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The dark side of modafinil


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#1 juanjo_asdf

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Posted 08 March 2007 - 11:18 AM


- Blunts my creativity (this is dosage correlated)
- Makes me a bit of a smart ass, changes my personality
- Agressiveness (a lot of stims have this effect on my though)
- It fucks up the quality of my sleep, and I loose respect for sleep cus I know I can pop ( probably system immune good for not be must)
- Anxiety (specially in combo with other stims/noots/meds eg. deprenyl, caffeine,...)
- Big potential for adiction in certain individuals !!!!!!!!!!! We could expand on the whys and hows of this, there are a lot of threads out there that can vouch for that.


Please share... add to the list or share experiences
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#2 sentinel

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Posted 08 March 2007 - 12:59 PM

Makes me chew the hell out my lips! [8)]

Like I didn't have enough bad habits already!

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#3 juanjo_asdf

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Posted 08 March 2007 - 01:57 PM

Come to think of it... I cant stop with my teeth and gums. I catch myself doing it a lot and try to correct it.

Anotherone for the list is I get trapped "wired" into repetitive actions and on the web for hours on end.

#4 jdog

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Posted 08 March 2007 - 03:51 PM

Sounds like you need to adjust your dosage.

#5 garcia2002

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Posted 08 March 2007 - 05:02 PM

I have some ill effects if I use every day, especially anxiety, which is why its not a regular thing for me to use. I use it when I need to pull an allnighter for work or need to be especially focused for an important task late in the evening. I use it once or twice a week at most.

#6 Phreak

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Posted 08 March 2007 - 06:19 PM

juanjo, how many mg do you normally take and what are the minimum and maximum you have taken?

#7 thereverend5

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Posted 09 March 2007 - 12:24 AM

Sounds like the effects of any stimulant.

#8 jubai

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Posted 09 March 2007 - 04:03 AM

I have a normal-to-high tolerance to stimulants, and yet I have to be careful with Modafinil.

Even moderate dosages tend to make me feel too "wired", and make me go to bed too late, causing a late wake up or pop again.

People here seem to use it in the 200-600mg a day range.

I find 50-66mg in the morning, to be ideal. Combined with 1mg of Deprenyl I will feel great, but will regret it if said compounds have been consumed later than 10AM.

#9 Ghostrider

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Posted 09 March 2007 - 06:43 AM

Anotherone for the list is I get trapped "wired" into repetitive actions and on the web for hours on end.


Humm...why would it make you do this?

#10 mitkat

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Posted 09 March 2007 - 06:52 AM

Anotherone for the list is I get trapped "wired" into repetitive actions and on the web for hours on end.


Humm...why would it make you do this?


Many stimulants invoke this kind of behaviour, it's pretty much par for the course IMO.
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#11 juanjo_asdf

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Posted 12 March 2007 - 02:47 PM

I have ranged dosages anywhere from 25mg to 300mg

I dont like modafinil anywhere above 200mg really. If Im getting sleepy at those dosages I preffer adding a little ol coffee and green tea.

- Modafinil fucks up my verbal fluency and choice of words often times

- Modafinil aint a real nootropic under my perspective (my mind has greater horsepower but the car is the same, be careful taking those turns--- if that makes any sense)
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#12 zoolander

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Posted 12 March 2007 - 02:52 PM

Thanks for the heads up Juanjo asdf

#13 Guest_aidanpryde_*

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Posted 12 March 2007 - 08:03 PM

I use just 100mg of modafinil, never more and everything is fine. Never saw a good reason to take a higher dose, if there is a study showing 200mg be more effective then 100mg for the purposes we usually want it, then I would like to see some. "Wash me, without making me wet" does not often work in case of medicals. [wis]

#14 ikaros

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Posted 13 March 2007 - 02:11 PM

I've had both good and bad experiences with moda, mostly bad though.

The bad experiences:
- muscle tension (severe)
- increased anxiety
- increase in obsessive-compulsive thought patterns
- lowered creativity
- sweaty palms and forehead
- slightly increased BP and pulse (maybe the indirect cause of anxiety caused by moda)
- inflicted sleep quality (I think it shortens the time spent in deep sleep)

The good ones:
- significantly improved mental vigilance
- moodenhancement
- practical for sporadical use

Conclusion: useful, but not perfect. Especially counteradvised for anyone with predisposition for anxiety, OCD and generally having a cocky personality (you'll later regret the things you said on moda). I'm also unimpressed by its effect on creativity, but this is not only modadfinil, the amphetamines also blunt associative thinking.

