43 replies to this topic

[kassem23]

I started talking like Michael Scofield - definitely dopamine overload! :D

On topic:
After 200mg I get great focus + motivation, but when it wears off I get the worst feeling ever. Total depression.. It's really, really horrible.

[jar79]

I take 50 mg/ day, is provigil scoreable????

[Francesco27]

I like modafinil - it helps me to get into "the flow", and I have been taking 100mg per day. I'm considering reducing this to 50mg per day though because on some days I've been feeling really spaced out on it, with an awfull itchy feeling in my eyes. A bit like someone has stuck match-sticks under my eye-lids. Anyone else experience this feeling of itchyness?

[unregistered_user]

I'm sure "Brainfogged" will come in here and tell you everything is alright, as he seems to fervently defend the use of Modafinil. However, when I hear that you are experiencing pain and itchiness in your eyes I become alarmed.

Have you done any research into the side-effects of Modafinil? I just ordered some and have decidedly wasted $100 because after reading about the side-effects I will not be chancing it.

My advice to you is: stop taking it immediately.

At this point I think it is important for you to be cautious, educate yourself and continue to assess the side-effects you have mentioned. If they do not begin to ameliorate after discontinuation see your doctor.

I won't bother going into graphic specifics about the potential dangers of Modafinil. That is up to you to discover should you decide to educate yourself. I am simply posting as a courtesy to you that I think you should tread carefully here. Perhaps this is nothing... but "awfully itchy eyes" that feel like someone "put match-sticks under your eyelids" doesn't sound like anything to take lightly, especially in view of said Modafinil risks.

Keep us updated on your condition.

Let the flaming begin.

[Raptor87]

I like modafinil - it helps me to get into "the flow", and I have been taking 100mg per day. I'm considering reducing this to 50mg per day though because on some days I've been feeling really spaced out on it, with an awfull itchy feeling in my eyes. A bit like someone has stuck match-sticks under my eye-lids. Anyone else experience this feeling of itchyness?

You are straining your eyes aren't you?

[Raptor87]

I'm sure "Brainfogged" will come in here and tell you everything is alright, as he seems to fervently defend the use of Modafinil. However, when I hear that you are experiencing pain and itchiness in your eyes I become alarmed.

Have you done any research into the side-effects of Modafinil? I just ordered some and have decidedly wasted $100 because after reading about the side-effects I will not be chancing it.

My advice to you is: stop taking it immediately.

At this point I think it is important for you to be cautious, educate yourself and continue to assess the side-effects you have mentioned. If they do not begin to ameliorate after discontinuation see your doctor.

I won't bother going into graphic specifics about the potential dangers of Modafinil. That is up to you to discover should you decide to educate yourself. I am simply posting as a courtesy to you that I think you should tread carefully here. Perhaps this is nothing... but "awfully itchy eyes" that feel like someone "put match-sticks under your eyelids" doesn't sound like anything to take lightly, especially in view of said Modafinil risks.

Keep us updated on your condition.

Let the flaming begin.

I am not defending the use of anything. I am defending the use of real research and science to back up any effects that come from any drug, good or bad. Rather than doing the opposite. Pulling out transcripts from different forums and making it in to statements of the opinion that one holds. You are talking about research but you haven´t brought any real scientific evidence to the table yet, you said it so yourself.

STOP ALARMING PEOPLE AND MAKING THEM WORRIED! This is only about your uncomfort with the drug, don´t make it in to something universal.

If you are going to mention me at this forum then please let me know, I´d like to have a say when someone is dragging my name in to a thread.

[Raptor87]

Btw there is a perfectly good thread about this matter. Please use the search function in the future.

http://www.longecity...nil-daily-dose/

[Francesco27]

Thanks for responding. I think I've exaggerated the symptoms a bit. My eyes sometimes just feel itchy and tense ("wide-open"/ strained) when using it - not really painfull as such (so forget about the matchstick metaphore that implies pain). I think I need to use a lower dosage (50 i.s.o. 100) for some time just to get used to it. With regard to side-effects I'd like to say that most mainstream medications have side-effects that can be intense and quite worrying. For instance all anti-depressants (dry mouth and eyes, impotence), most bloodpressure medication (itchy feeling, impotence) and erectile dysfunction pills (headaches, blue vision, runny nose).

I'm a psychotherapist and really enjoy modafinil because it enables me to focus on report writing and such when I'm really busy. But for directly working with clients modafinil is counter-productive in that I seem less able to maintain the kind of free-floating (associative?) attention I need. It is like I'm more effective in some tasks but also more mechanical on modafinil.

