35 replies to this topic

[pseudonamed]

Reviving an old thread here.. having a similar scare. I just took modafinil (Alertec brand) for the first time yesterday morning. I purposely took a really small 'test dose' because I'm very cautious that way with meds, especially ones that aren't being supervised by a doctor (I wanted to try it out for it's alterness properties, I'm a university student). I must have taken no more than about 20 mg. About an hour or so later, I had a severe need to "evacuate" and had to run to the toilet many times over the next few hours. Not cool. Then once that started to go away, I started getting a headache, which was quite severe by about 6 or 7 hours after dosing. That went on for hours. By about 13 hours after taking it, that started to fade, but then I started itching all over. I tossed and turned in bed, unable to sleep, both because I felt I physically couldn't, but also I'm sure due to anxiety about the side effects. I finally dozed off a bit in the early hours. Now it's been about 26 hours since I took it and I still feel itchy all over my body. I haven't seen any signs of rash though, luckily, or fever, but I'm worried. If I can react so quickly to so little, I don't think I should be playing with this medication. 

 

I think the thing is with this medication, like many others, is that the majority of people won't have bad effects but there will always be a minority who have bad, even severe effects, and they might have it even from one dose, or it can happen after a couple months of daily use. That's what scares me about this drug, is the danger isn't about how much you take it, it's more about your genetics and whether you're susceptible to a severe reaction or not, but you can't know until you try it. Some drugs you can start with a small amount and get an idea how you react, with this, you could be fine for a few weeks and then suddenly react. 

 

Considering I don't have any allergies that i know of, I rarely react to things, have taken penecillin and other drugs with similar risks and was fine, I guess I'm just one of the unlucky ones. At least with stimulants I feel I have some control over how much symptoms I will get. I just hope everything goes away soon and i don't have to be itchy for weeks like the above poster, that will drive me crazy.

[8bitmore]

[...] I think the thing is with this medication, like many others, is that the majority of people won't have bad effects but there will always be a minority who have bad, even severe effects, and they might have it even from one dose, or it can happen after a couple months of daily use. [...]

 

Thanks for a good unbiased report, you're right that not everyone will have a positive experience with Modafinil (or indeed any other drug) and it's worth underlining the safety procedure you used: taking one or several smaller doses to test for allergies or other adverse reactions before going "large" with any drug should be prime priority for the community at large. That is after all how Shulgin and co. managed to survive going through an incredible stack of unresearched drugs!

[pseudonamed]

it's worth underlining the safety procedure you used: taking one or several smaller doses to test for allergies or other adverse reactions before going "large" with any drug should be prime priority for the community at large. That is after all how Shulgin and co. managed to survive going through an incredible stack of unresearched drugs!

 

Yes, good point. I am amazed at the super doses some people try with new substances and then they have a bad experience and freak out about it. It really doesn't hurt to try small. And it just makes sense to me to find the minimum necessary to get the effect you are looking for, why take more?

 

As for Modafinil, I unfortunately had an immediate horrible reaction from a minute dose, and ended up being itchy all over for days after, so I won't touch it again. I envy the glowing reviews of it, but ah well, I'm lucky. It could have been worse. 

[jolly]

I'm certain I have an allergic rash reaction to armodafinil.  I've had this weird rash hit a few times over the last 3 years, and now that I'm looking through my notes I realize all of them have hit after taking armodafinil.   Today this was almost instant, took armodafinil, within 30 minutes I'm getting a rash forming/itchiness in the same locations as before.  I used to take modafinil frequently years ago, and never had a rash problem.  I'm going to go try and find some antihistamines in the hope that that will help.  

[mad3250]

After taking modafinil 200mg next day i have found that i have a skin rash on the right hand and itchy skin on both hands. After i read this " Most skin reactions to Modafinil are most likely due to it's Histamine increasing actions. This means that for most people it will do nothing more than slightly increase existing allergies. "  i have found that vitamice C can decrease a histamine level so i took many pills of vitamine C and within one hour itchy skin and rush have gone away. 
P.S. My daily stack consists of piracetam , ginko and choline.

For those of you who haven't seen it yet -

There's a very interesting thread about an elaborate, new study about modafinil's workin-mechanisms from this year:

http://www.longecity...n-by-modafinil/

I would advise anyone who uses, or plans on using Modafinil to read it - most conclusive heap of information about Modafinil I've seen so far!


Now, regarding this thread's topic;

Most skin reactions to Modafinil are most likely due to it's Histamine increasing actions. This means that for most people it will do nothing more than slightly increase existing allergies. The same happened to me, and after taking a first generation Antihistamine (cetirizin), those side effects subsided.

As user noos stated in another thread, an OTC 2nd generation antihistamine like Claritin would probably be more desireable, because those don't cross the BBB and won't make you tired. (Except of course you need something to take the edge of a bit of Modafinil anyways - not yet sure if that really works, though)

Now the reaction that Salamandyr reported is a whole different beast, of course. I'm just saying that minor skin rashes or itches or pimples on Modafinil are probably nothing to be freaked out about. Just dose lower or stop Modafinil temporarily, monitor carefully and see if taking an antihistamine will take care of the problem. It's probably just slightly intensified symptoms of an allergy you've allready had to begin with.

Also, an anecdotal report from me:
I even was on Modafinil during a few of my "hypo-sensitisation" sessions. I don't know if that's the correct english term - it's when they repeatedly inject you with allergens over a long period of time to de-sensetise you against them. Back then I didn't know about Moda's pro-histamine actions. Yet I just had a slightly worse allergic reaction compared to when I wasn't on Modafinil - nothing substantial.

So it would seem it's no big deal if you only have slight, "regular" allergies - like against hay or some grasses and/or animal -hair.

Then again, I guess this could also mean that you should be f***ing careful with Modafinil if you happen to have some severe allergies that can maybe even cause lethal conditions.

But to be honest, I don't know if Histamine even plays a role in such "extreme" conditions...-

maybe someone who's more knowledgeable regarding this topic could clarify?

 

Edited by mad3250, 10 July 2015 - 11:24 AM.

[ckendrick99]

.. aaaand another one.  Infrequent, mondo zits on the upper back.  Then, after a recent multi-day stint, a skin rash that I initially mistook for bug bites: clusters of 2-5 red, itchy welts, about ~1mm across, behind the knees / upper calf, behind the armpit, top/inner thigh, plus a couple of single welts on right lower ab and sternum.

 

A friend had a similar, mild rash effect on the top/inner thigh, but no acne issue.

 

Two things to add:

 

1. these are all areas of relatively higher nerve ending density in the skin.  They also map pretty well (not perfectly) to lymph nodes (back of knee, armpit, upper thigh).  But if the mapping is imperfect, maybe some of them *are* bug bites

 

2. The acne effect happens whenever I take Modafinil, but I had the rash effect only after using Modafinil to stay awake when I otherwise would have had severe trouble staying awake.  I never had the rash problem using Modafinil as a nootropic during normal waking hours.  So some of us may be looking at problems that would occur if we forced ourselves to go without sleep for excessive periods by *any* means, rather than Modafinil side-effects per se.  On the lymph node observation, maybe it's just severe/prolonged dehydration.

 

This is Modalert, 200mg.