Modafinil

Modafinil (Provigil) is a wakefulness-promoting agent

Narcolepsy is a condition that causes excessive daytime sleepiness and a tendency to fall asleep suddenly in inappropriate situations (sleep attacks) regardless of the amount of nocturnal sleep obtained.

Modafinil may help treat your narcolepsy and reduce the likelihood that you will have sleep attacks. It has also been used in the past to treat shift work sleep disorder, and sleep apnoea

Although the exact mode of action is unknown, it is thought modafinil works by inhibiting uptake of a neurotransmitter called dopamine but other mechanisms are also thought to play a role.

Modafinil is sold throughout the world under various brand names including Alertec, Modavigil, and Provigil as well as being available generically (as modafinil).

Symptoms

Less than one-third of people who have narcolepsy have all four symptoms.

• Extreme Daytime Sleepiness. All people who have narcolepsy have extreme daytime sleepiness. ...

• Cataplexy. This condition causes loss of muscle tone while you're awake. ...

• Hallucinations. ...

• Sleep Paralysis. ...

What triggers narcolepsy?

Many cases of narcolepsy are thought to be caused by a lack of the brain chemical hypocretin (also known as orexin), which regulates sleep. This deficiency is thought to result from the immune system mistakenly attacking parts of the brain that produce hypocretin.