MS and fatigue - Multiple Sclerosis Message Board

purple2067 · 02-14-2004, 11:04 PM

I was diagnosed with MS in October of 2003. But we think I may have had it for much longer than that. This was just the first time I had an MRI of the brain. Anyway, for years I have been saying that I'm tired all the time. But lately (for the last year or so) I've been having crippling fatigue. I wake up in the morning after a full 8-10 hours of sleep and have absolutely no energy. I feel like I could sleep for another 12 hours. Sometimes I literally cannot get out of bed. On the weekends I'll sleep until 2 or 3pm, regularly. A flight of stairs sometimes seems insurmountable to me because climbing stairs makes me so tired. My MS specialist did not want to start me on any medicine for fatigue right away. First he wanted to get me on interferon. I'm on Avonex now. For the first 24 hours after I take it, I am even more tired than usual.

I also always have a lot of muscle fatigue. By the end of the workday I can barely move, and my shoulders and legs feel like they have 2-ton weights on them. I don't know how I drive to work without falling asleep behind the wheel. Once at work I am kept awake by the kids (I'm a teacher.) But I struggle to make it through the day. I come home and take a 2 hour nap in the afternoon.

At my last visit I had been on the Avonex for 6 weeks, so my doctor decided it would now be OK to give me something for the fatigue. (he didn't want to start two medicines at once.) He put me on something called Provigil. Right now I am only taking 100mg. He told me to start slowly. I've been on the 100mg for about 10 days, so now I will move to 200mg tomorrow.

My question is, has anybody ever taken Provigil or something else for fatigue? What do you think works best? How long should it take to work?

Angel of Mercy · 02-22-2004, 12:09 AM

I was on 200mg of Provigil a day for fatigue and it did absolutely nothing.
I took 100 mg immediately upon waking in the morning then the other 100 mg was taken at noon. I took it for 1 month and refused to refill it at $400 when it did not even touch the fatigue. The doctor never gave me anything else.

Jewel2 · 02-22-2004, 07:20 AM

Hi Angel,
My daughter took provigil and it didn't really help so she stopped. Unfortunately, now she relies on caffeine!

I hope you find something to help.

Julie

purple2067 · 02-22-2004, 03:48 PM

Thanks for the responses. My doctor and his nurse seemed almost positive that the Provigil would help me. When I was on the 100mg it did absolutely nothing. I have bumped it up to 200mg (under the instructions of my doctor) and it does seem to be helping a tiny bit. I don't find myself to be as exhausted. But we'll see what happens when I go back to school/work tomorrow. (I increased it on monday, and I'm a teacher and had this week off from both my Master's classes and work due to President's Week.)

I do have some questions about Provigil that maybe someone here can answer. Is it the type of medicine that takes a little while to build up in your system, or is it the type of medicine that is supposed to work immediately? Also, is 200mg the highest dosage you can safely take? And did anybody have more vivid dreams and/or interrupted sleep while taking it? I seem to be having both more frequently lately.

Thanks for the help,
Elyse