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The difference between caffeine and modafinil come down to two things for me - - length of effect (caffeine seems to pick me up for had ran hour to an hour wi

by robbiep 13y ago

The difference between caffeine and modafinil come down to two things for me - - length of effect (caffeine seems to pick me up for had ran hour to an hour with a 30 min lead time - vs 12 hours with modafinil with a 45-1hr lead time) - side effects (if I am really tired and have to get a big day out, I might end up havering somewhere between 6-12 'doses' of coffee. Cf. 200 mg modafinil- by 3/4 through the day on the caffeine track I am jittery, have a noticeable essential tremor, my eyes are gritty - all this vs nothing on modafinil- nothing for me at least) Few notes: Modafinil was a massive productivity booster while I was at uni. I would occasionally do a 36 hour period of solid study or work or whatever to cover a whole bunch of content and take up to 600mg modafinil durin this period, sometimes followed by a normal 8 hr sleep, then repeat. It was wonderful; I covered huge sections of my curriculum efficiently. The only side effect I have ever really felt from modafinil is a slight bit of 'coke mouth' when taking a high dose, and a minor bit of jaw clenching a la MDMA at the high doses as well. Now I use only when work is very busy and I have been stupid with my sleep, 100mg mane for a couple of the days of the week seems to work very well although I am not an 'every day' doser and always prefer to be around 36 hours from my last dose if I am going to drink or take any other substances (I find I don't get the sensation of drunk if still on modafinil) Edit: to more directly respond to your post, as opposed to ramble, you note that caffeine doesn't do that much to your mental capacity. Modafinil doesn't really either. The studies that have looked at mental capacity, creativity etc whilst under modafinil cf. amphetamines cf. placebo have all shown decreasing returns for people of normal or high baseline cognitive function. Modafinil is not going to make you smarter. But if you take it in the right environment, it can make you a lot more productive

toomuchtodo 13y ago
Be careful with regards to the jaw clenching. I used modafinil extensively several years ago as part of a clinical trial/research study participant. I now have stress fractures in two of my lower teeth from the jaw clenching, and will either need to eventually replace those two teeth with implants or (hopefully) stem-cell derived replacement teeth. The body is not built for constant stressing, in many ways.
- toomuchtodo 13y ago
  I spoke too soon: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health/New-painless-treatment-to-repair-teeth/articleshow/30562836.cms http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness... New 'painless' treatment to repair teeth (indiatimes.com) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7252950 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7252950 I guess I don't need to worry about my adventurous clinical trial days after all.
corin_ 13y ago
One other big difference, in my experience but also heard the same from others, is that caffeine makes it hard to sleep (like cocaine, etc.) whereas modafinil doesn't, it just makes you not think about the fact that you need to sleep. If you take modafinil too close to when you decide to go to bed you'll be able to go straight to sleep, even if the effects of the drug only just kicked in, which is very different to going to bed after drinking a couple of coffees or taking some coke, or other stimulants. (Of course, YMMV.) By the way, what is 'coke mouth' - just a numb feeling? I've never felt anything from taking modafinil (though never used particularly high doses, or used particularly often). Don't know if 'coke mouth' is something else that I've never experienced?
- robbiep 13y ago
  Ah yes I forgot to mention the sleeping. I've also been able to get great effects (in terms of 'recovery') by taking modafinil before bed if I only have between 1-3 hours available to sleep, then getting up and having a good productive 18 hour day. Although I dream a lot more, but I consider that a bonus. Haha 'coke mouth' is overly chatty, will speak at length about anything. Sorry for the lingo
  - corin_ 13y ago
    Ah right, that's interesting, never found modafinil to make me chatty. Coke on the other hand..

by robbiep 13y ago

toomuchtodo 13y ago

Be careful with regards to the jaw clenching. I used modafinil extensively several years ago as part of a clinical trial/research study participant. I now have stress fractures in two of my lower teeth from the jaw clenching, and will either need to eventually replace those two teeth with implants or (hopefully) stem-cell derived replacement teeth. The body is not built for constant stressing, in many ways.

toomuchtodo 13y ago
I spoke too soon: http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness/health/New-painless-treatment-to-repair-teeth/articleshow/30562836.cms http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/life-style/health-fitness... New 'painless' treatment to repair teeth (indiatimes.com) https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7252950 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=7252950 I guess I don't need to worry about my adventurous clinical trial days after all.

corin_ 13y ago

One other big difference, in my experience but also heard the same from others, is that caffeine makes it hard to sleep (like cocaine, etc.) whereas modafinil doesn't, it just makes you not think about the fact that you need to sleep. If you take modafinil too close to when you decide to go to bed you'll be able to go straight to sleep, even if the effects of the drug only just kicked in, which is very different to going to bed after drinking a couple of coffees or taking some coke, or other stimulants. (Of course, YMMV.) By the way, what is 'coke mouth' - just a numb feeling? I've never felt anything from taking modafinil (though never used particularly high doses, or used particularly often). Don't know if 'coke mouth' is something else that I've never experienced?

robbiep 13y ago
Ah yes I forgot to mention the sleeping. I've also been able to get great effects (in terms of 'recovery') by taking modafinil before bed if I only have between 1-3 hours available to sleep, then getting up and having a good productive 18 hour day. Although I dream a lot more, but I consider that a bonus. Haha 'coke mouth' is overly chatty, will speak at length about anything. Sorry for the lingo
- corin_ 13y ago
  Ah right, that's interesting, never found modafinil to make me chatty. Coke on the other hand..