Modafinil / Armodafinil makes hormonal birth control less effective

I use Nuva Ring. Because it's transvaginal it is likely absorbed better than oral birth control (it doesn't get filtered through the liver immediately, but does later). However there is risk of decreased effectiveness with all hormonal birth control (except mirena since that is only progesterone). You have to weigh the pros and cons for yourself and decide what an acceptable amount of risk for pregnancy is for you.

That wasn't an issue for me, but the rest except for migraines is what I experienced on Nuvigil, and then I had some other side effects in place of migraines. I wouldn't have lasted two weeks. I don't say that to be discouraging, because you should definitely give it time to see if you adjust. I'm just saying that if the side effects become unbearable, it's OK to stop it sooner, and there are plenty of other options to try.

Neither worked for me...and almost got pregnant due to a condom breaking and plan b doesn't work with either as well...Tmi I know but I have twins already and it scared me really bad..it wasn't worth the risk or the terrible head aches and even body aches I had on them both..

Modafnil didn't work for me and I am still trying armodafinil. The exhaustion (which feels worse) and daily headache is really starting to wear me down.
I dont have to worry about b/c for myself as I've had a hysteroscopy, but I'm curious for my daughter for the future.

It's your body and you choose what you want to do about it. You are trying to be a responsible adult and be concerned about the possibility of getting pregnant if you take that medication. There are other meds out there that you can take. These meds agave been around a long time because they work. That is why I do not take either one of them. I would love to have kids one day but on my terms.

Modafinil didn't work for me at all. It made me spacey as hell and very dizzy. Maybe take it for a few days-a week and see if it helps because for all you know it won't even help! In those few days just don't have sex if you're very worried! Honestly if he's being that way you could always say you took it and it made you feel sick, dizzy and clouded headed. He'd have to let you try something new if you're experiencing unpleasant side effects.

Condoms are a pain in the ass if you're in a committed relationship.
I took Tramadol for my fibro once. It helped but it upset my stomach and took my dreams. I'm a lucid dreamer. One of the few "perks" of my 8 disabling conditions. So I stopped taking it.
If sex is important to you, ask for another med. If he won't give it, change docs.
We have so little joy with this disorder and meds take months to adjust. Take the joy, there are other meds.

If you do not want kids yet I would use the condom. I used to use Walmart as my pharmacy and they never told me or marked the bottle that armodafinil made Birth Control ineffective and didn't find out until I switched to Walgreens and I am sure that is how I had two kids in 18months. Don't get me wrong love my girls to pieces but I was also married and 30 when I got pregnant so I was ready to have them just not so close together. I wouldn't trade it for the world! Just know yes I got pregnant while on armodafinil and birth control.

That I'm poor thing is a copout. There's free condoms at any planned parenthood and most health departments. You can also get other contraceptives like depo, pills, the little "Y" shaped thing the doc put in you which are all also free if you have county assistance, and if you are as poor as you say then you are on assistance. I understand you nay not gave know about any of this but that I'm poor crap is just an excuse...

Modafinil makes any hormonal birth control ineffective. All of those options you listed will not work while she is on modafinil, except for the "Y" shaped thing which is called an IUD. I went to planned parenthood for mine and on their sliding scale payment assistance program I paid $750 to get it put in. It is also extremely painful to have placed and causes complications for many women. I love mine and am glad I have it, but it's not a good option for many women. There are plenty of other meds her doc could prescribe her to stay awake, but only this one fairly invasive option for a birth control that is a big commitment if she's going to take what her doc prescribed. To me that is ridiculous and if she wants to stay on the pill she should simply be prescribed something else to stay awake.

My DD was under the impression that only copper IUD would provide adequate protection against pregnancy since nuvigil/provigil interfered with all hormonal BC. Her gyne said that copper IUD would not be a good choice for her given her heavy painful periods (even with BC pills, which were intended to control her periods and do not do a terrific job with that). However dr did some research, even talking to drs at the pharmaceutical company, and discovered that Mirena IUD would be ok, even though its hormonal. Im forgetting the scientific explanation at the moment and don't have my notes, but I *think* it had to do with the fact that the progesterone thats in the IUD is there to make bleeding less severe, not to prevent pregnancy (the physical IUD does that). It made sense at the time :) Also my DD had heard that Plan B doesn't work when you are taking nuvigil/provigil but the gyne said it does -- you just need to double the dose. Hope thats helpful!

