83 replies to this topic

[oregon]

Modafinil is expensive. Why not just drink coffee? It gives me a greater boost.

[graatch]

QUOTE:This is a good thing because of constant allgery fatigue.

Well, you need to work on lessening your allergies sir.

NAC, SAM-e, shots, getting good sleep, diet (eliminate triggers, often wheat/dairy), gut health etc

QUOTE: 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.

Amphetamines are anticholinergic.

[graatch]

W/ respect to the actual topic here, not only am I uncomfortable with stimulants I'm uncomfortable with anything that mostly acts on glutamate to the exclusion of dopamine.

Want to improve glutamate functioning? For most people, a good avenue would be preventing toxic shocks to it ... that means active stress control, and controlled use of supplements (low dose taurine, GABA, inositol, maybe lithium).

See: trouble's posts on ironaddicts.

[tarbtl]

Man I gotta tell you guys - I've been on 100mg of Alertec (canadian provigil) for 4 days now and I'm not seeing much in terms of positive effects.

The only thing I notice is I'm able to stay "awake" longer. It completely kills deep sleep for the time it's in effect (6-8) hours so you can forget about taking naps. Also it makes me a tad bit nausious and makes my head feel more "swollen".

That's about it as far as effects go. I took 200mg the first day and couldn't sleep that night.

Also, I think it makes my hip joints stiffer as I'm having more pain than usual while walking. This area does flare up sometimes randomly though but it's been consistant with the modafinil usage.

On the plus side, it does make me chatter, (i think!) and I havn't experience any of the stuttering problems, in fact, quit the opposite.

I'll keep taking it and see what happens. will post more comments. So far its not worth the incredibly high price..

[jolly]

Wow - I thought I was one of the only people who didn't like modafinil.
Here's a post I made back in 2005 on my Downsides of Modafinil
It certainly had negative effects on speech. Measured objectivly, I was far less successful (as a competive speaker) when I was taking modafinil.

[chemlife]

I am relatively new at the whole Modafinil thing (200mg daily or before a shift) but it has proven very effective. Never feel drowsy, which is good for the extensive driving I do and long working hours. But like some of the other people here I've developed a bit of an attitude I'm not so sure I like. I get annoyed very easily with meaningless conversation, seems like I just want to get to the point. I have experienced a bit of the "tip of the tongue" phenomenon, but I seem to develop better ideas about things (maybe the nootropic effect). I also speak out more often (less inhibition) which is uncharacteristic for me. It has already gotten me into a bit of trouble, but I just don't care! Overall though the pros outweigh the cons, I just need to work with my new personality so that I don't change too noticably. It's nice being able to be fully productive despite being sleep deprived.

[maestro949]

I too find it extremely effective for long sprints where focus is needed. I don't seem to have any of the side affects mentioned here, even in regards to the creativity. I also notice that I"m more talkative and can explain complex concepts very effectively with even just 50mg. A glass of red wine and this ability, visualization and creativity sharpens even further. The one downside I do see is that after a few days, a day or two is needed to mentally recharge, i.e. there is no free lunch.

[whiskey]

I'm necromancing this thread, sorry for that!

I have now used modafinil 4 times, doses 50mg to 160mg. These four times were used in the period of one and half weeks.
I always took it at least after one day from last dose. After third dose I noticed some reddish rash on my cheeks. It was not bad as I have had these before, but after the fourth dose my skin started to feel warm and itchy, but as I said, it has been very mild. I discontinued the use of modafinil and the rash has not yet spread and I have not discovered any other symptoms wich would implicate serious skin conditions such as SJS.

It seems that I am having allergic reaction and increased amounts of histamine H1 have caused the skin rash and H3 some sleep difficulties (even after the use was discontinued).
I think antihistamines might work to relieve the problem.

I am wondering if these symptoms can oscillate to something more serious. Modafinil has had such a wondrous effect to me that it would be a shame if I could not use it anymore.
Can one get cured from modafinil allergy or prevent it happening with use of antihistamines?

[nito]

I'm necromancing this thread, sorry for that!

