3 ms·

Though during Afghanistan no one knew how modafinil worked, or possible long term effects. British military were buying thousands of them at that period too.

ggreer 10y ago
Regarding possible long-term effects: Modafinil was invented in the late 1970's. Some people in Europe have been taking it for over 30 years. People in the US have been taking it since 1998. No study of modafinil has found it to be neurotoxic. A few studies have found slight neuro-protective effects. In a review of modafinil studies[1], the authors really had to stretch to find disadvantages and dangers. In short: If this drug is bad for you, it's only slightly bad. And it's far safer than the drug it substitutes for: amphetamines. 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2654794/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2654794/
- contingencies 10y ago
  Even in very occasional, very small half-doses I found it definitely creates overly intense focus (can be unpleasant/unsuitable depending upon your environment) and withdrawl issues (scatterbrained). I also have a friend who began taking it 5-6 days a week for work, who had issues weening himself. It's certainly a very interesting substance, but not something I would recommend as solely positive. I disagree that it replaces amphetamines, as its primary focus is to produce mental focus rather than physical energy, unlike amphetamines which produce the latter. I would argue instead that Modafinil is more like a long-term (10+ hour) auto-dispensing teapot, albeit perhaps slightly spiked with additional herbal stimulants, in a pill form.
  - anexprogrammer 10y ago
    As someone with ADHD, that's really interesting. You describe the effect I get from amphetamines - focus and ability to ignore some distractions - your withdrawal, scatterbrained, that sounds familiar! Maybe dopamine levels are taking a little while to reset to normal and you get a day experiencing temporary ADD. At ADHD amphetamine dosages I've never noticed withdrawal effects. So I went looking to see if it was being studied with ADHD. Despite showing effectiveness in several studies, it wasn't FDA licensed for ADHD because of "serious dermatological toxicity" {1]. That seems a bit odd. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18729534 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18729534

ggreer 10y ago

Regarding possible long-term effects: Modafinil was invented in the late 1970's. Some people in Europe have been taking it for over 30 years. People in the US have been taking it since 1998. No study of modafinil has found it to be neurotoxic. A few studies have found slight neuro-protective effects. In a review of modafinil studies[1], the authors really had to stretch to find disadvantages and dangers. In short: If this drug is bad for you, it's only slightly bad. And it's far safer than the drug it substitutes for: amphetamines. 1. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2654794/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2654794/

contingencies 10y ago
Even in very occasional, very small half-doses I found it definitely creates overly intense focus (can be unpleasant/unsuitable depending upon your environment) and withdrawl issues (scatterbrained). I also have a friend who began taking it 5-6 days a week for work, who had issues weening himself. It's certainly a very interesting substance, but not something I would recommend as solely positive. I disagree that it replaces amphetamines, as its primary focus is to produce mental focus rather than physical energy, unlike amphetamines which produce the latter. I would argue instead that Modafinil is more like a long-term (10+ hour) auto-dispensing teapot, albeit perhaps slightly spiked with additional herbal stimulants, in a pill form.
- anexprogrammer 10y ago
  As someone with ADHD, that's really interesting. You describe the effect I get from amphetamines - focus and ability to ignore some distractions - your withdrawal, scatterbrained, that sounds familiar! Maybe dopamine levels are taking a little while to reset to normal and you get a day experiencing temporary ADD. At ADHD amphetamine dosages I've never noticed withdrawal effects. So I went looking to see if it was being studied with ADHD. Despite showing effectiveness in several studies, it wasn't FDA licensed for ADHD because of "serious dermatological toxicity" {1]. That seems a bit odd. [1] https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18729534 https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/18729534