Everyone wish to stay awake, alert and focused during school, or work but there are certain ailments that prevent a person from being active and some of them are narcolepsy and obstructive sleep apnea. People who work in different shifts also face this problem of being not able to focus properly. This is the time in which they get help from certain medications. Picking the best wakefulness promoting drug in the market, two medications tops the list and they are Provigil and Nuvigil. We are now going to compare these two drugs and analyze in detail.
What do you need to know about provigil and Nuvigil?
The active ingredient in provigil and Nuvigil are Modafinil as well as Armodafinil respectively. There are many generic versions available for provigil as well as Nuvigil medication. Both the drugs can be got only with the help of a prescription. The dosage strengths of provigil are 150 mg or 250 mg for OSA and narcolepsy. If you wanted to take provigil to treat work shift disorder then 150 mg would be the dose and it should be taken prior to going to work.
Nuvigil pill can be taken in the morning with the dosage strength of 200 mg. The similarity between both the medications is that they are manufactured by the same company known as Cephalon. Trade name of provigil differs from country to country. In India, it is available as Modafinil, Modavigil in Australia and New Zealand, Alertec in Cambodia and Canada. Nuvigil is available in the name of Armodafinil.
When taking provigil or Nuvigil there are chances that a person would get addicted to it. These medications possess same set of side effects and the patients would more likely to be affected in the same way. When provigil or Nuvigil is taken, it enhances dopamine levels in the body. When this happens, your body would be more awake. The fact is that, the drugs do not actually increase the levels of dopamine whereas it acts as a stimulant and controls different functions of neurotransmitters.
What medication would be the right choice for a person?
Both the medication would work in the same way and also contains same list of side effects. But, there are definitely certain differences between these drugs. Provigil medication should be taken two to three times in a day as the effectiveness stays for a lesser period. In case of Nuvigil, only a single pill would be sufficient to be taken by a person. Provigil is an expensive medication but Nuvigil is very expensive compared to it. So, check for the prices before choosing it as it should not create a big hole in the wallet of yours.
Moreover, getting a physician’s advice is a must for this controlled substance. This is for your safety purpose and it is very important to follow it before commencing the treatment. As promised before this blog compared between provigil and Nuvigil as well as analyzed it in a detailed manner.