I have now used modafinil 4 times, doses 50mg to 160mg. These four times were used in the period of one and half weeks.
I always took it at least after one day from last dose. After third dose I noticed some reddish rash on my cheeks. It was not bad as I have had these before, but after the fourth dose my skin started to feel warm and itchy, but as I said, it has been very mild. I discontinued the use of modafinil and the rash has not yet spread and I have not discovered any other symptoms wich would implicate serious skin conditions such as SJS.

It seems that I am having allergic reaction and increased amounts of histamine H1 have caused the skin rash and H3 some sleep difficulties (even after the use was discontinued).
I think antihistamines might work to relieve the problem.

I am wondering if these symptoms can oscillate to something more serious. Modafinil has had such a wondrous effect to me that it would be a shame if I could not use it anymore.
Can one get cured from modafinil allergy or prevent it happening with use of antihistamines?

Send me some and i'll let you know ;P

[12 String]

Check out the Warnings and Precautions wrt "Rash" in this
Provigil drug info

WARNINGS
Serious Rash, including Stevens-Johnson Syndrome

Serious rash requiring hospitalization and discontinuation of treatment has been reported in adults and children in association with the use of modafinil.

Modafinil is not approved for use in pediatric patients for any indication.

In clinical trials of modafinil, the incidence of rash resulting in discontinuation was approximately 0.8% (13 per 1,585) in pediatric patients (age < 17 years); these rashes included 1 case of possible Stevens-Johnson Syndrome (SJS) and 1 case of apparent multi-organ hypersensitivity reaction. Several of the cases were associated with fever and other abnormalities (e.g., vomiting, leukopenia). The median time to rash that resulted in discontinuation was 13 days. No such cases were observed among 380 pediatric patients who received placebo. No serious skin rashes have been reported in adult clinical trials (0 per 4,264) of modafinil.

[Thales]

I have always had an incredibly difficult time completing tasks. I start something and then a few minutes in I feel absolutely exhausted. This is pretty much the case with every activity other than ones that involve eating, sex, or fighting, and obviously it made passing university courses very difficult.

I decided to order modafinil because from what I read I thought it might help. At first I would take maybe 50-100mg before starting homework. I ended up getting straight As that semester which was amazing for me because I've struggled with school my entire life. Eventually I started to suspect that I was actually treating undiagnosed adhd, and saw a doctor who confirmed these suspicions(to the extent its ever confirmed).

Because modafinil had worked for me in the past, I was given a prescription of 400 mg a day. So I went from using around 50 mg of modafinil a couple times a week, to using about 200 to 400 everyday and I stayed on this for about a year. I'm not sure if it did me any good. My grades definitely weren't as good as they had been at the lower dosage but still better than before. I started to work out and go for runs which is a good thing I suppose. My anxiety defiantly went way up. I believe I lost some friends because of it. Instead of being lazy and chilled out I became super peppy and energised/anxious all of the time. I suppose ultimately it was the personality changing side effects that made me stop taking the drug on a regular basis. Its not so much that I didn't like who I had become, rather I did not quite feel right about making everyone around me feel uncomfortable due to my new anxious and intense kind of personality.

Edited by Thales, 15 March 2010 - 03:39 AM.

[nito]

I have always had an incredibly difficult time completing tasks. I start something and then a few minutes in I feel absolutely exhausted. This is pretty much the case with every activity other than ones that involve eating, sex, or fighting, and obviously it made passing university courses very difficult.

I decided to order modafinil because from what I read I thought it might help. At first I would take maybe 50-100mg before starting homework. I ended up getting straight As that semester which was amazing for me because I've struggled with school my entire life. Eventually I started to suspect that I was actually treating undiagnosed adhd, and saw a doctor who confirmed these suspicions(to the extent its ever confirmed).

Because modafinil had worked for me in the past, I was given a prescription of 400 mg a day. So I went from using around 50 mg of modafinil a couple times a week, to using about 200 to 400 everyday and I stayed on this for about a year. I'm not sure if it did me any good. My grades definitely weren't as good as they had been at the lower dosage but still better than before. I started to work out and go for runs which is a good thing I suppose. My anxiety defiantly went way up. I believe I lost some friends because of it. Instead of being lazy and chilled out I became super peppy and energised/anxious all of the time. I suppose ultimately it was the personality changing side effects that made me stop taking the drug on a regular basis. Its not so much that I didn't like who I had become, rather I did not quite feel right about making everyone around me feel uncomfortable due to my new anxious and intense kind of personality.

