Provigil & Pregnancy/nursing (Top voted first)

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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I took provigil throughout my pregnancy, 50-100 mg. daily (I usually take 200-400 daily). I also took 20 mg of Lexapro and 150 mg of Welbutrin. (these are low dosages for me). It was an excruciating decision - but I could not function without it. I discussed all of this with my OB and the physician prescribing the medicine. My son was born perfectly healthy. He is three years old now - very social physically active and empathetic. His only health issues have been a few colds, allergies - no ear infections, no developmental delays. He is very active and has high anxiety in very specific situations (elevators, public restrooms), that I cannot find an explanation for. I am constantly monitoring his development worried that it may have had an effect.

I quit taking provigil when I went on maternity leave about a week before the birth. My blood pressure was high (normally low). I had to keep taking the antidepressants, but remained at the low dosages. I breast fed for about 6 weeks and then went back on the provigil and started pumping first thing in the morning, before I took any medication, then again in the evening. Did that for another 6 weeks. Just wanted to put some more information out there in case it might help someone else.

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I should probably declare I'm a doctor with narcolepsy. I had to take my modafinil occasionally during pregnancy because otherwise I would fall asleep in front of patients. My neurologist told me there was insufficient evidence to say that it was harmful but equally there was no proof it is safe.

I did a literature search because I felt very guilty about taking it but even in the one study that showed harm (birth defects in rats) they needed quite a high dose to cause problems. There were no problems in rats given less than the dose equivalent to 200mg therefore I stuck to taking just one 100mg tablet, which didn't always keep me awake but worked most of the time.

My baby is now 2 months old and doesn't seem to have any problems.

My professor also said the same lack of evidence was also the case with breastfeeding so it was probably ok to take them when I needed them. Yesterday was the first time I have had one. My baby slept just as much as normal so I don't think it affected her.

If you're worrying about coping without your tablets during pregnancy I actually found (from 2nd trimester onwards) that I felt much less sleepy than normal and it was pretty unusual for me to feel like I even needed a tablet. Still the case now. My prof said he has seen this in several pregnant women who all think they're cured but the symptoms do eventually come back!

To the lady feeling guilty for taking it before getting a positive test you really shouldn't worry - your baby hadn't been connected to your bloodstream until you got the positive test so I can't see how your baby would have been exposed to it at all.

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Hi. I am currently breastfeeding and taking 400 mg of Provigil. I haven't noticed any difference in my babies sleep habits, or alertness. So far it doesn't seem to of had any effect on her. I've been nursing for almost 4 months. No changes to my milk production either. So far so good , I'm happy because I don't know how I would function with my meds.

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I was off provigil while I was pregnant. I also had a short cervix, but basically had to be off of work my entire pregnancy secondary to short cervix and being off provigil. I am now back at work and breastfeeding, but my milk production is low only about 1 ounce with each feeding, so my baby mainly gets formula. I am back on provigil. I discussed it with my neurologist and their best advise was to try it and observe the baby's behavior. But his best guess was that it might make baby more alert. I did not notice any significant difference in my baby's behavior when I fed him the pumped breast milk after a dose of provigil. Since there was no significant difference and I think the risk is less than the benefit of my baby getting antibodies from my breastmilk and the bonding also, I have continued doing it. My baby is now 4 months old and is doing well. He is reaching his milestones and is in the 75%ile in weight and 90%ile in height and 50%ile in head circumference. He is a very happy baby and smart!

(And I'm not just patting my own back. But have you ever seen a baby allow you to suction him after realizing that it helped him? He had a cold the other day and had a stuffy nose. He fought the suction bulb the first time, but he had relief from it afterwards. So, thereafter, he would actually sit still when he saw the suction bulb and he was having difficulty breathing. I know that's not a real sign of intelligence, but rather more of a conditioning response, but still a smart response, because most babies would not do this.)

Anyway, I am only doing it, because he doesn't get much breast milk from me, so whatever metabolite he gets from the provigil it is hopefully negligible. It would be nice to hear from other people though.

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I took provigil through out my whole pregnancy with my daughter. When she was born she was perfect and healthy. However she did suffer from many things such has kidney infections, RSV, ear infections.. but those were do to exposure to things. My daughter can not be in water with soap in it for long periods of time. I will say this she is now 8yrs old. She is pretty healthy, very smart, caring compassionate. However there are problems such as high anxiety, sensory issues, and she gets irritable easily. I am not sure if any of it is related to the medicine but it would be nice to see if anyone else has had issues with their kids too.

