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Nuvigil Sucks

Virtuoso

Bluelighter
Joined
May 10, 2007
Messages
917
I currently work nights, and have started taking Nuvigil to help cope with the transitioning from being awake during the day to being awake at night. In short - this stuff sucks dick. It makes you feel a little bit high, similar to a low dose of amphetamines, but the shit lasts 15-24 hours.

Has anybody that has taken this (or Provigil), and found a way to come down quicker? After a while, you just feel exhausted and dead inside, but cannot sleep. Instead of the constant ampy, powerful feeling you get on amphetamines, you end up more tired than you have ever been with no way to get to sleep.

I have tried Ambien and Lunesta - they do not make me sleep. They just make me feel more tired, which is miserable.

So, BL community - tips, tricks?
 
I use doxylamine to sleep while taking provigil. I haven't had much trouble sleeping while taking it. Start out with a 25mg doxylamine dosage and work up from there. I think 100mg/night is the max, but you really dont want to take that much. 50mg puts me OUT
 
Have you tried simply taking less?

Also, you said you are taking it to help with the transistion - not permenantly. Why not just stop taking it.
 
I wasn't aware Nuvigil had been released. The primary difference between Provigil and Nuvigil, as I recall, is that Nuvigil has a longer half-life. So if you find yourself having difficulty sleeping, it might be better going with Provigil, at a lower dosage.

The medication is not designed to get you high. It's simply meant to help you stay awake. That's it. Nor is it a replacement for actual sleep.

As far as getting to sleep, it actually shouldn't interfere too much with your ability to fall asleep. The difference is that you'll feel slightly more awake as you get in bed; but once in bed, you should be able to close your eyes and go back to sleep.

If you've JUST switched to a night shift, then your body may simply still be adjusting. Give it a little time.
 
^ Good plan with switching to Modafinil. I was thinking that maybe Melatonin would be useful. It's a more "natural" way of gaining "natural" sleep.
But if it's not enough then yea, go with the the Doxylamine.
 
Have you tried simply taking less?

Also, you said you are taking it to help with the transistion - not permenantly. Why not just stop taking it.

By transition, I mean each week. For example, I am night shift Saturday and Sunday, day shift the rest of the week. Transitioning from night to day or vice versa regularly is killer.

Nuvigil is supposedly half of the racemic mixture that is Provigil, similar to amphetamine vs. dextroamphetamine.
 
I'm not sure how to pass out with provigil or nuvigil, but I wanted to just put a warning out there as to what does NOT work.

Under no circumstances should you attempt to drink til you pass out while on Provigil. During one of my couple of experiences with provigil, I attempted to have a few (3-4) shots of vodka in order to make myself tired. I didn't feel sleepy after these shots, just slightly drunk, so I had two more shots. After about 15 minutes, I got horrible spins, unlike anything that I've experienced before or afterwards with alcohol. I also got incredibly nauseous, and since I'd eaten about an hour before I drank the vodka, that combined with the spins was an equation that balanced out with profuse and violent emesis in which I barely made it to the toilet in time.

This was about 12 hours after I'd taken the provigil, so even if its been a while since you've taken provigil/nuvigil, I'd really strongly caution against any alcohol in order to come down and sleep. I don't know how benzos might work to come down, they might be a little more efficacious.
 
I just got my Nuvigil filled today, 178.00 for 15.

I took it early and am crashing before midnight. I take
seroquel so sleep should not be a problem. I feel
beat anyway, tired as hell. I think Nuvigil is great
Makes me feel high all day.
 
Nuvigil is just the enantiomer (mirror image molecule) of Provigil, marketed because Cephalon lost the patent on Provigil, ergo killing profits. Paying more for Nuvigil is pointless if your money is tight. There isn't anything necessarily 'better' about Nuvigil.

Taking generic Provigil does nothing for me during the day, however taking it at night makes 48+ hour insomnia-fests easy. The half-life of both is 12-15 hours, so take the drug several hours before you actually want the effects.
 