Do you mind sending me some, or anyone who has some that i can try out. I can't centrate, i suck at focus and i always feel tired.

[Thales]

That won't happen, but before I got a prescription I had no problem getting modafinil from online pharmacies.

I have always had an incredibly difficult time completing tasks. I start something and then a few minutes in I feel absolutely exhausted. This is pretty much the case with every activity other than ones that involve eating, sex, or fighting, and obviously it made passing university courses very difficult.

I decided to order modafinil because from what I read I thought it might help. At first I would take maybe 50-100mg before starting homework. I ended up getting straight As that semester which was amazing for me because I've struggled with school my entire life. Eventually I started to suspect that I was actually treating undiagnosed adhd, and saw a doctor who confirmed these suspicions(to the extent its ever confirmed).

Because modafinil had worked for me in the past, I was given a prescription of 400 mg a day. So I went from using around 50 mg of modafinil a couple times a week, to using about 200 to 400 everyday and I stayed on this for about a year. I'm not sure if it did me any good. My grades definitely weren't as good as they had been at the lower dosage but still better than before. I started to work out and go for runs which is a good thing I suppose. My anxiety defiantly went way up. I believe I lost some friends because of it. Instead of being lazy and chilled out I became super peppy and energised/anxious all of the time. I suppose ultimately it was the personality changing side effects that made me stop taking the drug on a regular basis. Its not so much that I didn't like who I had become, rather I did not quite feel right about making everyone around me feel uncomfortable due to my new anxious and intense kind of personality.

Do you mind sending me some, or anyone who has some that i can try out. I can't centrate, i suck at focus and i always feel tired.

[whiskey]

Thales, it is sad you recieved such effects. In my case also, the modafinil did not gave any ADHD-medicine like concentration, but it definitely helped me do things by encouraging me to go on with tasks.

And to 12 String, yes, I read about that. So it seems that the age affects that? I am 18, so it could be that. Maby I could try it again in one or two years?
This pretty much sucks, as I have these exams and I'd need help to concentrate now.

[whiskey]

No one knows? It is strange how these side effects only were noticed with young patients. They may have some connection with still developing body. Anyone have any studies backing this up?

[the_colossus]

The doctor that gave you the prescription should be willing to let you try other ADD stimulants. Just keep trying different ones until you get the one that works best for you.

[Lallante]

Modafinil is a "godmode:on" drug for me, I really pity negative responders.

I cant take it often because I find it almost overpowering - 100mg I get a noticable 'come up' rush after 15-30 mins, with 200mg it feels like the initial rush of MDMA kicking in. I then am quicker, brighter, more mentally agile and able to 'spot' links between concepts, and generally understand things not only vastly faster than normal, but also very noticeably better than my peers.

I work a job that would easily rate itself in the 99.99% percentile in terms of stress, hours, intellectual taxation and general difficulty. I think that it is because I am constantly pushed to the limits of my cognition that I get such positive effects from Modafinil.

Simply put, if you take modafinil to counteract the stoner-lethargy you fall into while flipping burgers at a fast-food stall, then you probably wont get that great a result and the additional stimulation will, much like hyperactivity in children, take a negative route of expression. If you are challenging yourself on the other hand you will get nothing but positives from Modafinil.

I also take Piracetam -without- a choline source (headaches persist for a few weeks, then choline receptors up regulate and headaches stop) which raises my baseline cognition noticeably.

[whiskey]

As it turned out - I never had any skin rash. Doctor took a look at it and I just have thickened blood vessels and very thin skin. It sure does feel like a rash. I wonder why I never checked is my skin broken. So modafinil seems to increase my blood flow, and as it's a bit chilly and my skin gets dry, it gets really red and itchy. I am trying again maby this week and see if these skin reactions were caused by modafinil or dry air. My father has same problem with his face, but I have never seen it as bad as mine was. My face is still red after I discontinued medication a good while ago and it was little red even before I started. I hope everything is fine after all.
Lallante, I have had similiar results although not as intense as yours.

