes broken up.
I've really had to play with the dosing for me. Provigil doesn't seem to effect me the same way every day. I've heard other people say the same thing. Ex: It works better for me if I don't drink coffee with it. Believe it or not when I drink coffee with it I end up getting more tired. Almost like the coffee makes the provigil not work. Also I've noticed that if I take it on an empty stomach and don't eat for awhile I will all of a sudden feel it kick in right after I eat.
I'm really sensitive to meds and it took me along time to get used to Provigil. I should have gone with my gut and not taken the usual starting dosages but I was afraid to not follow the docs and prescribing info to the letter. Once I got my docs o.k. to play around with smaller doses and different times of the day it made all the difference.
My doctor told me that Provigil could increase the effectiveness of my AD without my having to up the AD dose and she was right. I'm sure some people might disagree but Provigil seems to be a very safe med (safer even then a higher dose of AD's) with no problem discontinuing, getting addicted to like some stimulants and much less anxiety than stimulants.
Hope that wasn't too long but hopefully the info will help. I didn't have much info when I first started it and almost quit taking it and its made a world of difference for me that I would have missed out on if I had given up.
Good Luck
BJM
poster:BJM
thread:445244
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20050124/msgs/447299.html