3 ms·

You suggest that it does work, but that procrastination is still possible. fair enough. But if it doesn't keep you awake, it's possible that you're one of the ~

by cariaso 10y ago

You suggest that it does work, but that procrastination is still possible. fair enough. But if it doesn't keep you awake, it's possible that you're one of the ~15% of the population who is a non responder due to: rs4680(A;A) aka Met/Met at COMT Val158Met via http://snpedia.com/index.php/Rs4680(A;A) http://snpedia.com/index.php/Rs4680(A;A) rs4680(G;G) carriers deprived of sleep respond quite well to 2x 100mg modafinil in terms of improved vigor and well-being, and maintained baseline performance with respect to executive functioning, whereas rs4680(A;A) individuals barely responded to the drug at all. via https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19037200 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/19037200 Two-time 100 mg modafinil potently improved vigor and well-being, and maintained baseline performance with respect to executive functioning and vigilant attention throughout sleep deprivation in Val/Val genotype subjects but was hardly effective in subjects with the Met/Met genotype.

throwaway713 10y ago
I really want to get my DNA tested, because I'm almost certain that I have the AA variant. rs4680 is also known as the worrier/warrior gene; those with the AA variant tend to handle stress poorly, have high anxiety, and are neurotic. Seeing as how I fall apart with the slightest bit of stress in my life and score 100% on every neuroticism test I take, I would be very surprised if I didn't have this variant of the gene. Also, my psychiatrist prescribed me Modafinil at 100 mg. I felt nothing and fell asleep shortly after taking it. He bumped it up to 200 mg -- still felt nothing. At 400 mg I just decided to quit taking it, because it literally had no effect whatsoever. Bit of a bummer, because I had high hopes for its effect on my ability to stay awake and focus. (Adderall, on the other hand, does produce a noticeable difference.)
gwern 10y ago
I should mention that I no longer think Rs4680 has anything to do with modafinil response. It was a candidate-gene study, so it was always in considerable doubt, and when I asked about Rs4680 in my modafinil survey (draft: http://www.gwern.net/Modafinil%20survey http://www.gwern.net/Modafinil%20survey ), 216 people had their Rs4680 status available and it did not correlate with their self-evaluations of how effective modafinil was for them (slightly the opposite, actually). This is ~10x bigger than the original study which was also based on self-report and if anything, you would expect a survey to be biased towards finding an effect since people know about the earlier report...

by cariaso 10y ago

throwaway713 10y ago

I really want to get my DNA tested, because I'm almost certain that I have the AA variant. rs4680 is also known as the worrier/warrior gene; those with the AA variant tend to handle stress poorly, have high anxiety, and are neurotic. Seeing as how I fall apart with the slightest bit of stress in my life and score 100% on every neuroticism test I take, I would be very surprised if I didn't have this variant of the gene. Also, my psychiatrist prescribed me Modafinil at 100 mg. I felt nothing and fell asleep shortly after taking it. He bumped it up to 200 mg -- still felt nothing. At 400 mg I just decided to quit taking it, because it literally had no effect whatsoever. Bit of a bummer, because I had high hopes for its effect on my ability to stay awake and focus. (Adderall, on the other hand, does produce a noticeable difference.)

gwern 10y ago

I should mention that I no longer think Rs4680 has anything to do with modafinil response. It was a candidate-gene study, so it was always in considerable doubt, and when I asked about Rs4680 in my modafinil survey (draft: http://www.gwern.net/Modafinil%20survey http://www.gwern.net/Modafinil%20survey ), 216 people had their Rs4680 status available and it did not correlate with their self-evaluations of how effective modafinil was for them (slightly the opposite, actually). This is ~10x bigger than the original study which was also based on self-report and if anything, you would expect a survey to be biased towards finding an effect since people know about the earlier report...