Starting a modafinil (provigil) trial today

I'm new to the whole biohacking world, but I've spent some time reading up on nootropics. i was inspired by that movie limitless (of course) after doing alot of research i came across provigil and i decided that im going to delve into the world of brain enhancement i might as well start now.

A little about myself: I'm in my last semester of respiratory therapy school, i have about five weeks left then I start a gauntlet of tests i need to begin actually working so i can starting making more then a few dollars above minimum wage, I have 2 exit exams i need to pass just to graduate, followed by national board exams.

I also suffer from Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (CFS), and while i was using exercise and taking multivitamins ( mens once a day, vitamin D, and super B complex) to help manage it, it came back full force over the last few weeks after i got over a bad bought of bronchitis (which I most likely caught from a patient i was taking care of).

I was lucky in that my family doctor who I've been going to for years was interested in the effects of this drug as well and was more then happy to write me a perscription for a three month supply. 

today is Day 1 of my "trial"

I'm taking 200mg daily, i took my first pill at 0700 right after i crawled out of bed. after taking a quick shower  i began to feel more alert and awake, and this was before i had had my morning coffee, and after a night of poor sleep. so it was a pleasant surprise. 

now my high hope for taking this drug was to be able to sit down start working right away with out feeling tired or having my mind wander off and get distracted by my facebook or my instagram account (I'm a millenial and we can't resist these temptations). so far i think its been working ok, not great. i am feeling alert and I'm not fatigued. 

It's been about five hours since ive taken it and started writing this post, I'll be back tomorrow or later on this evening to keep it updated on how long it'll last. 

I also know that with most drugs that affect the brain, time is key, as some may take a few days or weeks for the whole effect to kick in, im not sure of this is the case with modafinil, but I'll see. 

if you have questions I'll try to answer as best as I can, also if you have any advice for me let me know! 


Comments

  • Happy exploring~ :D Will be watching.
  • Oh dude, Modafinil isn't a "takes time" type of med. I'm sure you had quite a productive day.
  • DAY 2 update:
     sorry i was late to update this, but ill explain why later on in this post

    so the first day the effects lasted about 8 hours and I could tell when it wore off right away, I had started yawning and feeling tired, the usually 3pm drag sort of thing, only it happened at five, and also some serious hunger. ( i forgot my lunch at home) it lasted almost exactly 8 hours. i got home around 9pm (Los Angeles traffic is lovely) and i got caught up watching the elections and then went to sleep.

    Day 2 Start: i slept around 7 hours last night and I woke up at 6am feeling good, took my 200mg and headed to the gym for a workout.I'm hoping to try to boost the effects a bit, so i figured doing some cardio and throwing some weights around would help, and it did, but mildly, I also took my usual vitamin regimen today, vitamin D 3,000 IU and super B complex, 2,000IU. 
     
    The day was going good until i got to work, I work as a cook making dog food, (one of my three jobs) and my boss showed up and dumped a bunch of work on me around 3pm right when modafinil wore off, convenient right? 

    I think the total time it lasted today was around 6-1/2 - 7 hours, so I'm wondering if the exercise may have made it metabolize quicker? Two days from now I'll go back to the gym, and i'll try to take it after the workout instead of before like i did today and compare.

    tomorrow is day 3 and a big day for me at that, I'm going to up the dose to 400mg for two reasons:
    1: I'll be doing my first of two twelve hour clinical rotations so I need it to last ALL DAY as I'll be working in the ER(apperently I'm a black cloud down there, as it's always busy when im there...) 
    2: i'll also be meeting the new director of the department i'm studying in, and rumor has it that three spots are opening right after my graduation in a month... so i gotta be on my game! 
    i plan on taking my first dose around 6am, and my second around 12-1230


    on a side note, tonight i was feeling a bit a depressed, or in a crabby mood, after it wore off. this may possibly be a side effect of the modafinil wearing off (it's listed on the warning label) or it could just be the typical "i hate my shitty job and i can't wait until im out of there for good" blues.

    side note #2:
    I'll also be getting my first (of many) magnets installed by @Cassox so I'll start a thread on that! probably friday, ill try to document that with some pictures of the procedure and what not for other new users such as myself.


    if theres any questions or advice, let me know! 


  • Is there anything stopping you from taking two doses of smaller amounts to last all day? On that note is there actually a max dose?

    Is there any difference between the prescribed vs non?
  • Jordygordy  Have you been taking your blood pressure Modafinil has the side effect to increase blood pressure. And have you been checking the quantity of food you eat? Weight loss has been reported as a side effect  

    and

    Keep an eye on them.

    And as you mentioned before on the "on a side note, tonight i was feeling a bit a depressed, or in a crabby mood, after it wore off. this may possibly be a side effect of the modafinil wearing off ". Modafinil has an antidepressant effect, so keep an eye on your emotions too. 

     

  • Ok so after a look in the wiki i withdraw my prescription vs non question.