#15 juanjo_asdf

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Posted 14 March 2007 - 09:41 AM

Conclusion: useful, but not perfect. Especially counteradvised for anyone with predisposition for anxiety agreed!!! , OCD and generally having a cocky personality (you'll later regret the things you said on moda amen... I regret the type of person I was and the type of things I did on modafinil. Nothing too serious but Ive come to like how I am. Modafinil fucks me up.). I'm also unimpressed by its effect on creativity, but this is not only modadfinil, the amphetamines also blunt associative thinking.



Anyone else want to share their darkside of modafinil

#16 sentinel

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Posted 14 March 2007 - 09:22 PM

For a while I was taking half a tab (100mg) AM and after lunch, as an alternative to coffee. It's selective hit made it effective without me being edgy. But like many things it can sneak in the back door as a controlable supplement to being a habit. It doesn't have the social and taste positives of coffee and it's much easier to "make" so instead of using it to give you an edge or "work straight through on a big project" or whatever you can quickly use it as an artificial prop for poor sleep or diet. "woah, bit knackered, oh I'll just pop a mod..".

Healthy? Dark? Call it what you like but keep your eyes open while you're keeping your eyes open.

Sentinel

#17 ~ prometheus ~

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Posted 16 March 2007 - 03:58 AM

- Blunts my creativity (this is dosage correlated)


this is interesting, because i feel the same way. in particular i believe it affects my verbal abilities... i get the "tip of the tongue" problem... i know exactly what word i want to say in a conversation, but i just can't think of it. sometimes it'll take me 30 secs before i can remember what it was i wanted to say, but not before fumbling around for the right word.

given the frequency of my dosing (usually alternating days) i feel it;s also carrying over into my non-using days.

#18 ironpancake

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Posted 16 March 2007 - 04:13 AM

Is the tip-of-the-tongue feeling a thing that happens with all stimulants? I've heard that caffeine reduces verbal fluency and whenever I'm on Concerta or Ritalin a similar thing seems to happen.
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#19 Phreak

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Posted 16 March 2007 - 07:48 AM

i have the opposite with modafinil. 100mg or 200mg makes me really chatty and giggly. i sometimes even say things i wish i hadn't! haven't done any work on it so far but basic tasks that require me to write stuff down; i don't have the 'tip of the tongue' thing...

#20 niteinnyc

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Posted 16 March 2007 - 08:11 AM

Is the tip-of-the-tongue feeling a thing that happens with all stimulants?  I've heard that caffeine reduces verbal fluency and whenever I'm on Concerta or Ritalin a similar thing seems to happen.



I experience the same with Adderall. I have never seen this published anywhere as a side-affect of it or any other stimulant, so I was surprised to experience it myself. This thread is the first place I have seen anyone mention this, including the ADD forums.

It is an odd feeling. My description of it as being like a very short silent stutter. The mouth seems to open to form a word mid-sentence, but that word seems to not get sent from the brain so you find yourself struggling to find it for a few seconds. General talkativeness is increased however and there is less inhibition, as the above poster mentioned. I find that my writing actually flows much more smoothly. I see this odd "loss of word" phenomenon as occuring rarely enough that the problem of it is far outweighed by the other positive affects. It would be nice to know the reason behind it.

Edited by niteinnyc, 16 March 2007 - 04:04 PM.


#21 luv2increase

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Posted 16 March 2007 - 03:05 PM

Is the tip-of-the-tongue feeling a thing that happens with all stimulants?  I've heard that caffeine reduces verbal fluency and whenever I'm on Concerta or Ritalin a similar thing seems to happen.



I experience the same with Adderall. I have never seen this published anywhere as a side-affect of it or any other stimulant, so I was surprised to experience it myself. This thread is the first place I have seen anyone mention this, including the ADD forums.

It is an odd feeling, my description of it as being like a very short silent stutter. The mouth seems to open to form a word (mid-sentence) but that word does not get sent from the brain. General talkativeness is increased however and there is less inhibition, as the above poster mentioned. I find that my writing actually flows much more smoothly. I see this odd "loss of word" phenomenon as occuring rarely enough that the problem of it is far outweighed by the other positive affects. It would be nice to know the reason behind it.


I have never tried crack cocaine, but I do know that when people do it, they seem to not be able to speak. I wonder if this is at the far end of the spectrum of prohibited verbal fluency???

#22 phernandez

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Posted 19 March 2007 - 12:51 AM

Nice to hear some people mentioning the adverse effects of Modafinil. I get the same effect juanjo_asdf and ikaros mentioned: the different personality. Whenever I was on Modafinil, around others, I would occasionally run my mouth, and unwittingly make terrible comments, as if the train of thought went faster than my consciousness of my actions. Cessation cured that quickly.

