WCIF Modafinil in Taiwan?

Provigil, Modalert etc…

I used to use it for working night shifts but can’t find any since moving to TW

I’m in the Taipei area.

Have you tried walking into a doctor’s office and asking? I get Ambien (opposite of Modafinil hehe) just by asking a doctor down the street. I have friends that get other controlled medications just by asking a doctor.

There are a few hospitals with sleep clinics and the doctors there would recognize a need or desire as a treatment for excessive daytime sleepiness or other needs.

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This is a sleep clinic. They will prescribe you it pretty easily.

You get it just by asking? Is the pharmacist named House?

So trying to get narcotics is easy, yet getting a poppy-seed bagel is criminal?

What is this place?

Taiwan :wink:

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anything besides opiates is easy. You have to be literally dying to get any kind of opiates, not joking. You can get major surgery and still be given acetaminophen the next day.

Is Yang Da Wei a foreigner? It’s a funny-sounding name. Just curious - I’ve never seen any foreign doctors here.

No he’s Taiwanese

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I’m surprised that this is the case for Modafinil.

I have been to a small clinic and a hospital, armed with printed study results and symptoms that make the idea reasonable, yet both told me first that it’s not available, then when I persisted that without a diagnosis of narcolepsy, a doctor would have to get permission from NIH first to prescribe it. They basically said only the NTNU sleep clinic prescribes this.

Ritalin, on the other hand, was no problem at all.

Can you go to any of their 4 branches?

I’ve been prescribed Modafinil here in Taiwan, and I can tell you it wasn’t easy.

The challenge is the medication is both more tightly controlled and therefore only carried by a small number of hospitals and pharmacies.

Specifically, I’ve been told NHI will only cover the medication if it’s prescribed for narcolepsy, and that they are extremely strict about those diagnostic indicators.

So I went to NTUH to get a sleep study, but the earliest appointment was in 6 months. I found an earlier appointment at Taipei Medical University Hospital, and started seeing a doctor there.

The problem was my symptoms during my sleep study were just ever so slightly too mild to meet NHI’s diagnostic criteria. Even though I met the criteria for idiopathic hypersomnia in my home country, that’s not a condition for which Modafinil can be prescribed under NHI.

I was able to get Modafinil anyway because 1) I was willing to pay the full price out of pocket and 2) I was willing to get another sleep study done in 6 months, in hopes of getting results that would meet the NHI criteria.

6 months later, I got effectively the same results. Fortunately, at that point, I had enough of a relationship with the doctor that he was willing to continue prescribing anyway.

So now I see that doctor when I need a refill, and just pay out of pocket. It’s cheaper here than it would be at home, but we’re still talking over NT$5,000/month…

Sorry I can’t be the bearer of better news, but at least there is a way!

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Do you know if 楊大緯 speaks English? Bc the receptionist sent me away to see the other physician instead, and she had never heard of Modafinil and said they don’t have it at their clinic.

He isn’t fluent no, but I find it passable unless and he knows medical terms and drugs in English like all doctors here. But I mostly speak Chinese to him so.

Went to a ENT doctor at a hospital about sleep apnea. Asked about Modafinal to help improve quality of life that is caused by sleep apnea resulting in sleepiness and lack of brain activity during the day.

He did not know the medication. After research he said he cannot prescribe it and the psychiatric department can prescribe it.

Obviously there are varied situations depending on the size and type of hospital or clinic.

I wonder if they speak perhaps a little bit of English?

The doctor understands it. I’m sure he can probably communicate with you. I find psychologist usually have a good understanding of English. The most up to date info is in English.

From their website it looks like they are primarily a Psychiatric clinic. And one of their areas is sleep disorders.

Is there a way to get prescribed Modafinil via a private doctor? NHI is a dead end.
I need this to become a more productive citizen. Money isn’t a problem.

Yes as long as they can justify it.