Provigil & Pregnancy/nursing (Page 2)

I'm wondering if anyone else out there took this drug during pregnancy or breastfeeding and what their experience was.

I know anecdotal evidence is not scientific proof of anything, but studying pregnant women is not ethical. I noticed they just started a provigil pregnancy registry to track women who choose to stay on it while pregnant but I'm guessing it will be some time until we hear any results from that.

I chose to stay on it during my pregnancy because I had to work and drive safely. I lowered my dose to the lowest amount I can function on. My son was born completely healthy, very social, happy, no health issues. However, in order to breastfeed, I was switched to ritalin since there is more information available about it and breastfeeding. I hate it... it barely works (I don't want to keep increasing the doses and have addiction issues). It worked ok for a month or so, now it does almost nothing for me. I really miss my provigil but am not sure about the risks of taking it while breastfeeding, and unlike during my pregnancy, there is an alternative drug I can take.

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My daughter was taking the highest dose aloud of Provigal for four months not knowing she was pregnant. My grandson was born with jaundice, had difficulties with attaching to nurse - choked lots, hated the indoors (January birth) and cried until he was taken outdoors, waved his arms around constantly until one-ish, spoke early and continually-nonstop talker to this day, tubes in the ears because all medicines would not get rid of the infections, extremely high pain thresh hold, very smart- but seems to have learning difficulties now, has to be touching things or people which is annoying, sensitive to noises and smells and light, some anxieties, horrible behavior issues and listening to authority, so,so sweet yet thrives on getting into trouble for attention, wants attention always, seems to not be able to calm himself down or gets overstimulated easily. Possible ADHD. He is now four and is attending the school district preschool program for help. He has been kicked out of many centers and the school has had him for 1 1/2 years and says he needs to be assessed. I just read about sensory integration/sensory processing and he fits many of the categories. I listed many of the things he does wondering if you have experienced any of these behaviors. We are suffering with what to do.

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I am also caring for a baby who was exposed to Nuvigil in utero, and through breastfeeding. He was always very sleepy. is there anyone who felt their child was excessively sleepy with Nuvigil or Provigil?

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I take 300-400mg of Modafinil a day and was advised by my specialist, and an obstetrician to remain on my medication throughout my pregnancy as the risks were so low compared to the difficulties of being off my medication, and not being able to drive and function. (My GP actually recommended increasing my dose later in my pregnancy to compensate for increased blood/body mass.) I had fairly normal pregnancies and now have two very happy healthy boys. I struggled with breastfeeding my first baby as I was worried the medication was coming through my breastmilk and making him irritable and restless. I now think his restlessness was more to do with his personality and my anxieties of being a new mum. I breastfeed my second with no problems and he always settled easily after a feed.

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Do you know what dose Nuvigil caused birth defects in rats? Since Provigil required a high dose I am curious if Nuvigil also required a higher dose. Thank you!

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Has anyone breastfed a 4 month old taking nuvigil 150 mg a day? I'd like to keep nursing, but I'm completely exhausted.

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I took both Xyrem (sodium oxybate) and Nuvigil during the entire pregnancy. I have a healthy boy, whose birth, stats, and development are so far on-target (he's only 6 weeks today). I have remained on Xyrem (well...sometimes I can't take it because he's not sleeping for long periods yet and someone has to stay "alert" to take care of him) but have not taken Nuvigil yet.
I started taking Xyrem because it has such a short half-life, is already naturally produced in the body (in much smaller amounts) and frankly I don't sleep (!) without it. I have.a PhD in Cognitive Neural Science and did my best to find peer-reviewed research...its just so scant. And when I go back to work, Nuvigil will be a necessity. I am debating starting it now to see how things go, hence searching and finding this board.
THANK YOU for posting your experiences here. This is not my research area, but sometimes I'm quite tempted to take it up due to the lack of information. This is the next-best thing to data-- personal experience!

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I took 200mg Provigil every other day while breastfeeding our first child. I breastfed him just over 2 years. He is healthy, continues to be at the top of the growth charts for height and weight, and has meet or is advanced in all cognitive, gross motor, and fine motor milestones.

I am currently breastfeeding our second child while taking 200mg daily. He is almost 5 months. He is happy, social, and meeting/exceeding all milestones. We do suspect an intolerance to dairy and soy and I've recently cut both from my diet. I do not think his GI intolerance has anything to do with Provigil. Has anyone else had experience with GI intolerance and/or slow-ish weight gain?

