Nuvigil Side Effects (Page 3)

I'm having severe side effects from nuvigil. Muscle and joint pain with numbness and tingling down my arms.

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Ok, my doctor gave me Nuvigil Wednesday, I took 150 mg Thursday morning and felt like i was moving at lightning speed but not a good energetic feeling, can’t really explain it other then maybe like being in a drug induced matrix?:) I started feeling ALOT of anxiety and a bit of discomfort in my chest. Oh and not to mention an upset stomach. I drove to work and it felt like I was in a video game, i walked in the door and instead of saying good morning it came out sorta like mornin good to ya , freaked me out, then i couldn’t sit still but was so scared to talk to anyone for fear of sounding like a complete idiot. Looking at my computer was very difficult, it was like i was staring into a black hole, mouth so dry that i made at least 10 trips to the water cooler in an hour, felt like I was shaking but when I looked at my hands they were perfectly still (very weird). A co-worker said you act like a hummingbird on crack ha, that night I went to dinner and stared at some mans food at the next table long enough for him to look at me like he was about to offer it to me. Not that I was hungry but it was “pretty”. All day my head felt like I had to much brain in it and had the “sun in my eyes” look all day, to the point that my forehead hurt from squinting. I was given this drug for ADD and trouble sleeping. Im guessing the sleep thing is that this crap wears you out so bad that by bedtime you are exhausted, but for ADD??? Are you kidding me?? This stuff made me feel like the poster child for ADD, it magnified EVERYTHING. I couldn’t concentrate on anything except the flashing cursor on my computer, which has me wondering if it flashed 60 times a minute in which I could figure out just how fast my heart was beating per minute which I can only assume it was too much, didn’t try it cause the fly that landed on the desk became more interesting. To sum it up, this stuff is crap for my condition. I called the doc this morning and I’m waiting to hear back from him. By the way, don’t google “nuvigil and deaths” while on this medicine if you have a panic or anxiety disorder!!! I really hope this crap works for other people, I have YET to read anything that says it does and doesn’t cause outrageous side effects. I have been searching for 3 days. If you find something of the sort I would love to see it.

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Well I just read this entire thread and don't see any situation at all like mine. First, I have Bipolar 1. I'm on Lamictal, Seroquel, Wellbutrin XL. I suffer from constant severe insomnia and can only sleep with an additional medication, Lunesta. Even with Lunesta I don't sleep well. I'm currently in a major depressive episode. My pdoc just started me 3 days ago on Nuvigil 250. The first day I felt so wired that I thought I was going into a hypomanic episode. By dinner time it was over. Yesterday I took it and did better but didn't see much of a change from what has been my normal. I even questioned whether or not to take it this morning. I decided to give it another day and just see how things went. I took 250mg at 8:00 this morning and by 11:30--3 1/2 hours later--I was exhausted and yawning. Oh, the appetite suppressant it is supposed to have? I've done nothing but eat. The only side effect I have consistently seen for 3 days is that I get a sore throat and my voice gets hoarse. I see my pdoc on Monday so it will be interesting to see what happens. I know it's used as adjunctive therapy to anti-depressants but it's not working! I have always had extreme reactions to any psychiatric medication. There are some where my body requires the highest dose recommended and others where I can only tolerate low doses. I take 600 mg of Lamictal, 450 of Wellbutrin XL, 3 mg of Lunesta, but can only tolerate 400 mg of Seroquel. Has anyone else experienced anything like this? I've tried other stimulants--ritalin, adderall, vyvanse--and they never work. I feel nothing when I take them--except for the first day I took Nuvigil. Any help??

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I went to the doctor at noon today...gave him my symptoms..I am very tired all the time. He gave me the 250 dosage of nuvigil and not long after taking it..I had extreme energy..I went home and cleaned out the refrigerator..mopped..cooked a cake and felt GREAT! However, about 7 hours later I began to get nausiated..and felt irritable. Took a hot bath then tried to go to bed..Slept only about an hour and I am still up. I also have an EXTREMELY bad headache and my entire jaw is killing me..My eyes feel dry and now I wish I never tried it...I took a maxalt for a migraine and I hope I feel better soon..Oh and one more thing I forgot to mention...My heart rate was also way higher than it normal is..I could hear my pulse in my head...Throwing this one in the garbage...Tired is MUCH better!

