Modafinil

Modafinil is a psychostimulant that is used to treat unexplained hypersomnia and narcolepsy. French soldiers in the Gulf War in 1991 were given it to try, even though it hadn’t been approved yet. It helps people who feel tired all the time stay awake with few or no side effects. People usually take one pill when they wake up. Its effects last all day, but they don’t keep people from sleeping at regular times. It is sold under Modiodal in France, Alertec in Canada, Provigil in the US and Belgium, and Modasomil in Belgium. Due to its high price and the fact that it is solid, it needs to be prescribed in a particular form called “exceptional medications” in France.

We still need to learn more about how it works. Similar to sympathomimetic drugs like amphetamines and methylphenidate, but not the same in terms of how it works in the body. Depending on the amount and time, it can stimulate the brain. Chlorination tends to make the action stronger, while methylation tends to weaken it. Modafinil stops the absorption of norepinephrine and dopamine by noradrenergic and dopaminergic terminals on neurons in the ventrolateral preoptic nucleus that make you sleepy. This process is partly responsible for modafinil’s ability to wake you. A study in Canada found that compared to amphetamines, it didn’t have as much of an effect on sleep. The results are more like what happens when you give a dummy 6. The research from the same Canadian team shows that modafinil helps people stay as alert, happy, and intelligent as they would be if they were using amphetamines.

A study from King’s College London and the University of Cambridge found that adding modafinil to antidepressant treatment (mainly selective serotonin reuptake inhibitor) improves the treatment of both unipolar and bipolar depression. It does this by making people less tired and sleepy, with side effects about the same as with a placebo.

MODAFINIL (moe DAF i nil) is a drug used to treat sleep problems that make people sleep too much. Narcolepsy, sleep apnea, and shift work sleep disorder are some of these.

You can use this medicine for other things, too. If you have any questions, talk to your doctor or chemist.

OTHER NAMES FOR THIS DRUG: Provigil

In their article proving that modafinil works to improve cognitive functions, Ruairidh Battleday and Anna-Katharine Brem say that “modafinil deserves its title as the first nootropic pharmaceutical agent” 26. These promising results were also seen in another study with six healthy patients 27.

Researchers agree that modafinil helps with memory effects, such as remembering numbers, changing numbers, and seeing patterns. There are mixed effects regarding attention, executive functions, and spatial memory.

Modafinil helps people who use methamphetamine learn better 30 and calms down restless people.

Twenty-four studies from Oxford and Harvard found that people got better at planning, making decisions, remembering things, and learning 32, 33.

A German-Swedish study by doctor Klaus Lieb at the University of Mainz found that chess players did 15% better when taking modafinil.

You may have an allergic response if you have hives, trouble breathing, or swelling in your face, lips, tongue, or throat. Get medical help right away.

Modafinil can lead to skin reactions that could be so bad that you need to go to the hospital for care. Stop taking Provigil and call 911 right away if you have any of the following: 

• Any skin rash or hives, boils, or peeling
• Sores in the mouth and trouble eating
• Not being able to breathe, fever
• Your legs are swollen
• Dark pee, jaundice (if your skin or eyes are yellow), or
• Your face, eyes, lips, tongue, or throat may swell up

Modafinil could have nasty side effects. Call your doctor right away and stop taking Provigil if you have the following:

• Depression, anxiety, or thoughts or acts that lead to suicide
• Having hallucinations, having strange thoughts or acting in strange ways, being angry, or being more active or talkative than usual
• Chest pain, trouble breathing, or heartbeats that aren’t right, or
• The rash might be at its first sign, no matter how small you think

Some of the most common side effects of Provigil are:

• Headaches and vertigo
• Feeling tense or worried
• Having back pain
• Sickness, diarrhea and stomachaches
• Having trouble sleeping (insomnia) or
• A stuffy nose.

• Usual adult dose for narcolepsy:

200 mg by mouth once a day in the morning

For people with obstructive sleep apnea (OSA), this drug does not help the blockage itself. Continuous positive airway pressure (CPAP) is the best way to treat being too sleepy. In that case, individuals should make every effort to use CPAP for a sufficient amount of time both before and during drug treatment.

This medicine is used to help people who are too sleepy because of narcolepsy or OSA stay awake longer.

• The usual dose for adults with obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome is:

200 mg by mouth once a day in the morning

• Dose for adults with shift work sleep disorder:

200 mg by mouth once a day, about an hour before the start of the work shift

This treatment is meant to help people who are too sleepy because of a shift work problem stay awake.

Talk to your doctor about what to do if you forget to take your modafinil. Don’t take the medicine if you don’t plan to be awake for a while. If it’s almost bedtime, don’t take the dose you missed. Do not take extra medicine to make up for the amount you forgot.

• This drug should not be mixed with any of the following:

Either amphetamine or dextroamphetamine

dexmethylphenidate or methylphenidate drugs, such as Nardil, Parnate, Marplan, Eldepryl, pemoline, and procarbazine, are MAO inhibitors.

• This medicine might also not work well with these others:

Medicines that kill fungi, like itraconazole or ketoconazole; barbiturates, like phenobarbital; birth control pills or other devices or implants that contain hormones for birth control Benzodiazepines, cyclosporine, and diazepam are drugs used to treat depression, anxiety, and psychotic disorders.

Triazolam, phenytoin, propranolol, and warfarin

This list might include only some of the possible ways that things could connect. Please list all the herbs, medicines, over-the-counter drugs, and food supplements you take and give them to your doctor. Tell them if you smoke, drink, or do drugs that are against the law. Some things need to be revised with your medicine.