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I stopped taking both Xyrem and Nuvigil for two weeks post-birth...I was a zombie. So I started on the Xyrem at 2 wk pp, then the Nuvigil at 1 mo pp. All has been well!
My son, now 7 mo, is a happy, healthy baby! He meets all milestones on time or early. His only health "issue" is acid reflux, for which he takes prescription Zantac.

Direct nursing took about an hour each time, and was getting longer, so after working with an LC and our Ped, we decided the best solution for us was to pump. So now I am what you'd call an Exclusive Pumper (EP). It works well with the Xyrem, because I do not pump/feed him at night (we do a bottle of formula for bedtime, which is when he takes his Zantac, in the bottle).
If it were just the Nuvigil, I'd pump without hesitation any time. However, because of the Xyrem, I pump at least 5 h after my last nighttime dose, and my last pump of the day is right before I go to bed, before I take the 1st dose of Xyrem.
Hope this helps!

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UPDATE:

My son is still doing well at 7 mo! He's a happy, energetic, baby who sleeps soundly through the night (I know...I'm SO thrilled!).

I tried to abstain from Xyrem and Nuvigil post-birth but I simply needed them to function safely for him. We did have some issues with direct nursing, as my son took longer and longer to nurse. I worked with an LC and our Ped, finally deciding to exclusively pump (when they thought he was allergic, I had to pump and store, so it just seemed to work out that way). He does have acid reflux- for which he takes Zantac twice a day. Otherwise, perfect!! My last pump of the day is right before bed (before taking Xyrem) and my first pump is at least 5 h after my 2nd dose in the morning.

I have a thought, and while I know a bit about chemistry, it's not my area of expertise, but I THINK that if there were any Xyrem left in my milk, sitting in the fridge, it should release as the broken down elements of carbon dioxide and monoxide...which is why GHB-laced drinks are hard to detect unless they (and blood samples) are deep-freeze stored until testing is complete. It's a thought, and I don't know if it matters, but it's one extra "spacer" between my medication and my son...we did buy GHB testing strips once and I didn't get a positive result in the milk...but also nothing in my urine, either...so they may not be sensitive or specific for the chimeric nuances between Xyrem and GHB.

As a refresher: I did take Xyrem and Nuvigil throughout my pregnancy, and started Xyrem within two weeks post partum, and Nuvigil again at 1 mo.

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Hi-
I took Xyrem and Nuvigil throughout pregnancy, resumed Xyrem 2 wk pp, and Nuvigil 1 mo pp.
My son has acid reflux, for which he takes prescription Zantac. It works, and we just make sure to hold him upright for 30 min after each feeding, there is also a wedge under his mattress in order to keep him slightly (no more than 30% incline) upright for nighttime/silent reflux episodes, which are rare.

Details, if you want them:
At 2 mo, H was increasingly fussy during burp sessions and directly after meals. He arched his back, screamed like he was starving. Ped suspected milk intolerance and I abstained from dairy/soy. It got worse, as in he was screaming terribly, so we put him on Infamil's Nutramigen, their "fancy" formula (breaks protein chains down super-small). I pumped and froze milk during that time.
It didn't seem to help for two weeks of formula. So the Ped changed to suspected acid reflux. Now, all babies have it, because the esophagus is not fully formed, but some experience the burn and such to a worse degree, which triggers spit-up and severe "thirst" to quench the burn (hence the "starving" scream right after meals).
We started Zantac and within a week things were MUCH better. We also started putting him at a slight incline (we used the Snugapuppy Rock N' Play) to go to sleep.
THERE IS A TEST FOR DAIRY INTOLERANCE!!
During the next visit, our Ped said he wasn't convinced it wasn't also dairy intolerance, so he ordered a hemocult test (bring in a soiled diaper, they look for torn blood vessels in the feces, a sign of intestinal distress from intolerance inflammation). It was negative...and my immediate thought was, Oh good! Wait...WHAT-?! There is a simple, non-invasive test to determine if it's intolerance-?! Why on EARTH Peds don't opt for this first before making already-exhausted new moms change their diets is beyond me. With our next kiddo, I'll just ask for this test if there is any sign of distress!

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Have you discussed Xyrem with your doctor?
It's a night-time drug, and it knocks you out (so if you have a partner, and the baby happens to wake while you are on it, you'd need them to take care of baby). I know, you are already sleepy, right? I was so scared when my MD said they were going to put me on it, because Ritalin/Provigil was not a sustainable regiment.