[unregistered_user]

Thanks for responding. I think I've exaggerated the symptoms a bit. My eyes sometimes just feel itchy and tense ("wide-open"/ strained) when using it - not really painfull as such (so forget about the matchstick metaphore that implies pain). I think I need to use a lower dosage (50 i.s.o. 100) for some time just to get used to it. With regard to side-effects I'd like to say that most mainstream medications have side-effects that can be intense and quite worrying. For instance all anti-depressants (dry mouth and eyes, impotence), most bloodpressure medication (itchy feeling, impotence) and erectile dysfunction pills (headaches, blue vision, runny nose).

I'm a psychotherapist and really enjoy modafinil because it enables me to focus on report writing and such when I'm really busy. But for directly working with clients modafinil is counter-productive in that I seem less able to maintain the kind of free-floating (associative?) attention I need. It is like I'm more effective in some tasks but also more mechanical on modafinil.

My intention wasn't to scare you. You are probably fine but it is important to stay vigilant. I'm curious, as a psychotherapist are you able to procure brand name Cephalon produced Provigil or are you using one of the generic equivalents? If so, which one?

[Raptor87]

Thanks for responding. I think I've exaggerated the symptoms a bit. My eyes sometimes just feel itchy and tense ("wide-open"/ strained) when using it - not really painfull as such (so forget about the matchstick metaphore that implies pain). I think I need to use a lower dosage (50 i.s.o. 100) for some time just to get used to it. With regard to side-effects I'd like to say that most mainstream medications have side-effects that can be intense and quite worrying. For instance all anti-depressants (dry mouth and eyes, impotence), most bloodpressure medication (itchy feeling, impotence) and erectile dysfunction pills (headaches, blue vision, runny nose).

I'm a psychotherapist and really enjoy modafinil because it enables me to focus on report writing and such when I'm really busy. But for directly working with clients modafinil is counter-productive in that I seem less able to maintain the kind of free-floating (associative?) attention I need. It is like I'm more effective in some tasks but also more mechanical on modafinil.

Strained eyes is common among stimulant users. We tend to stare at our objects and don´t blink as much as we normally should. Thank you for being honest with your reply, we don´t want to create a general panic here. Keep in mind that your eyes do need rest, some eyedrops might help but if you strain them this could lead to headaches. Also being aware of it helps. How is your neck btw, do you strain it also?

It is great that you can focus on report- writing! For psychologically associating I think DMAE is a great noot. Although it doesn´t go together with modafinil, I get more stressed when on both. And both have a tad dissassociative effects so the synergy makes things even worse, intellectually I mean.

When it comes to meds there´s a lot of them have severe contraindications but those cases are very rare and are mentioned because they have happened, it doesn´t mean that the drugs are to blame. They put it in as warning to make sure for further diagnosing, this can also backfire and the drug can be put to blame. People tend to get sick, drugs or no drugs. This serves a purpose of course! If there is any health concerns then this will be reported on a statistical basis.

I used to eat pills for my stomach issues, a side- effect was psychosis Didn´t get it though, I must have been one of those lucky ones

[Francesco27]

As a psychotherapist I don't prescribe (that would be the psychiatrists). Its also highly illegal and frowned upon to supply oneself with fun-prescriptions and will certainly get you struck off. So I got mine via the internet (modalert). A friend of mine is currently in Turkey and hopefully he'll mail me some modiodal (100 tablets in a large padded enveloppe with bubble wrap inside).

Continuing on the topic of side-effects I would like to share the fact that I have been part of multidisciplinary mental health teams in mainstream psychiatry for the past 30 years, in two countries. Most if not all of psychiatrically active compounds (aka medication) can often have considerable side-effects - definitely in the beginning when you start taking them, and again at the higher dosages. Mental health professionals know this, and most people will have some of the side effects. But patients will put up with these because of the therapeutic effect they are aiming for. It is overly optimistic to assume that the effects of any of these compounds can be only beneficial.

So why experiment with it? For me it was having read about the hype around modafinil and it is sort of a test for me to see how I like it. I've done that with many compounds - like valium (*although it can zonk you out), xtc (headache), cialis (runny nose, headache), etc. Even alcohol will make you dizzy, nauseous, manic and to some degree learning disabled.

Edited by Francesco27, 08 April 2012 - 08:06 PM.

[soulfiremage]

I've been using Modafinil since October 2010. In that time I've had several short breaks of between one week and three weeks. Some months I skip it at weekends.