#23 almac2007

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Posted 31 March 2007 - 11:11 PM

new to this site, but have been taking modafinil for about a week. It's having many of the positive effects I had expected (enhanced mood, reduced fatigue etc) but I confess it's also having a few unwanted effects. I'm more jittery and jumpy than i've ever been and sometimes stutter when trying to speak. I also feel pretty excited (which is verging on anxiety). It's really a very surreal feeling. I'm still trying to assess whether it's pros outweigh the cons.

I have some major essays due in 7 weeks and a lot of research to do in that time (as well as writing them up!) so I really want to pull out all the stops. I'm not intending to use modafinil thereafter, or only as and when required, so could someone maybe give me some tips as to maximise my efficiency? Are there other things that I could use in addition to modafinil?

Thanks a lot everyone! Great site

#24 juanjo_asdf

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Posted 06 April 2007 - 10:57 AM

new to this site, but have been taking modafinil for about a week. It's having many of the positive effects I had expected (enhanced mood, reduced fatigue etc) but I confess it's also having a few unwanted effects. I'm more jittery and jumpy than i've ever been and sometimes stutter when trying to speak. I also feel pretty excited (which is verging on anxiety). reduce dosages  It's really a very surreal feeling. I'm still trying to assess whether it's pros outweigh the cons.

I have some major essays due in 7 weeks and a lot of research to do in that time (as well as writing them up!) so I really want to pull out all the stops. I'm not intending to use modafinil thereafter, or only as and when required, so could someone maybe give me some tips as to maximise my efficiency? Are there other things that I could use in addition to modafinil? dont bother about "maximizing effects" worry about getting things done. My go would be to reduce moadafinil dosages (I guess you are going for 200), skip days once in a while and go for some green tea.

Thanks a lot everyone! Great site




Dont become Moda's bitch!!



#25 edward

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Posted 06 April 2007 - 07:12 PM

Try a small dose first. I have found that adding theanine and ashwagandha takes the edge off of most negative side effects (which I am convinced are all related to Mods effects on the GABA system)

#26 juanjo_asdf

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Posted 09 April 2007 - 02:57 PM

Indulged with modafinil a few days in a row (100-200mg). Man I hate being modafinils bitch. It's all nice and easy till I find myself snapping at others... I feel bad.

Long term consumers of modafinil wouldnt be the type of people I would like to hang around with too much, specially heavy dutty users. Long term use of anything that takles with your brain will alter (in my opinion) your personality.
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#27 fntms

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Posted 09 April 2007 - 06:15 PM

I've noticed no pbs wrt speech, quite the contrary (makes me chatty as well). It's all in the dosage...more than 50mg and I'm nasty...With the lower dosage I get increased motivation and libido (quite noticeable) and wakefulness w/o sleep issues. It's kind of a drag the first day I'm off it, I don't feel like doing anything...that's moda's dark side for me...
I alternate with sulbutiamine (when I need stims) in order to avoid this...Sulb is also quite a strong stim but makes me more anxious (probably due to the acetylcholine effects, which also make me more articulate).

#28 saphir

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Posted 11 April 2007 - 10:07 PM

Same for me as reported here:
-Aggressiveness
-Anxiety
-Kills creativity
-Sleep problems
-I’m very verbose about the first 3 hours after taking the pill, but after that it’s giving me speech problems, fucking-up my words…
-Makes me want to pop again after few hours, it’s addictive for sure.

Modafinil does not make me smarter but is a very useful substance to use when the going gets tough. I get the best results at 50mg; more than that makes me want to kill everybody [ang] , including myself sometimes [huh]

#29 ghotli

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Posted 12 April 2007 - 01:14 AM

In my experience, modnafil makes me feel really awake. This is a good thing because of constant allgery fatigue. The bad thing about it is that if anything goes wrong, or if I get even a little paranoid I find it impossible to stop thinking about that thing. For example, I thought I overheard a coworker whispering about how our boss had gotten in a better canidate for my job and was thinking of firing me to hire that guy. I could not stop thinking about that. Even after I found out that she was talking about something completely different, I still kept thinking about it. The only thing that has derailed these thoughts are alcohol and opiates. I've decided that modifinil is not something I can take on a daily basis. It will be saved only for all nighters, and study time when I can be left alone and not worried or angered.

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#30 proteomist

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Posted 13 April 2007 - 12:53 AM

Several times a year I have to give 1-2hr talks in front of tens to thousands of people. I find a low dose of modafinil extremely useful for this purpose. Public speaking requires a sort of doubling of consciousness; you have to be coherently presenting your material while simultaneously preparing the narative you will use several seconds down the road. Modafinil makes this far easier for me.

On the other hand, I rarely use it for other purposes as it can have a rebound effect the next day for me.




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