I'm awful at looking up what medicine interacts with what. I've had the Implanon implant while taking Provigil, Nuvigil, Ritalin, and Adderall throughout the years. Never had any adverse effects from it. No period either. That's just my personal experience. I've heard others have had bad effects from the implant. :-/ Hope you find what you need.

Armodafinil doesn't interact with BC, but rather it makes BC less effective. It has something to do with increasing an enzyme (I think) that interferes with the absorption of the hormones in the BC.

I've only been on it a month or so, and my period was definitely heavier, but not by a lot. Before I started taking armoafinil, my neurologist and I spoke about it, and he gave me the impression that the reduced efficacy has been overstated in an attempt for Nuvigil to "cover their tail."

I guess I have been lucky. Since being diagnosed in 2007 I've taken Provigil, Nuvigil and now modfinil with no negative side effects on my birth control.
I don't use any back up protection (I'm married).

I was on bc with modafinil and armodafinil and never got pregnant, my dr didn't seemed concerned about taking the 2 together, but i did take modafinil and armodafinil in the am and birth control in the pm.

I'm on Provigil, which also decreases the effectiveness of birth control. But, it works best for my N, so that's the consequence I have to face. Just tell this female she will have to use another form of BC to prevent pregnancy.

In our family the heavy, painful periods are from von willebrand and delta storage pool deficiency disorder (blood clotting problems) hormonal birth control helps. Been worried about treatment for N long term. Thanks for this conversation! I'm using Mirena and Adderall (which is barely keeping me functional) for now.

I have implonon in the arm; it gives the hormone progesterone instead of estrogen. It's in my arm & it lasts for 3yrs! I can't remember to take pills at the same time, ever!! Plus I had really bad ovarian cysts & this BC kept them from coming back surprisingly. My periods used to be so hella heavy and painful too, and they're not now!!

I think the answers and responses, including my own suggestion of Mirena, aren't hitting the target mark here. If she's only looking for lighter periods from her birth control, I think the likelihood of Armodafinil affecting her birth control to such an extent as to remove that benefit is very low, especially if she takes her armodafinil in the morning and her birth control in the evening. It potentially makes it less effective; it doesn't negate it's effects all together. If she's not sexually active and pregnancy prevention is really not an issue, staying with the pill is an option. That being said, I am a former sex educator and I'd be remiss not to mention that you should be very sure that she is not sexually active (there is no way you can be 100% sure). Even as she ages and is more likely to be sexually active, she will likely be discouraged from changing to an effective method of birth control as that will be a telltale sign to her parents/guardians that she is sexually active. At this point, I would recommend Mirena or another hormonal IUD. The plastic device in the uterus provides significant birth control benefits alone, but is compounded by the hormonal component, which will also help with her periods. Even though the hormones alone may be decreased in efficacy to an extent that they are not suitable for pregnancy prevention, I am quite confident that the combination of the plastic and the hormones is still an effective method of birth control. I would recommend asking her gynecologist, but I have enough confidence in Mirena that I use it as my only form of birth control and I have 0 concerns about getting pregnant. It takes away my period altogether and lasts 5-7 years.

I'm on Nurvigil and at first it threw my period all out of wack. So I went to the dr and my Dr. told me basically any hormonal form of birth control would be affected because they all process through the liver. So he upped the strength of my birth control pill hoping it would be harder for the nurvigil to counteract it and said to use condoms for sex but after about 3 months my periods were back to normal. He said it's not completely not working but it would not be as affective because the other medicine does affect it so to use condoms if I have sex as a precaution.

A copper IUD is non hormonal, therefore it can't be affected by modafinil or armodafinil. So if you're really worried the copper IUD is the best bet. Now I have the mirena and take nuvigil, my ob/gyn wasn't too concerned because the mirena also works in other ways than just hormones. The hormone is released into the uterus, hardly any reaches the blood stream therefore bypassing your liver where the issue of modafinil and Oral contraception a occur. Also it's T shaped so it blocks the path of sperm to your eggs and thickens mucous and all that good stuff.