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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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I wouldn't be at all convinced the vomiting was due to the modafinil unless you tried on a second occasion and it happened again (that I would do while close to a hospital though, just in case).

Babies are prone to vomiting bugs (rotavirus particularly) that often do not cause any symptoms at all in the adults and older children they are around.

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My daughter is now two. I did not breastfeed because I worried about the provigil excreting in the breastmilk. However, I did take provigil (200mg once a day) and xyrem throughout my pregnancy. After talking with my neurologist, primary doctor, and OB/GYN, I learned that medications are more likely to be in breastmilk than penetrate/absorb into the placenta. She was born on the due date at 6lbs 11oz. That's a lower than average birth weight, but I was a small baby and so was my husband so we weren't worried about her. She's healthy and smart. Shenalreadynspeaks in full sentences. Her only health problem was constipation, but the doc thinks that was because of the formula.

We're thinking about having another baby. I'm considering breastfeeding because of the constipation issues my daughter has had, and I think that will help me form a better connection with the baby. I struggled with postpartum depression last pregnancy. I hear that breastfeeding can help, but ultimately it depends on how healthy it will be for my child.

I libe near Duke University/hospital. I wonder how much it would cost to have them test my breastmilk for provigil.

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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 have a 16 month old son. I lasted as long as I could without medication, and then I started Nuvigil about 3 weeks ago. I stopped nursing him in the afternoon and only nursed him at night and in the morning (before taking the medicine). I did not discuss this with my doctor. He started vomiting uncontrollably for hours yesterday and his lips turned blue. No one else was sick. We took him to the ER and they thought is was a allergic reaction. I had to nurse him last night (no alternative, and he was sick) but as of today, I am using donated breast milk until he is weaned or I stop taking Nuvigil for at least 3 days. I am a complete breastfeeding proponent, but I do not think it is worth breastfeeding on this medication. Again, we are not sure what caused his severe vomiting, but out of caution, choose either breastfeeding or Nuvigil, based on my experience. Good Luck.

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Lilipie,

You are welcome. I found nothing about it, so I decided to try it. I know that most medications are okay while breastfeeding. I usually don't tell my doctors, though because most doctors automatically say no breastfeeding on any meds. I checked out what Dr. Hale said about Nuvgil, and it was probably not safe. (I called his hotline.). I didn't see any difference in my son right away. But it takes 3 days to get out of our system completely, so it probably built up in his system. There was nothing different in my son's diet the day he was vomiting. And it was severe intense, constant vomiting and then heaving vomiting for 6 hours straight, with blue lips for hours. Scary. Glad I could help you make a decision. This was what I was looking for when trying to make my decision. Good luck.

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My baby is sleeping more lately! I've stated back on Provigil. This is great? I am monitoring everything and of course worry that his finally being a good sleeper is some paradoxical sign if provigil exposure. My hubby wants me off it to nurse, but Provigil has reversed my total lack of energy which really helps my depression so much. So I thought I'd try it. So far so good at day 3 on 200mg/day.

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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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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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Re: tasiasmail (# 57)

My baby turned out just fine and I took modafinil 200mg 1-2 a day. I also took Xyrem. She’s now 5 and perfectly healthy. I’m pregnant again (21wks) and I’m taking modafinil 200mg 2x a day and Xyrem at night. The baby is growing just fine. I hope this helps.

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This is the best chat room so far. Thanks for all the detailed insight. Like the gentleman's previous post, I too want to know what natural or less risky alternative one can take during pregnancy. My doctors filled me in (the same info I gleaned online, class c, birth defects in rats and rabbits but with much higher dose than humans etc..), and to play safe I kept off Modafinil for a week. But I'm entering week 7 and the double whammy of sleepiness tied in with the nausea is unbearable. I also have work deadlines piling up, but without the meds they'll be impossible to meet. I simply can't stay awake when I try to focus. So I've opted to take half of my prescribed daily dose when needed. So that's 100mg Intermittently until I finish my work assignment (approx 2 weeks). Not ideal, I know... That's why I'm desperate to know what natural and safe alternatives I can take. Anyone?!?

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There's no evidence or reason that I can think of that you should avoid it while trying to get pregnant. There's no connection between you and the baby until around the day you get a positive pregnancy test. After that point you might want to avoid it or reduce your dose (but that is your choice too).

Don't forget to take folic acid every day if you're trying to conceive (and the first 12 weeks of pregnancy at least) as there is plenty of evidence for that! Vitamin D is probably a good idea too.

Good luck!

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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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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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