Which medication is marketed as Provigil and used to promote wakefulness in narcolepsy?

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Provigil is the brand name for modafinil, a wakefulness-promoting agent used to treat excessive daytime sleepiness in narcolepsy. Modafinil helps people stay awake by stimulating arousal-promoting brain networks, and it carries a lower risk of abuse compared with traditional stimulants because of its distinct pharmacologic profile. This makes it a preferred option specifically to promote wakefulness in narcolepsy. Other choices serve different roles—sodium oxybate (Xyrem) is used for narcolepsy symptoms including cataplexy, methylphenidate (Ritalin) is a stimulant for ADHD and sometimes narcolepsy but not branded as Provigil, and zolpidem (Ambien) is a sleep-inducing medication for insomnia, not a wake-promoting treatment for narcolepsy. Thus, the medication marketed as Provigil and used to promote wakefulness in narcolepsy is modafinil.