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I have severe numbness in left arm and leg, stomach upset, nausea, heart races, chest pain. I have to continue taking it or I cannot work. I take 150 mg on nights that I work

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When I first tried this drug, I felt like a million dollars, I had a bounce in my step was very alert and for the first time in a long time was not sleepy at the end of the working day, I have sleep apnea and I was blacking out when driving home after work, I hit the back of a car and I knew I needed to do something about it before I kill myself or someone else so the doctor prescribed for me 250mg of nuvigil, 250 was to much so he told me to take 150 and for 2 weeks I was riding on top of the world feeling fantastic like I had unlimited energy it was amazing, then things went very wrong, I started to get bad chest pains the back of my neck felt so tight and I was getting dizzy and feeling short of breath clenching my teeth and the great feelings I use to have were gone, I stopped taking it for one week and I started to feel normal again, but I am tired again, what a huge disappointment this drug was for me, I can't understand how something that made me feel so wonderful could make me feel so bad. I since have gotten a better sleep apnea machine and things got a little better but I miss the great feeling I first got from the nuvigil to bad because my life for 2 weeks made me feel like I was young again.

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I've had problems with nuvigil also. I even cut my 150 mg. dosage in half and still have nausea and the weird trembling on the inside but doesn't show outside, however I feel like I want to jump out of my skin.

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My daughter age 22 was given Nuvigil 150 for her Narcolepsy. First she loved it because it kept her awake and focused. After 2 weeks She had her 1st episode of Sleep Paralosis, two days later we had to call 911 for help due to her not waking up. After arriving at the hospital and 20 minutes of aggressive handling she woke up. Released and stopped the medicine. The next night she was admitted to the hospital due to her legs being numb. No response when tested. Now we are on day 2 of hospital stay with no improvement. Anyone know anything about this kind of side effect. She never had these problems before.

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This message is in responce to the person who asked if another medicine can do the job of Nuvigil. I also liked the effects of Nuvigil and then tried Amantadine because insurance would not cover Nuvigil. I'm very happy with Amantadine. I have the energy of an amphetamine without the feeling of "jumping out of my skin". I've heard that it doesn't work for everybody, but thankfully, it does for me... Ask your doc. about it, it may be your savior...

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I was prescribed 150 mg. Nuvigil for my fatigue and tiredness due to MS. From the begining I felt it was not a normal feeling I was getting from it, but it did help me stay awake. Perhaps too well. I cut the pill in half, but not a huge difference.

I noted that it caused nausea and I lost my appetite. I even lost 8 lbs, which is not all bad!

However, I've stopped taking it as I simply can't fall asleep unless I take something to counter the Nuvigil. I don't want to get into the up/down syndrome. I think my neuro would agree with this.

It's frustrating. The thing with all the drugs for MS and other ailments is that they are just what they appear to be...a drug. A powerful drug.


I'm just not going to take the chance with this stuff.

Good luck. Diane

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I am taking Nuvigil for MS. Started it because my new insurance pharmacy management company wouldn't allow me to continue with the Provigil I've taken for years (that works, by the way). I've been on it for 4 days .Now I have a horrible headache (used to get these and migraines and hadn't had one for years until now). I also have severe incontinence, which I haven't had with my MS for a few years. It's terrible. I had appealed the insurance already - both me and my neurologist- before taking it, but they said "no" to the Provigil. I'm so irritated by that! The provigil worked great. I have so many health conditions that it didn't make sense to mess up a stable condition. Now I'm a mess. I'd say not to take this medication, especially if something else had been working. There are too many politics around this drug and I'd rather take what works!! Evidently, Provigil is getting to the point where there will be a generic, and this is a way to keep a medication out there similar enough to Provigil that is not a generic. That is not a good enough reason for me to be forced to take it, just because of politics and that it costs less. The other works better.

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Hi everyone.
I took Provigil then Nuvigil for ADD. I'm fine on it. I am a lightweight on any med i take like aspirin (i'm not taking anything other than Nuvigil), and I was on the smallest dose of dexadrine before this, so I basically regulate myself to the smallest amount possible. I break a 250mg pill into thirds and take one in the am about an hour after coffee, and the other at least 4 hours later. Sometimes between 5-6 hours later.
Coffee will keep me from sleeping, not the Nuvigil. It seems to regulate my energy. I promise I'm not a 'plant' from their company. At first provigil caused a HUGE headache, but I reduced the dose and it didn't happen anymore.
Before this I took dexadrine, 5mg every 1.5 hours. Long acting stuff did NOT work for me. I do not want to feel 'speedy.' I stopped dexadrine due to aggression and irritability side effects after many years.
Other than that, you should know that I've been clean and sober for 19 years and I don't eat sugar. And nothing like Doritos or other junk food. I eat a lot of protein and find that is mandatory to keeping the "speedy" reaction away. Especially a little meat just before bed.
My insurance company, Anthem, are a-holes that don't cover Nuvigil for ADD. $12\pill for the 250mg. THAT causes anxiety! But the benefits far outweigh that pain, as far as gain in productivity.
I was reading this to find out about muscle pain side effects but mine are nothing like anything reported here. I think I'm just super active and aging. LOL.
Take care, I wish you all well.

