Provigil and Nuvigil
Posted: Mon Oct 19, 2009 8:31 amI've tried Provigil a couple years ago as an add-on to my antidepressant (one of the ssri's, I think). It's an interesting drug and the Cephalon Corp. has been making a bundle of money on it. Everything in this world seems to be profit motivated; I wonder why? My doc has given me prescription for it instead of samples and I'm waiting for approval (below).
Provigil is like an amphetamine but without the nasty qualities of them. The half life of the drug is around 15 hours and has not been shown to contribute to or bring about mania in bipolar folks like us. People use it to stay awake and be more aware. Soldiers take it on long tours of duty to be alert, and one of the documented reasons for taking it is work-shift fatigue and narcolepsy (like falling asleep at the wheel and the like).
Because it has the potential to be abused, it is a controlled substance that the FDA requires a prescription for, of course. I've been prescribed the beginning dose of it and am waiting for my insurance to approve it. The druggist told me that Provigil is about $330 for a month's supply of 30 pills. If you do the math, the cost per pill is about $10 each.
Because the patent on Provigil ran through 2006, several companies have applied for the privilege of manufacturing it generically. Cephalon is doing its best to get in the way of that, and has released a new product called Nuvigil. Apparently it is the same as Provigil but has a tweaking of an "isomer" is all (whatever that means). It's a little like Celexa and Lexipro, I think.
Last is the good news. It is available through Canadian pharmacies (and they are regulated by the Canadian powers that be) from generic manufacturing firms they are affiliated with. Like with many medications, the cost is considerably less than ours in the States. The 200mg is not that much more expensive than the 100mg generics (modanfili, it's called) and one may be able to break the tablet in half so save money.
It does require a prescription in Canada as it does here. As more research has shown it proves to be an effective antidepressant add-on, more psychiatrists (pdocs) are prescribing it and will more in the future. Jerod Poole of Crazymeds http://www.crazymeds.us has an interesting take on it (as he does on most other psychotropic medications, by the way).
Provigil is like an amphetamine but without the nasty qualities of them. The half life of the drug is around 15 hours and has not been shown to contribute to or bring about mania in bipolar folks like us. People use it to stay awake and be more aware. Soldiers take it on long tours of duty to be alert, and one of the documented reasons for taking it is work-shift fatigue and narcolepsy (like falling asleep at the wheel and the like).
Because it has the potential to be abused, it is a controlled substance that the FDA requires a prescription for, of course. I've been prescribed the beginning dose of it and am waiting for my insurance to approve it. The druggist told me that Provigil is about $330 for a month's supply of 30 pills. If you do the math, the cost per pill is about $10 each.
Because the patent on Provigil ran through 2006, several companies have applied for the privilege of manufacturing it generically. Cephalon is doing its best to get in the way of that, and has released a new product called Nuvigil. Apparently it is the same as Provigil but has a tweaking of an "isomer" is all (whatever that means). It's a little like Celexa and Lexipro, I think.
Last is the good news. It is available through Canadian pharmacies (and they are regulated by the Canadian powers that be) from generic manufacturing firms they are affiliated with. Like with many medications, the cost is considerably less than ours in the States. The 200mg is not that much more expensive than the 100mg generics (modanfili, it's called) and one may be able to break the tablet in half so save money.
It does require a prescription in Canada as it does here. As more research has shown it proves to be an effective antidepressant add-on, more psychiatrists (pdocs) are prescribing it and will more in the future. Jerod Poole of Crazymeds http://www.crazymeds.us has an interesting take on it (as he does on most other psychotropic medications, by the way).