I've got it in powder form, titrated the dosage to get the optimal amount and it's about 200-300mg (the higher figure towards the end of a cycle where I need a break).

It is still very effective for me and since I started I memorised moonlight sonata movement 3 on the piano; at the full speed. I don't read music.

Other things done, outside of just working and living have been creation of a woodwork shop and various items - last April. Starting from no knowledge at all.
Also went from complete beginner in programming to someone who is rationally reading multiple works on refactoring, varied programming paradigms, design and architectural patterns, practices and other matters-including sql and noSQL databases. This hasn't been continious even either, many weeks I don't touch the subject and don't require it for work.
In addition my sporadic interest in maths comes and goes, I was educated to basic GCSE level, find notation not so easy but am still doing derivatives (simples ones ok?) in my head.

The list is longer than this guys. Lambda calculus, BNF and matrices were covered in a couple of hours, only to a point where I got the elementary concepts of describing a grammer with BNF, multiplying matrices, and understand term, application, abstraction kind of in lambda. Application of this is in .net Lambda statements (used nicely in LINQ ta). That same morning, I covered binomial theroem and combinatrics (how many subset combos of 3 from a set of 10 can I get etc).

Now it's quite late, and this topic deserves a far deeper writeup to explain my results, the good, the great and yes, the bad. And there is some.

The good: Enhanced motivation to grasp multiple subjects at once. Prediction and sense of multitasking goes up. Dual n back game is played Quad N back, about 60-70% (If I take time to play it). Mastered a grade 8 piano piece and now have very very quick fingers-for someone untrained as a pianist. Grasped a fairly wide field of programming, yet only studied in bursts a week long, leaving it for weeks at a time! And yes, ask me stuff on it especially .net, or agile methods. Stuff I had NO idea about in 2010.

The great: I can probably get a much better job with only a couple of portfolio pieces now. Yesterday in 7 hours, as a sql novice, I hand crafted a CRM type database structure with the concepts setup with decent many-to-many link tables, foreign key constraints and all on SQL server 2012. Then promptly converted it to MySQL using Mysql Workbench. Had to swap to Innodb engine for each table mind. Why mention all these details, that are novice to a "proper" professional dba? Because of where I started on it, only a short time ago. Oh btw, both databases are working online.

Chi kung mastery. A gift I started with when I was 7 is now easy to play with. Daily I train it, along with weapons. The "1 inch" punch works. Proof-using the shortest distance to strike, literally fingertip touching the bag to fist closed, the bag is struck hard enough to rattle the garage door. No pull back. Why? The detailed focus to push into the earth quickly but precisely as well as strike, without simply levering the whole body in a large way is easy to attain on this stuff. Practice hundreds of times, daily.

The bad:

OCD - minor behaviour routines appear and for me are a pain at times. The nose picking one is a nightmare, keeps me awake for up to two hours. Happens once a day to once every two days.
Scattered focusses-actually its easy to focus into-the wrong thing quickly.
Kinkiness. I was already bloody kinky, this has made it even more exaggarated. Fortunately I can't claim it as all bad, systematically I build up gear and entertained myself and others. But it does cut into study time!
Hyper talking. Hyper typing.
Occasional cloud days if I drop it for the weekend-this is minor.
Authority issues-I dont' keep quiet if I have a solid argument against the boss's ideas. Not good. More impulsive, quick to talk, quick to jump in and analyse.

Conclusion: Would I let my 9 year old nephew use it, now or in the future? No. Do I think it good for students and others. Only if they had motivation and drowsiness issues. Like me. Is it worth the risk?

To me, yes.

To my nephew? Not a chance, unless he finds similar problems in years to come.

Should you use it? I don't have an objective measure and I know I won't be "told" by a doctor not to; not without a diagnosis, a real condition issue. Research would stop me if the risks were genuinely researched and realistic, not just remote.

Has it helped me?

You bet. In a fairly major way.

I can't type up everything I learnt, wrote up, spent time on tonight for the reasons of: Excessive egotistic like trumpet blowing-wait I did that already. And time. Rather be doing something else.

That's all folks!

[Francesco27]

I'm now using 50 mg per day and that works beautifully. No more side-effects at all. Its wonderful, like I've woken up, and am in the flow most of the time now. Also the work with patients is much better: have regained my empathy but kept the clear thinking as well.

[platypus]

50mg sublingually works really well for me, I have a feeling that genuine Provigil works better than some of the generics I've tried.