[Thales]

I think it depends on what kind of intellectually demanding task you're talking about. If a task requires you to completely focus in on a single idea and then spend hours and hours manipulating that idea then modafinil is ideal. However, the downside is that once your mind gloms on to something it because incredibly difficult to change your focus. This is particularly problematic if the idea you are obsessing over is ultimately not going to do what you want it do. As long as you pick the right idea though you will do amazing things with it.

Modafinil is a "godmode:on" drug for me, I really pity negative responders.

I cant take it often because I find it almost overpowering - 100mg I get a noticable 'come up' rush after 15-30 mins, with 200mg it feels like the initial rush of MDMA kicking in. I then am quicker, brighter, more mentally agile and able to 'spot' links between concepts, and generally understand things not only vastly faster than normal, but also very noticeably better than my peers.

I work a job that would easily rate itself in the 99.99% percentile in terms of stress, hours, intellectual taxation and general difficulty. I think that it is because I am constantly pushed to the limits of my cognition that I get such positive effects from Modafinil.

Simply put, if you take modafinil to counteract the stoner-lethargy you fall into while flipping burgers at a fast-food stall, then you probably wont get that great a result and the additional stimulation will, much like hyperactivity in children, take a negative route of expression. If you are challenging yourself on the other hand you will get nothing but positives from Modafinil.

I also take Piracetam -without- a choline source (headaches persist for a few weeks, then choline receptors up regulate and headaches stop) which raises my baseline cognition noticeably.

Edited by Thales, 17 March 2010 - 10:43 PM.

[Lallante]

I think it depends on what kind of intellectually demanding task you're talking about. If a task requires you to completely focus in on a single idea and then spend hours and hours manipulating that idea then modafinil is ideal. However, the downside is that once your mind gloms on to something it because incredibly difficult to change your focus. This is particularly problematic if the idea you are obsessing over is ultimately not going to do what you want it do. As long as you pick the right idea though you will do amazing things with it.

Modafinil is a "godmode:on" drug for me, I really pity negative responders.

I cant take it often because I find it almost overpowering - 100mg I get a noticable 'come up' rush after 15-30 mins, with 200mg it feels like the initial rush of MDMA kicking in. I then am quicker, brighter, more mentally agile and able to 'spot' links between concepts, and generally understand things not only vastly faster than normal, but also very noticeably better than my peers.

I work a job that would easily rate itself in the 99.99% percentile in terms of stress, hours, intellectual taxation and general difficulty. I think that it is because I am constantly pushed to the limits of my cognition that I get such positive effects from Modafinil.

Simply put, if you take modafinil to counteract the stoner-lethargy you fall into while flipping burgers at a fast-food stall, then you probably wont get that great a result and the additional stimulation will, much like hyperactivity in children, take a negative route of expression. If you are challenging yourself on the other hand you will get nothing but positives from Modafinil.

I also take Piracetam -without- a choline source (headaches persist for a few weeks, then choline receptors up regulate and headaches stop) which raises my baseline cognition noticeably.

I disagree, the job I refer to involves being able to change track completely fairly continuously and I find if anything modafinil helps.

[soulfiremage]

Sub personality Calculaeneous comes online with 200mg of this. Multi-tasking and less distracted emotionally, he also has some mild OCD behaviour after 4 hours or so. Easily distracted into deep problem solving in related but ignorable areas.

Motivation to complete and get things sorted is high-this stuff gets done too.

Emotions slightly damped however.

It's a functional drug that works fine for me-the downsides are manageable and understandable.

[badfatigue]

just wanna know if any one else had similar experience ?
was diagnosed with ankylosing spondylitis (similar to arthritis) and suffered extreme fatigue , used methamphetamine to get over the fatigue and ended up needing some rehab help. Rehab doctor gives me modafinil.Seemed to work well except for one down side - made me gamble extremely impulsively. Third day on the dafodils (modafinil) went to the pub , usually put 20 to 50 buks through the machines and walk away but on the dafodils i managed to lose myself 5 grand - end result .....stopped taking them god dammed daffodils went back to dosing myself (very carefully and with extreme discipline ) with the good old methamphetamine and am still plodding along with ankylosing spondylitis , extreme fatigue and a carefully controled methamphetamine habit. Thanks modafinil and thanks to the rehab doctors for giving me no warning whatsoever that modafinil may cause extreme impulsiveness.

[jCole]

0 side effects for me, unless I take too much.