    How can one get ahold of this?
  • Depends where do you live, was it Canada? Modafinil, sold under the brand name Alertec in Canada, is an approved and regulated drug which is listed as Schedule F prescription-only medication. Doctors may prescribe Modafinil for patients who have been diagnosed with narcolepsy, obstructive sleep apnea or sometimes shift work sleep disorder.
  • I'm in the US. I don't really meet requirements for getting a script, from what I've seen. The only thing I can think of is the fact that I do overnights once and a while :/
  • As far as I understand US. You can just call a sympathetic doctor and say you have a combination of depression , low concentration and mental fatigue. And it could give it to you. Or simply go to Mexico ( I hear is beautiful this time of the OR Due to the restrictions placed on purchasing Modafinil in the U.S., many users have opted to purchase Adrafinil as it is not regulated by the FDA and does not require a prescription.

  • Ill look into the adrafinil. Im closer to canada then mexico so id have better luck go that way if adrafinil isnt an option(dont know why it wouldnt be). Im going to see a new doctor soon ill feel him out to see what he is like.
  • @meanderpaul I got a sympathetic doctor to write me a script for shift work sleep disorder

    Also, I've been taking 200mg pills. Today the first pill lasted approximately six hours a
    Which is sooner then I was hoping.... So finger's crossed I'll get home early.

    But my doctor knows I have CFS, and knows I don't want to to take ritalin. So I told him I want pro vigil and he didn't mind. Also he knows I have two jobs and am in school full time so he said I probably have shift work disorder even though I don't have night shift
  • edited May 2016
    I'll see, I do have a few other things going on with me that I will be mentioning That could help. I'd rather this then other prescriptions though.

    I read that the difference between them is possible liver damage and a delayed time for when it enters the system. I might say something along the lines of i am going to use Adrafinil but am wary of the side effects and work like the modify ill which doesn't have possible liver issues.
  • edited April 2016
    DAY 3 UPDATE: so yesterday it wore off pretty quickly, and of course right when it got busy in the ER. i did have some depression issues but I also had a bad day at school, i lost my first pediatric patient, so that took a toll. (side note: the patient was already in poor condition when he arrived at the hospital, not much we could do to help him to begin with)

    i felt better on my way to get magnet installed, i'll be posting a link to that thread soon. 
    some details: i took 200mg of modafinil around 0530 and it started to wear off around 1200 as expected. i think the shorter life may be due to the fact that i was in essence, walking around for 6 hours straight pumped full of caffine (a diuretic) and nicotine. i took a second dose around 1230. it worked ok, but then everything got extra busy, coupled with the pediatric patient, and a lack of sleep i did feel more depressed once i went home from the hospital, and fatigued, after eating a quick dinner i grabbed a soda and headed to @cassox place to get my magnet installed, i wasn't too tired on my home, i think a soda has helped bring back the "high" of modafinil sort of like drinking orange juice extends an acid trip. it may be a mix of the sugar rush or the caffine boost., i honestly culdn't tell you which.

    total dose: 400mg (200mg every six hours)

    time awake: 20 hours (with the help of coffee and soda)

    negative side effects: mild depression, but im almost positive that this is from having two extra shitty days in a row.


    DAY 4: i took another 200mg this morning at 0545 before clocking in at the hospital, it lasted until about noon again,and i had a GREAT day on it, I felt like i was at the top of my game, i got every arterial blood draw on the first poke. my little success story for the day is that my professor who was riding my ass all day in the ER yesterday was unable to draw blood from an patient who had super bad peripheral edema (swollen limbs) so we couldn't find his pule, so i told her to let me try and see if could get it, and i did on the first try (FUCK YEAH!!!!) 

    After that i ate some lunch and had another soda and i believe it boosted it up again for another 4-5 hours, i didn't want to take a second dose because i knew i got off early and i wanted to nap when i got home, not because i was i feeling tired but because i didn't want to run my body too hard considering i was up twenty hours the day before on only four ours of crappy sleep, and i had gotten only four hours last night with crappy sleep (due to sleeping in unusual positions to help keep my hand elevated and protect my magnet (cassox says that swelling is your worst enemy as far as post-op care for magnet installs) 

    we talked about modafinil, he said he heard of one guy taking it before going to sleep, and he woke up the next day feeling great. im going to try this on saturday night, since sunday is my day off and i have a massive amount of stuff to do.  

    total dose: 200mg

    time awake: 17 hours

    negative side effects: none. 
  • Hahaha. To be a little more specific it's actually one "gal" that takes it before going to sleep. Close enough. I'm glad it's working out for you.
  • UPDATE: 

    I've been a bit busy so I haven't had time to get on here. 

    so far it's been a success!

    this last semester of school I've had to take test every week, and I havent been doing very good, nor has anyone in my class, however, this past week I've been able to re-take all the tests I did this semester to up my grade, i took 400mg about an hour before going to class and i sat down and did 11 tests (about 30 questions each) in the space of an hour and a half. what even better is that my scores went up from 60% to about 85% , and i didn't study for them at all! (i'd imagine that if i had tried and studied the week before i would have gotten all A's) 

    now let me clarify, I'm not a dumb student, in fact, its quite the opposite, the tests my class has been getting are all review from eveything we've learned the past two years, and the entire class has been getting around 60%. 



    negatives: so far the only problem i really have to report is that my back has been sore, not really bad, but it's like my spinal column is tender to the touch. it hasn't really bothered me much though, and it's listed on the bottle that back pain is a side effect. I'm going to be laying off of it for the time being, I have a small supply and due to insurance issues i don't know when I'll be getting my next refill, and i need enough to get through my schools exit examinations and my state boards.

