Sleep RX

January 21, 2005 12:01 PM

How have Mefites' experiences of modafinil been? I don't suffer from narcolepsy, although I do tend to get my circadian clock askew. Mostly, I'm interested in the nootropic aspects. Can I get a prescription? Or without one? I'm in the US, and without insurance. If not, how does adrafinil compare?
posted by daksya to health (6 comments total)

For the info on adrifinil, check out erowid's vault on the subject. It seems pretty detailed.

Actually, they've got great information on modafinil as well, including a ton of usage reports.

Good luck on your hunt for getting modafinil - I've looked into it (I'm an insomniac, so my interest is more along the lines of "Hey, it's 4am and I'm not asleep yet. I might as well go to work"), and it appears that it's only approved for clinical narcolepsy at the moment.

Evidently it used to be available via Canadian pharmacies, but they've re-scheduled it into a drug requiring prescription, so that makes it harder.
posted by icey at 12:56 PM on January 21, 2005

Here's a long, detailed report of an experience with provigil that appeared in Salon a little while ago.
posted by mr_roboto at 1:27 PM on January 21, 2005

Erowid seconded. Premiere place for all your brain-chemistry experimentation questions.
posted by five fresh fish at 2:26 PM on January 21, 2005

Thanks for the Erowid links; I was aware of that place.

It turns out there's some British pharmacies who will ship you modafinil. I've ordered from them before, so they're legit. But since modafinil is Schedule 4, what's the worst that could happen with the shipment?

Adrafinil is not scheduled, so ordering that is not a problem, right?
posted by daksya at 2:42 PM on January 21, 2005

My experiences have been positive. The only negative effect I feel from it is muscle tightness, particularly in my jaw (since I tend to clench my teeth when thinking). As for the positive effects.. 100mg is enough to completely un-tired me for around 10 hours. 200mg will un-tired me for 12 hours. With 200mg, I start to pick up on the "focus" effect, though task switching is still easy. You have to be careful with that focus, however, or else you'll get distracted and spend four hours intently organizing your mp3s.

Grapefruit juice interferes with your body's ability to metabolize modafinil. I can't stand grapefruit juice, but I can stretch the effects to about double the normal length of time by sipping a pretty continuous stream of grapefruit juice the whole time.

I understand prescriptions for it aren't hard to get in the US, especially if you're prone to and have a history of daytime sleepiness. Like with many medicines, you just need a doctor that doesn't mind unlocking the medicine cabinet.

As noted, you can get it from some British pharmacies, and I've had experience with a couple, both legit. The downside is that with the falling price of the dollar, they're $4.75/100mg dose now (up from $2.25/100mg dose last time I purchased from them).
posted by Laen at 5:41 PM on January 21, 2005

I posted this blog on the blue the other day. It might have some info that will interest you.
posted by painquale at 7:18 PM on January 21, 2005