And they were SO right! I slept, woke up, and the birds were singing, I was AWAKE! So here's what they know- it's basically GHB, which is a date-rape drug, and is scary...until you realize that you make it in your own body (endogenous drug) just not in large quantities. And it regulates sleep. It is known that narcoleptics don't get enough Slow Wave Sleep (SWS, the deep, slow brain waves) and we spend too much time in REM sleep (kinetic, busy waves, looks a lot like when the brain is awake). This drug's mechanism of action is not officially known, but suspected to put ppl in deep, SWS, which allows us to make the hormones at night that we don't get the chance to make.

SO, the way I look at it is that instead of downing coffee and Ritalin and just trying to push through my day with gritted teeth, I make the right hormones, wake up well-rested and able to function so much better than on those drugs.

HOWEVER, as with many others, my narcolepsy has increased over the years. Last year, I started taking Nuvigil during the day to aid my increasingly-tired self. There are studies out there that show the two drugs together (I think they did the study with Provigil, not Nuvigil) have a synergistic effect and work better than one or the other alone.

Just a thought- I wish someone had told me about this before I moved and ended up with new MDs who knew about the drug. If interested, your MD has to register with the pharmacy's prescribing group, which is not a big deal, per my recent MD (after I moved again... Had to get a new MD). It's called the Xyrem Success Program. I don't know if you know drug terms, but it's an Orphan Drug, meaning the Govt helped support drug development and it's used only for a small portion of people. It is EXPENSIVE, but almost everyone qualifies for a reduced price. I pay $25, used to pay $10. Your insurance company won't like it (expensive!) but the program actually contacts them and handles all of that for you. They work out an acceptable cost, etc. If interested, I suggest you contact the program first, then talk with your MD- you'll give them a link/phone number and the rest is taken care of for you.
GOOD LUCK

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CSSW - thank you for the details, my appreciated. Navigating infant medical stuff is very overwhelming. Did your baby's reflux give him unusual diapers? Or were his stools still normal looking?

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Nothing normal about baby stool, lol!
He did have muconium for several days, not just one or two. Then it was surprisingly orange, but the Ped said its because of breast milk.
Now that he's on solids, it can have different colors depending on the day's purees. But no, nothing out of the ordinary, other than that it was always changing!

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Hi. Wondering how your pregnancy went and how your child is doing? I am hoping you still see these posts

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Hi all. Just got an email from medschat asking for an update. My son was born 11/2015. I was on Xyrem and Nuvigil. He's 15 months now, and still PERFECT! Only issues were Reflux (very common in babies, he's outgrown it) and he got his first ear infections (double!) and it's looking like he' need tubes- we'll see later this week. Otherwise, bright, happy (others remark on his ready-smile) smart, social, and an excellent sleeper! He attends a private daycare/school where he keeps pace with his peers (and was bumped up a class bc a teacher was leaving and he was the "most ready" of his age group). He's the BEST! And we are trying for a sibling now!!

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Thank you so much for the update!! I am pregnant now and have taken the provigil/modafinil 2 times a week since finding out and plan to continue it throughout pregnancy since I couldn't do my job without it!! Glad to hear about your son!!!

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I was taking baclofen at night and modafinil during the entire pregnancy with first child. Actually suspect the modafinil caused a failure of birth control and I spotted for a few months so didn't find out I was pregnant until after the first trimester. I tried to stop taking it but was so tired as I had to work full-time up until the birth that I couldn't function without it. Having looked at the scant research available I decided it had a lower risk profile than a lot of medications that women do take during pregnancy (and some lifestyle issues like diabetes and obesity). Pregnancy was fine, birth over in 2 hours, he scored highest marks on apgar for alertness, responsiveness etc. Slept fine, no issues with breastfeeding. He is now 18 months old and appears to be a bright, well-adjusted and good natured very normal toddler. I have to say that I couldn't have coped with the night waking etc without going back on modafinil.. I was taking it a few times a week from about 5 weeks postpartum. I am now pregnant again and finding the nausea and fatigue far worse than the previous pregnancy so I'm taking probably double the dose I was then. I'm a little concerned and beating myself up about it but day-to-day I just don't feel I have a choice. I'd be a zombie and not able to take care of the toddler, work etc.

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My son has high anxiety about specific situations, sensory processing/integration disorder and is extremely smart. I went off of provigil after I found out I was pregnant 8-9 weeks, and only breastfed for 11 weeks before going back on provigil.

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My son has been diagnosed with sensory processing (sensory integration) disorder and anxiety (spec situations). I stopped taking provigil (400mg/day) and Ritalin when I found out I was pregnant, did not breastfeed after I went back on it.

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Hi how , I have the same concerns as u did. How did ur pregnancy go? Baby healthy? I hope all is well.

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