[Jennyanydots]

My meds make me really drowsy and I find myself drinking coffee from the time I wake up to 11 AM and then switch to diet cherry pepsi or coke. So basically I drink caffeine all f*cking day to stay awake. I just went to drugs.com and listed all the meds I take and printed out all the interactions. It basically says that all drugs and drug interactions cause drowsiness and difficulty concentrating which I do also have difficulty with sometimes (I have hard time focusing on watching tv or a movie but that is besides the point). Ugh.

What are some tips and tricks you guys do to help combat the sluggishness and drowsiness during the day?

Note: I sleep 8 to 9 hours a night avg.

[bpcyclist]

Yeah, you are definitely on some sedating stuff. I have found both Adderall and Provigil (modafinil) to work great, though, both can have side effefcts. I guess Vyvanse works, too, but have not tried that one. Some people here like Nuvigil or Ritalin. Nuvigil makes me go to sleep and Ritalin makes me crazy.

[Standup2me]

It sounds silly but I asked my pharmacist for a private consultation and asked her which meds create drowsiness and could they be taken together
She came up with a med mix which lets me take the sleepy ones at night. It has worked for me for years now.

[Jennyanydots]

I never thought about Pdocs prescribing other drugs to counteract the drowsiness - i always think they feel like "deal with it". It just doesn't seem right to me that anyone should feel like they are ready to go back to bed as soon as they get up in the morning - I'm like "I'm ready for bed!" I never really feel awake or alert (unless I'm hypomanic)

current medication:
Lamitcal - 400 mg - take in the morning (maybe I can switch this to night - I'll ask my Pdoc)
Latuda - 60 mg - taking around 5 pm when I would eat dinner - trying to push out dinner to 7 or so so i can take later at night. Went back on intermittent fasting so changed my eating time frames.
Klonopin - 0.5 mg - take as needed for panic attacks. yes, they do make me drowsy.
Trazodone 100 mg (as needed at bedtime) - rarely take

[Travelinglady]

I drink Cokes ans try to find interesting things to do,,

[fern46]

I forced myself to get more active. Moving my body helped. I turned on bright lights. I also let myself nap for an hour or so after lunch. I usually felt better afterward.

I also worked with my pdoc to move my meds to taking them at night. Maybe you could split the dose between morning and night if it would be too much to take everything at once.

Time also helped. The more my body got used to everything, the easier it was to stay awake.

[Jennyanydots]

@fern46 - that's a good idea about splitting up the meds - I do take high dosages.