I had the opportunity to procure some provigil but did not do so. I've wanted to try something like it because there are times where I want to be more alert since I'm on Suboxone and Klonopin. But to the OP, have you tried benzos? That's the closest I get to "natural sleep" than any antihistamine or z-drug or even melatonin does. Personally, I don't want to have to take a pill to get up and then one to get down. It sets up an awful cycle.
 
i drugs.com'd it, but what exactly is provigil? it's given for excess sleepiness? i assume it's not amphetamine but related?
 
Ive been on Provigil daily for years and recently got a sample pack of Nuvigil. According to the doctor Nuvigil is a more refined version of Provigil with a longer duration. Personally I like Nuvigil more than Provigil being that I pop one at 7:00am and dont come down fully until around 11:00pm%)
 
I had the opportunity to procure some provigil but did not do so. I've wanted to try something like it because there are times where I want to be more alert since I'm on Suboxone and Klonopin. But to the OP, have you tried benzos? That's the closest I get to "natural sleep" than any antihistamine or z-drug or even melatonin does. Personally, I don't want to have to take a pill to get up and then one to get down. It sets up an awful cycle.

If you do get around to trying it, keep in mind that there is a marked potentiation of benzos with provigil; I believe its due to provigil being a partial inhibitor of one of the CYP enzymes responsible for the metabolism of benzos.

@pink cloud> its benzhydrilsulfinylacetamide, not even close to amphetamine.
 
egor, what do you mean by market potentiation of benzos with provigil. I am newly sober from a bad addiction to opiates and benzos. I'm off of everything including alcohol. However my psychiatrist put me on nuvigil bc i just can't stay awake all day. Ive never felt high off of it but my jaws will feel the way they used to when i was on coke.
 
^When I combine clonazepam and provigil, the clonazepam feels about 50% stronger per dose and lasts longer as well. Its actually a pretty good combo.
 
Nuvigil is Armodafinil. Here's from wikipedia: "Armodafinil is the active (−)-(R)-enantiomer of the racemic drug modafinil (Provigil)."

So if I'm right 100mg Armodafinil = 200mg Modafinil.

How much are you taking? I found that at first 100mg Modafinil is sufficient to stay awake all day. Don't let the docs talk you into taking higher doses, there's no benefit and you will only develop tolerance earlier. These are new, expensive, patented drugs, so sometimes the docs get kickbacks from big pharm is they prescribe a lot.
 
Are you guys really feeling any kind of "high" from nuvigil? I've been taking it for a couple months, really just to take in between days i take amphetamines to try and still have energy and be productive. I honestly can't say I feel anything near "high" let alone anything i get from amphetamines (adderall, 30mg). If anything, it MIGHT give me semi-similar effects in the morning, a couple hours after i take it, but it might be in my head and if DEFINITELY doesn't last long at all. I'm dissapointed, because i read here in america modafinil (pretty much same thing) is a banned substance in sports. I've been trying to take the adderall everyday now, pretty much because my Doc swears a "tolerance" won't occur. I don't believe her but at least i'm having constant energy and feel good. I just really don't want to build a huge tolerance
 
You sure feel "high" compared to how you would feel on a bad day without taking it. To test, choose a morning after a bad night. You feel drowsy, unwilling to do anything. Take Modafinil (or equivalent) and lo! Twenty minutes later you're alive and kicking. That's not bad at all.

Of course, it's not a rec drug, but who said it was? We need non-rec pharms as well, you know. Imagine what it would be like if antibiotics were only recreational. Most of us would've died of some infection by now.
 
No i know it's not supposed to give u a high. But a couple people earlier said they kind of felt one. I don't at all. It's weird, when i take it some days i can feel it, but even then it's not much. And then other days it's like i didn't take anything at all. And trust me I'm not a rec-drug user. I mean i take the nuvigil and amphetamines simply to function better. Being exhausted all the time isn't fun.
 
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I would rather search for a new job - rather than rely on pharmacuticals to get you through it.

Been there. Done that. Hated every minute of it.
 
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