    I also have my magnet! i'll be doing a post soon about that exerience.
  • @Jordygordy The back pain is located in the lower back? If yes it could be your kidneys that are having problems cleaning up the Modafinil from your system.  
    You might want to ask your doctor for a test to see how the body is doing. 
  • No it's actually in my mid-back, and its not diffuse pain, it's more located right on top of my spine. If you press on either side of my spine it doesn't hurt, but when you press directly on my spine there is tenderness, and this is in my mid spine area, not my lower back. I've been off of modafinil for two days now and it went away. But thanks for looking out :)

    Also, it could be from sleeping on my back wrong, I don't have a bed so much as I have a gigantic pile of fluffy blankets and pillows that I just sort of jump into at the end of the day lol
  • @Jordygordy are you using alcohol? I've taken serial liver enzymes before and after taking modafinil and they do come up high for me. This is indicative of stress on the liver. Combining with other drugs like alcohol may be contributing to the pain. Liver pain is often expressed as mid-back pain near the right upper quadrant. Just a thought.

    Also, why 400mg? I mean, I've tried it before too but from what I understand anything more than 200mg provides no additional benefit. Am I off here? When you have a chance to roll back up to the lab (I'm assuming after finals) I'd like to dose you with Adrafinil to see how you think it compares. I like Adrafinil a lot. I used to like it better but I played around with Modafinil again earlier this year and now I'm convinced it is superior. Perhaps it's a dosage or purity issue though.
  • i havent drank an excessive amount of alcohol, but i did i have beer with some friends a while ago so maybe that could be it.
  • update: i took 400mg for my first exit examination, at 0730, and i studied for about 4 hours with only one bath room break, and i passed. i did feel a bit burned out mentally yesterday, but i studied literally ALL week for that test. i did still have energy to go out and do stuff but i just wanted a day to lay around and watch TV. next week i have my second of four exams, i plan to take another 400mg monday and maybe 200 the day before. ill give you all an update. 
  • UPDATE: 

    So I love this pill. i've been taking a lot for the last few days, ive been getting about four hours of sleep and im still doing 12 hour days (9.5 but i have long commute) 

    I've been taking one pill the last few days and having my morning coffee with it. yesterday i guess i "accidentally" entered into a flow state. i was working, and i was making fish in a blanket  (one of my jobs is making pet food), i started making them and then i didnt realize that i had made about 100 extra. opps! my boss was annoyed but also kinda happy. anyways, i think i entered this flow state by practicing a bit of mindfullness while i was cooking. the repetative motion of what i was doing triggered it i think. anyways it was actually one of the most realxing times I've ever had while gutting fish.

    another thing, its been ridiculously busy, with the pill i've been able to work about 9 hours straight with next to zero breaks. like five mins here and their to use to the bathroom or have a cigarette. i also wasn't stopping to eat. i would get a little hungry when i stopped, but i had too much to do and no really enough to sit and have lunch, so once i started working again the hunger would just go away. once i got home though i would eat a small meal to satisfy me and I then i would walk around for about two miles playing pokemon go. 

    another fun thing to do: take your pill, forget that you took your pill, and then smoke a bowl about three hours later. i went to the gym and let me tell you, that brought a new meaning to "runners high" for me. i wasn't couch locked, and it increased the euphoric effect of weed definetly a good time. any more questions just ask!
  • @Cassox I will say that for me 400 was too much but I do believe it has a stronger effect. 200 is now my normal but I double dosed one day and ended up not accomplishing much more and feeling really burnt out the next day. 

    @Jordygordy Just a note that if you feel burnt out maybe try scaling back. It might help you feel more accomplished and still energized.
  • @_Larry_ i agree, i think i may have been burnt out from taking too much, lately i've been taking only 200mg and it works great. 
  • I really need to make a good journal for my substance trials. Right now I'm using a lot of Adrafinil and I'm loving it. I'm super focused and I'm not getting the anxiety I was from caffeine. It's a great alternative.

    That said, I do recall thinking "oh shit" when I took modafinil. It's significantly more effective. I've raised the amount of adrafinil I use recently though and I think it's on par. Of course.. I'll have to do another comparison.
  • I'm going to start my own journal soon, probably this weekend. i'll start it fresh though, and if i start to experiment with other nootropics then ill include those. we'll see how it goes

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