I've been taking it regularly for over 3 years now. 50 mg is all that is needed for me... I cycle off on the weekends and take a full week off every few months or so.

Edited by jCole, 13 December 2010 - 03:16 PM.

[soulfiremage]

Bad side? Somewhat OCD nose picking-for some reason, never had such a developed habit before. That is it. The worst problem

The good side? Now I have this nicely established, for 3 months, roughly 200mg a day, I work 12-18 hours a day. Very strict, NO split dosing, take before 10am, have only moderate amount (if any) caffeine and make sure sleep is good.

I learnt to do CSS/Html work in 4 hours, made an editor in about 6 (live preview as you type, database configured menus with easy addition of html templates), memorised at reasonable pace half of movement 3-Moonlight sonata (I don't read music) and generally tackle 5 jobs at once at work.

The days of sleeping in the office/halfway to a site are 95% over unless i'm seriously short of sleep.

This drug, basically rescued a lot of my potential as in able and motivated to do a lot of stuff.

Would I give this to a loved one?

If I was certain of a)their medical risk - and that they'd seen a doctor about it first (I ain't a doc) b)I was certain it would be useful.

For me, this drug has been more than worth my time. 200mg has the same effect now that it did the end of the first week I used it.

[deekz]

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???

Modafinil absolutely destroyed my verbal fluency when I was on it. Stuttering constantly with a cloudy head, never knowing what to say next. That's exactly the reason I stopped using it... Not good for a sales job.

[mathkid]

I'm reacting very very well with Modafinil.

[tysonwil]

I feel that I have a slight loss in verbal fluency and a difficulty in conveying ideas to others. Also, when faced with a difficult problem that requires a good deal of problem solving (physics, calculus), my mind races and I quickly become frustrated at my lack of progress. It's hard for me to go "deeper or to find a root cause" of a problem which is often necessary for many of my classes. If I recall, there was another person on Erowid that experienced the same problem.

[Moddy2012]

I feel that I have a slight loss in verbal fluency and a difficulty in conveying ideas to others. Also, when faced with a difficult problem that requires a good deal of problem solving (physics, calculus), my mind races and I quickly become frustrated at my lack of progress. It's hard for me to go "deeper or to find a root cause" of a problem which is often necessary for many of my classes. If I recall, there was another person on Erowid that experienced the same problem.

Would Dexadrine or Adderall be a better drug for studying hard sciences and mathematics?

[Hideo_Kuze]

Hi,


My dark side experience. I am at the end of my third year of university in the UK and have a lot of work to do so I started using generic modafinil (modalert)
obtained through an on-line pharmacy.

I have had issues with stimulants in the past (ecstasy, amphetamines, cocaine etc) but have been clean for years. I also have depression and anxiety for which I take 40mg citalopram

I was using 200mg a day or so for about six days out of seven and it was massively increasing my concentration levels and a little anxiety was a small price to pay.

I began to build up a resistance to it so I started increasing the dose to compensate.

One day I felt the stirrings of a feeling of 'highness' (like a watered downversion of ecstasy) so I took more to try and increase the feeling which, to acertain extent worked.
I then kept taking it to further increase the feeling but after a point It wasjust keeping me on an even keel .

So I continued to take more because I liked the feeling I guess and by this time my cognitive functions were beyond rational thought and it was all I cared about.

This went on just sat in front of my computer trying to work for about 36 hours until my eyes absolutely couldn't focus anymore and I tried to sleep. This was not happening
so I decided to take some mirtazapine in an effort to 'knock myself out'. I took way in excess of the stated dosage in an effort to counteract the wakefulness effects of modafinil.
Somewhere in the region of 300mg. I did get to sleep but it lasted for around 48 hours and upon waking I was utterly dazed and confused and really worriedabout the damage I might
have done to my mental health. I had massive anxiety and trouble doing anything.

After counting up the remaining modafinil I discovered to my horror I had taken 4500mg over the duration of 36 hours. My mental capacity did come back within a few days and I don't
think there is any lasting damage but it was a scary time.

So my advice is set a dosage and if you are becoming resistant don't increase it if you are overly susceptible to the 'moreish' nature of many drugs.

Modafinil doesn't get you high but it can fool you into thinking it can.