What is your experience with Strattera and Provigil/modafinil?

I just started Alertec (modafinil) and Clomipramine today. So far, it's done nothing but make me nauseous and give me a headache. I also used to take Concerta (for ADHD before my narcolepsy diagnosis, though looking back, it just seemed like I had ADHD because I was too sleepy to focus on anything). Anyway, that helped with sleepyness to some extent, but didn't work that well. It also gave me bad anxiety, much worse than usual.

Ryan- Be patient with the Alertec...it takes some time for your body to adjust. Once it does you should have fantastic results, most people do. Lots of PWN are diagnosed as ADHD when they are young, glad to hear they found the real problem.

Provigil (modafinil) did nothing for me. I had good success with amphetamines -- I've been on dextroamphetamine and Adderall. I had to recently quit taking them because of blood pressure and heart rate issues, and I have to confess that I actually feel better without them. Sure I'm sleepy all the time, but I'm not constantly battling an awake-crash cycle.

I LOVE straterra but it stops working for me after about 3 to 6 months. I took a summer break (I'm a teacher so that worked out well) and started again this school year and it's not working again. I am up to 80mg a day..the highest dose that's approved.
Does anyone else have experience with this problem? Does anyone have a miracle med. they suggest. Modafinil does nothing for me after a week or two. Ritalin had some "anxiety" side effects and I haven't tried xyreme

I'm on ritalin 60 mg/day and lexapro. Also, I do lyrica in the evening to help regulate my sleep cycles. I feel better but i have to take the lyrica about 7 or I feel groggy in the morning.

This issue with what works and what doesn't work is dependent on so many things. I had been taking provigil and was taken off in November after it was messing with my estrogen levels. It was not figured out right away but it was talking to my ob/gyn and my sleep dr that it was finally figured out. I tried Ritalin and it was great until I had to raise up my dose and I was very sad and moody. Lexapro was added to help with that side effect and to help my cataplexy. Even with what was discussed in my last visit with the sleep dr, I still know that adjustments may still needed.

I wish that this process was more straight forward but it is definitely trial and error and lots of communication with your Sleep Dr and sometimes other physicians as well.

Good luck in your endeavor in finding out what works for you. I had short term success with vitamin B12 shots but I don't know if I felt good with them because they actually helped with my energy or if I convinced myself that they worked but maybe something to think about for alternative medicine.

I'm on 80mg of Strattera a day,started on 20mg then he changed it a few weeks ago,it definitely helps me focus and be more active,but when I'm not trying to focus my mind still runs riot,also ain't really done much for the impulses,He also gave me mitrazipine,if that's the correct spelling,lol,Id say stick with it for a few months,see how it goes.

I have ADHD and am proscribed Ritalin for it. Tried Strattera but did not prefer it. I speak openly to my doctor about nootropics and have explained to him I prefer combining oxiracetam, green tea and ritalin together. He didn't bat an eye at this and is happy to see me discovering solutions to my problems and success in my life. These doctors have spent a long time in difficult classes to get to where they are. They're smart, able and empathic people who want you to succeed assuming you are being healthy about your interests.

modafinil is working for me, and it has been 4 months, but it is still the first mediation prescribed for me, previously i have had some energy from herbal tincture mixed to specification after a consultation, but nothing like the daytime clarity and lack of monsters that provigil provid

I have been on Provigil for several months... and because I was having wicked crashes when it wore off and my thoughts were scattered.... I was having difficulty concentrating.. that and I could still lay down and sleep at any time without difficulty my doctor has recently added dextroamphetamine and Adderall. I take a small dose of dextroamphetamine when I wake up and then provigil when i eat breakfast... then the Adderall. then around lunch its time for my second does of provigil followed by an afternoon dose of Adderall. works pretty good so far but I may have him switch me to all of the dextroamphetamine because I can control the dose easier... and take less. the Adderall its basically time released dextroamphetamine... and I think I can take less meds

My doc says its not an exact science. and that they have to play with my meds to find the right combination that works for me.

I took Provigil for 2 months before I lost my health insurance and it worked great for those two months. Reading through these forums, though, it is clear that people get widely varied results with all of the available meds. You just have to try different things out and if something doesn't work, then try something different.

I actually feel okay about not being bale to afford the Provigil since I found this site because so many people talk about having problems with it after a while and then they end up taking all kinds of drugs. My N is mild enough that I am mostly functional just using the techniques I worked out for managing it all the years I spent dealing with it before I finally got diagnosed. If your N is severe, you may not have any choice but to try different drug regimens until you find something that works for you, but if your N is mild, you might be better off finding other ways of managing it.

As other people have pointed out, though, there just isn't any one "miracle" treatment, whether drugs or lifestyle changes or whatever. Find someone on here who is similar to you with a similar level of symptoms and see what works for them, then give that a try.

Provigil is working well for me.

I vary my dosage day to day however, depending on what I'm doing.
Either two in the morning and one a few hours later, if its a normal day
If I'm not doing much I skip the third one, or if I've woken up late and want to readjust my sleep pattern.
If I'm not doing much in the day, but I want to go out in the evening, I take one and a half, and then another one a little later than I would have.

My doctor said I wont sleep properly if I take my third later than 2pm, but I've found if I'm going out, I can take it as late as 5pm and still sleep at midnight.

The most important thing I've found with Provigil though, is not doing too much during the day. There sometimes gets to a point where what I'm doing is more stimulant than natural (as in, if I didnt have narcolepsy, I wouldn't have done as much that day anyway), which creates an energy debt, meaning that over time, it feels like the Provigil isn't working as well. I'm still hoping to get a chance to exercise properly at some point (currently taking finals, so I'm not bothering with thinking about that now), as I really think it would help to learn my personal natural(ish - as in, without overdosing on the provigil, but obvious not medicine free) energy quota.

I was diagnosed with moderate to severe narcolepsy in Novemeber. Provigial is what I started on and am up to 3 a day. I like Luisa vary the dosage from day to day. I have recently started taking Xyrem however I am not really seeing much of a difference. I just started at the lowest dose and have a couple weeks before I get to the full dose. I still take the Provigil during the day. I have noticed that if I stay up to late that the Provigil doesn't work as good but then I was told that it is not a stimulant but rather just to help wake the brain up. If I deprive myself of sleep out of stupidity I will still be tired just like anyone else. I have had great results with the Provigil just my body got use to it as it does with all meds it seems.