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I have been on NuVigil for sleep apnea, mild depression and possible mild ADD for 7 mos now. My joint pain about a month ago starting slowly getting worse...first 1 knee then hands, and worse is between my back and neck areas. I'm having some muscle weakness. I stopped the pill for 24-48 hours and the pain/soreness was 85% better. After 2 days I took the pill again. The joint pain came back within 6 hours. I will have to stop the NuVigil, though this combined with Wellbutrin was working very well for me emotionally and energy-wise. Has anyone had this experience and had success with ProVigil instead?

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I meant to add that I have had horrible joint pain in the past from Bactrim, a sulfa drug. NuVigil & ProVigil both have 'sul' in the chemical name tho "experts" say these drugs are not sulfonamides & people with sulfa allergies can take them. However, it feels like I'm having a reaction (just much less severe) to a sulfa drug when I take NuVigil now. With Bactrim it took 7 days. With NuVigil it took 7 mos for me to react. So I suspect the chemical makeup is similar to sulfa so I have to stop it. I will try ProVigil if my doctor approves but it's got the same chemical formula for the most part so I don't know if that will help or not. Has anyone else with a sulfa sensitivity had a problem with NuVigil or ProVigil?

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This is my second comment about Nuvigil my first experience was positive at first then not so great latter on, my doctor put me on adderal, don't take this junk you have to go get a new prescription every month and it is not worth the aggravation, I read about Provigil and found out that Provigil is a preferred drug and Nuvigil is not from my insurance company and Provigil cost have as much, my doctor prescribe me 200mg of provigil only because I asked for it by name, I have to say that I really like this Provigil it is hard to imagine that it is the same as nuvigil but contains a second active ingredent that Nuvigil doesn't, nuvigil supposedly uses only one ingredient instead of two and made it stronger (in Greedy ent) Greedy is the key word here, Nuvigil and other drug companies are playing games with the drugs we use and using Doctors to promote them, so it pays to educate yourself about how drugs get on the preferred or UN preferred list, they use another word than UN preferred so it doesn't sound bad the real term is formulary and non-formulary I asked the pharmacist and it doesn't simply mean generic or non generic. I smell a rat with the drug companies the doctors and the people who push and designate formulary and non-formulary drugs. Also all a drug company has to do is change the ingredients (if possible) to avoid a patent expiration and a generic product war, but anyways I wanted to say take I like Provigil instead, you have to take it two times a day for it to last but for my money it works for me.

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I have been taking Nuvigil for 2 days now. I feel so bad on it I am considering calling the dr. I have horrible headaches, I am so nauseous that my stomach is in knots, I cant concentrate, and I cant seem to focus on stuff. My mind is everywhere and I am taking this for narcolepsy so I dont have anything like ADD. I feel so out of it. I got the tingling of hands the first day but not today but I feel so anxious and I do not have anxiety. I dont know if this is worth it. This drug is just masking my tiredness so I still feel like poop. So all it has done so far is make me feel worse than I have ever felt on any drug before and I am still tired. GGGGRRRR. Was hoping this would work.

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My husband was on Nuvigil for over a year, felt fine, sometimes a tightening of chest and erratic blood pressure after a year. He was stopped cold turkey, became depressed, suicidal,had to seek psychiatric help. 10 months later he has Parkinsons!!! Believe he was on Nuvigil too long, not enough trial studies by mfg, caused depression AND Parkinsons. Was really healthy 11 months ago!!! Dangerous drug! Watch how long you take it! Wean off it, not a rapid stop.

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Just used it today for the first time and I will say I felt great as well I am getting cottonmouth but could be because I had chest pains and coughing 2 days ago b4 i took this.Imma try to sleep now see how that goes I only plan on taking the 30 days and hopefully only couple of weeks b4 I see whats wrong with my thyroid maybe my matabulism will speed up sorry about the spelling LOL

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I've given up on it! I tried for a few months and it just got worse. Jittery, anxious, sleeplessness, palpitations of the heart!

Just not worth it.

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I am on day 4 of Nuvigil 250mg in the morning. The first day was good, still tired, but such an improvement. Second day was great. 3rd & 4th days I feel horrible. Tiredness is masked, sleepy but can't sleep, waking up at 4am & can barely keep my eyes open. Mid headache and neck/base of skull pain (like my head is heavy). No appetite, but no nausea either. Also muscle weakness... walking 10 feet feels like I just did 100 squats! Definitely have the weird tongue click thing, but that's a common side effect when your messing with CNS meds. I am very disappointed with results, and it's a weekend, so I an't even reach my doctor. I took it again though, because I am also to that point of desperation. I am a mom of 5 kids aged 6-15, and can't even fix a meal or do a pony tail.

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Mary -

I am having the same pains, did they ever go away?

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