CPAP plus modafinil?

[Romaine]

Hello fellow apnea folk,

I started cpap back in May, but still wake up every 2 hours, and feel pretty much the same level of tiredness as pre-cpap, but with a bit more grumpy thrown in.
So, I was given another sleep test, and much to my surprise, everything was clinically hunky dory-my O2 levels were good, very little leakage and minimal number of events, unlike pre-cpap.

So-as a result of this, my consultant has decided to put me on modafinil.

My reaction-darn, there goes my bid for the olympic 2012 tiddlywinks team, coz it's deemed a performance enhancing drug.

My husbands reaction-fab, I'll give you a paintbrush, sit back and drink beer and watch you paint the entire house in a couple of hours!!

But seriously-has anyone out there had this? Has it worked? Was it good/bad/indifferent?

[James @ Intus]

Did the consultant have any idea on why you could be waking up and did the sleep study show you actually do wake up regularly? I wonder what may be the cause and why they would be prescribing this now. Are you perhaps taking any other meds which may disturb sleep?

[jonpspencer2]

CPAP plus Modafinil

Hi, yes, I too am on the same regeme and have been for some time, now in excess of a year.

For me, the Modafinil works but sometimes if Im going through a bad patch, I can still sleep through the Modafinil despite having taken the Max dose of 2 200mg tabs! I have found that I have to be very careful when I take the Modafinil and to have breaks off it as well. Having a self imposed break seems to result in the drug working much better when its needed.
The earlier I take the modafinil the better it works for me. Sometimes I have to take the 2 tablets together first thing in the morning. Other days, I take a single Modafinil at say 0730hrs and then the next tablet around 1100 or 1200hrs. I NEVER take these tablets any later than 1230hrs or it will disrupt my sleep, or I will not sleep at all during the night!!(Not nice)

During a recent stop in Hospital, they went through my drugs with me, I explained everything to the Doctor only to find out that he had prescribed one Modafinil at 0730hr drug round and the next Tablet at 2200hrs!!!!!!! So be warned, DONT TRUST ANYONE with your own tablet regeme!! Or do so at your own peril.

Send me a PM if you need any further help or advice. Good luck and best wishes, Jon...

[Romaine]

Hi James

The consultant seemed to think it was a combination of me having woken every couple of hours for years, and taking time to get used to cpap, so prescribed modafinil to combat the tiredness I feel during the day.

The sleep study showed me waking up, as on each occasion I got up, so turned off the machine, but also on rising had a sharp rise in heart rate. So when I say I wake up, we're not talking briefly-we're talking wide awakey land and generally not being able to get back to sleep for at least 15 minutes afterwards. I personally think I've developed a degree of insomnia due to the apnoea.

The only other drugs I'm on are asthma inhalers, which don't affect sleep at all, so it's not that.

So who knows? Just another mystery in the 'why I can't sleep' saga!!!!

Romaine

[mymindisblank]

I am on CPAP and Modafinil.
At present I am on 1 x 200mg Modafinil per day but that has been increased today to the 2 x 200mg dose.

The Dr didn't say when to take the second one (its just dawned on me!)

I assumed that you would take them both together?

Would it matter?
Is there a preference?

[jonpspencer2]

modafinyl

Hi, having checked in the Doctors BNF book of drugs the correct method is to take both tablets at the same time first thing in the morning. Or, take one first thing and then another somewhere between 10am to 12pm.

The benifits of taking them at two different times is that the effects are spread longer through the whole day. I found its best to experiment and find out what works for you. I would not recommend taking them after 12pm as you may have difficulty in sleeping. If you do have sleeping problems, you may have to take them both first thing in the morning or even reduce your dose back to one tablet.

Incidently, after 2yrs of taking Modafinyl I started to get terrible sweating, and I mean terrible, I had to change my clothes 2 or 3 times a day! Since stopping them the sweating has stopped. Other than that I had no problems with Modafinyl and my reaction is very unusual. Good Luck and if you need any further help just drop me a line.
Best wishes and have a Happy Christmas and a Healthy New Year.
Jon.

[mymindisblank]

Hi

Thanks for the advice. Its very helpful.
I'll probably start taking both together and see what happens. I thought I would wait until the weekend before taking the increased dose. The reason being, when I 1st started on the 1 x 200mg the Dr said I may feel light headed for a day or so and it maybe a good idea to wait until a weekend (or when I don't need to venture out much) before starting.

I guessed a similar thing may occur when the dose is increased. Its only a day or two so I thought better safe than sorry.

Once I am on the higher dose I'll see how I go and then maybe stagger the two so I get the "spread out" effectiveness (that sounds appealing as I usually start to "hit the skids" mid afternoon )

I'm just keeping my fingers crossed that the increase helps.

As to sweating - I seem to sweat alot anyways for some reason (to do with skin type apparently!)

Cheers once again and have a great Christmas