Your Health

Can’t Stay Awake During Your Night Shifts? Shift Work Disorder May Be The Cause

Posted: 12/21/2011

(NAPSI)—According to the U.S. Department of Labor, over 15 million Americans work odd hours or nontraditional shifts and are “at risk” for shift work disorder. The condition occurs when the body’s internal sleep-wake clock is not in sync with the individual’s work schedule, which causes people to struggle to stay awake during their waking hours or have trouble sleeping during their sleeping hours.

While some people may not consider their work schedule “shift work,” alternative work schedules can be found in many industries across the country and may require either permanent or occasional shift work.

Studies have shown that up to 45 percent of shift workers report symptoms of excessive sleepiness and/or insomnia, the primary symptoms of shift work disorder. While not all shift workers will develop shift work disorder, approximately 10 to 25 percent of those who work nontraditional hours will.

Only a change in work schedule can completely resolve shift work disorder, but there are some things one can do to try to cope with excessive sleepiness due to shift work disorder:

• Planned napping before or during the night shift to improve alertness and performance

• Timed light exposure in the work environment to decrease sleepiness during night shift work

• Wake-promoting agents to improve wakefulness during the shift.

Studies have shown that up to 45 percent of shift workers report symptoms of excessive sleepiness and/or insomnia.

One of these wake-promoting agents is NUVIGIL® (armodafinil) Tablets [C-IV], which is an FDA-approved prescription medicine used to improve wakefulness in adults who experience excessive sleepiness due to shift work disorder.

If you are having difficulty staying awake during your night shift, it’s important to talk to your physician and make sure they are aware that you work shifts. It will help your doctor determine if you could have shift work disorder and if NUVIGIL could be right for you.

For more information, ask your doctor, call (800) 896-5855 and visit www.NUVIGIL.com.

Shift workers help keep our society moving 24 hours a day. And they work in many different industries. Here are just a few examples of professions that work nontraditional schedules and are at risk for shift work disorder:

• Health care professionals—such as emergency room physicians, evening and night shift nurses and overnight pharmacists

• Protective services—such as firefighters, dispatchers and night security guards

• Production and manufacturing—such as steel, textile and other factory workers who keep machines running throughout the night

• Professional and business services—IT support staff and other people with corporate jobs who may work very early morning hours or late into the night

• Leisure, entertainment and hospitality—such as bartenders, servers, chefs, casino dealers, performers, radio DJs, concierges and doormen who are prone to working “odd hours”

• Wholesale and retail trade—such as warehouse workers, department store and other retail store workers who often work outside of the traditional workday.

Note to Editors: Important Safety Information: What is NUVIGIL? NUVIGIL® (armodafinil) Tablets [C-IV] is a prescription medicine used to improve wakefulness in adults who experience excessive sleepiness due to one of the following diagnosed sleep disorders: obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), shift work disorder (SWD) or narcolepsy.

In patients with OSA, NUVIGIL is used along with other medical treatments for this sleep disorder. NUVIGIL is not a replacement for your current OSA treatment, and it is important that you continue to use this treatment as prescribed by your doctor.

NUVIGIL may help the sleepiness caused by these conditions, but it may not stop all your sleepiness and does not take the place of sleep.

NUVIGIL is a federally controlled substance (C-IV), so use NUVIGIL only as directed and keep in a safe place to prevent misuse and abuse. It is against the law to sell or give NUVIGIL to another person.

What important information should I know about NUVIGIL?

NUVIGIL may cause serious side effects including a serious rash or a serious allergic reaction that may affect parts of your body such as your liver or blood cells, and may result in hospitalization and be life threatening. If you develop a skin rash, hives, sores in your mouth, blisters, swelling, peeling or yellowing of the skin or eyes, trouble swallowing or breathing, dark urine, or fever, stop taking NUVIGIL and call your doctor right away or get emergency help.

NUVIGIL is not approved for children for any condition. It is not known if NUVIGIL is safe or if it works in children under the age of 17.

You should not take NUVIGIL if you have had a rash or allergic reaction to NUVIGIL or PROVIGIL® (modafinil) Tablets [C-IV], or are allergic to any of the following ingredients: modafinil, armodafinil, croscarmellose sodium, lactose monohydrate, magnesium stearate, microcrystalline cellulose, povidone, or pregelatinized starch.

What are possible side effects of NUVIGIL?

Stop taking NUVIGIL and call your doctor or get emergency help if you get any of the following serious side effects:

• Mental (psychiatric) symptoms, including depression, feeling anxious, sensing things that are not really there, extreme increase in activity (mania), thoughts of suicide, aggression or other mental problems;

• Symptoms of a heart problem, including chest pain, abnormal heartbeat and trouble breathing.

Common side effects of NUVIGIL are headache, nausea, dizziness and trouble sleeping. These are not all the side effects of NUVIGIL.

Tell your doctor if you get any side effect that bothers you or that does not go away. Talk to your doctor for medical advice about side effects.

What should I avoid while taking NUVIGIL?

Do not drive a car or do other dangerous activities until you and your doctor know how NUVIGIL affects you.

Avoid drinking alcohol.

What should I tell my doctor before starting NUVIGIL?

Tell your doctor about all your health conditions including if you have a history of mental health problems (including psychosis), heart problems or have had a heart attack, high blood pressure, liver or kidney problems, a history of drug or alcohol abuse or addiction, or are pregnant, planning to become pregnant, or are breast-feeding.

Tell your doctor about all the medicines you take. Women who use hormonal birth control may have a higher chance of getting pregnant while taking and for one month after stopping NUVIGIL. Talk to your doctor about other birth control methods while taking NUVIGIL.

You are encouraged to report side effects of prescription drugs to the FDA. Visit www.fda.gov/medwatch, call (800) FDA-1088 or fax at (800) FDA-0178.

For more information, ask your doctor, call (800) 896-5855 or visit www.NUVIGIL.com.

This information does not take the place of talking with your doctor for medical advice about your condition or treatment.

Please read the Medication Guide for Patients in the full Prescribing Information for NUVIGIL.

NUVIGIL Mat release

This piece should be printed with the safety information.

Department of Labor, Bureau of Labor Statistics. Workers on flexible and shift schedules. Bureau of Labor Statistics website. http://www.bls.gov/news.release/pdf/flex.pdf. Accessed August 18, 2011.

Shift Work. American Academy of Sleep Medicine website. http://yoursleep.aasmnet.org/disorder.aspx?id=12. Accessed August 18, 2011.

Please note: This article was written by Cephalon, Inc., makers of NUVIGILÆ

2011 Cephalon, Inc. October 2011 NUV-2949

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