Nootropics for Chronic Fatigue/Pain

300 mg caffeine makes me so damn anxious - tend to stay away from it now.

I read a few reviews last week and ended up ordering the Modalert. It’s 200mg, but I think I’m going to cut the dosage in half as was suggested in one of the reviews.

I’m just looking to be a little more alert and to be able to focus a little more. Lately, I’ve felt out of sorts so to speak and I’ve gotta crack down for this certification exam I’m taking in May.

Lol, caffeine literally does nothing to me. I’m drinking a 16 oz spike while typing this (350 mg) and will have a couple cups of coffee later…

You wont regret it. It is AWESOME.

I to am pretty tolerant of caffeine for a while I was drinking 2-240 mg rockstars a day but, the Moda amplifies the effects.

I also started with just 100mg but, felt nothing. 200mg and 1-2 TBSP of instant coffee is the shit.

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It was just the 200mg at first. One pill. I thought it was reasonable at the time considering I’d taken things like adderoll before. I’ve since learned that 100mg at a time is fine. although so far, of the 3 days I’ve taken it, I’ve taken 3-400mg total for the day.

How long have you been taking modafinil for? What have some of the pros and cons been? At this point I’m considering that I may be able to reduce or stop completely the pain meds I’ve been on. Its fairly pricey stuff so I really need to do more research before I decide to make a bulk purchase.

Please, anything at all you could share about your experience with this stuff would really be appreciated. I’m mostly concerned with long term viability and whether my tolerance will go up with daily use or not.

This guy has lymes disease, which is similar in many ways to what I experience with AS especially with The chronic fatigue and brain fog. This is a short video of him reviewing modafinil and he apparently loves the stuff. This was very encouraging to me and makes me think I may be on the right track with this stuff.

I just stopped by to share the youtube link. I’ll be updating this again later with my experience using modapharma Saturday and today.

Saturday I took 400mg throughout the entire day. I had to get up fairly early to help my friend clean out his garage and get his house ready before moving out of it. Usually when I’m working for him I’m drinking 2-3 energy drinks throughout the day but Sat I felt clear focused and had plenty of energy and motivation to stay on task and get things done. I found myself not even wanting the energy drinks and motivated to stay productive. When I got home I still needed to do my shopping and spend time with the gf so took a half pill on top of the 200mg I’d already had. Normally I’d be dead tired and have some severe brain fog by this point but I instead felt Crystal clear and didn’t waste any time procrastinating. We ended up having a late dinner and I was getting very sleepy about 1am but the gf and still wanted to stay up and play a game together so I took another 100mg. This last bit bought me about two more hours of wakefulness focus and clarity before I again started getting very sleepy. Then I went to sleep no problem.

Monday’s anatomy class was great. I was able to pay attention throughout the entire 4 hours lecture and the material sunk in pretty well. After class I still had some energy and had a decent workout.

Yesterday I had my first student clinic after a long break. I had taken 200mg that morning and had plenty of energy throughout the clinic which runs from 5-9pm

Wednesdays are typically rough for me because I don’t get to sleep til late after clinic Tuesday and have to be back at the school at 8am wed. Its 7:15 now and I took 100mg about an hour ago.
Then got through class pretty well actually

This stuff really us incredible. Such a nice steady focus but not overwhelming or erratically speedy like an amphetamine.
I can sleep fine at night or even during the day if I want.
I took 200 mg total today and was pretty productive all in all. I’m keeping my mental energy well into the afternoon and not fogging up after class so much. I can come home and keep getting things done where normally I couldn’t be fucked to do much more than cook dinner

I was looking through some of the studies done on this stuff and found a couple that were somewhat relevant to my situation. MS is a nasty autoimmune disease that results in inflammation and hard plaques developing on the brain. The disease itself and the medications to treat it cause extreme fatigue and mental exhaustion. AS is also an autoimmune disease with the body attacking primarily the spine and connective tissue all over with inflammation which also causes extreme fatigue. This first study had 60 patients with MS take 200 mg modafinil for I think 9 weeks and found that it did improve their fatigue with little to no side effects.

Efficacy and safety of modafinil Provigil for the treatment of fatigue in multiple sclerosis: a two centre phase 2 studyhttps://modapharma.com/fatigue.html

This one shows that it can help protect the brain against slowing dopamine production after abuse and can prevent or slow down Parkinson’s progression. Something I’m somewhat concerned about with my long term use of pain medication and have already started showing early signs of. This was further encouragement to try to replace my pain medication with this modafinil if possible
https://modapharma.com/neuroprotective.html

Here’s one that studied people taking pain medication that made them sleepy and tested the efficacy of using modafinil to combat that drowsiness. If you’ve ever been on pain meds long term you’ll notice that sometimes all the coffee in the world is not enough to shake off the morning grogginess. Modafinil seems to even work here https://modapharma.com/opioid-sedation.html

Three is good for now. I’m not going to ware my time posting a bunch of these unless I see someone is actually interested.

I’m almost out of the sample pack I received. I have another long Saturday tomorrow so I’ll probably finish the last two pills then. Even on just 100mgs today though I’ve been fairly productive. I find that I look forward to and enjoy doing certain kinds of work more now. Or I’m at least not so opposed to doing things I have to do. Procrastination has been an enormous problem throughout my life but while on modafinil I find that I just do the things I need to do. It’s been incredibly liberating.
My workouts have been much more fun lately. I find that I have some of the energy I used to have as a teenager while doing conditioning drills and cardio a d bodyweight type stuff. I feel a little lighter and better connected all over. I get into that nice flow state much easier. I’ll certainly be ordering more of this stuff in the near future.

Well, I took a full tab this morning (7:30AM) and have had about 24oz of coffee and I feel nothing…

That’s interesting. Then what happened? Anything an hour or two later? Any chance you’ve been fleeced and got a junk product?
I’m curious about this. I hope you weren’t expecting a stimulant but assuming you’ve viewed this thread I’d say it’s safe to say you knew what you were getting into.
Please let us know what happened.

I donno. I don’t think I got a fake product or anything. I just didn’t really feel a difference. Could just be me though, I guess. I’ll try it again next week.

200mg?
I did watch a BBC documentary whetevtge guy said he didn’t really feel anything the first day either. He theorized it was bc his brain was already performing at peak levels for whatever that’s worth.
Did you notice anything at all from it?
I hope you didn’t buy a lot if its no good to you. I think I would consider trying again tomorrow to see if there’s a cumulative effect. Or taking a little more.
This stuff was fantastic to me and I can’t wait to get more to have on hand for this huge research project coming up.
Please share what happens. It may not seem like it based on replies but I know people are viewing this thread and keeping an eye on it.

You’re right. I’ve been keeping an eye on it and reading up on this subject a little. For the past couple of months I’ve been taking 500mg of lysine and 400mg. Theanine in the morning with my coffee. That combo seems to have a really good uplifting effect without the speediness of chugging coffee all day. My general demeanor is good, alertness is great, and mathematic manipulation and processing is great through out the day. I used to get brain fogged pretty badly by mid day and slip up on a lot of calculations. Sometimes if I’m short on sleep I’ll do another round after lunch and that keeps me humming along through the evening.

From what I’ve read, the combo has a pretty mild nootropic effect, but I’m not trying to blow my own doors off, just want to stay stimulated and engaged through out the day. The modafinil sounds pretty cool too, but I don’t want to have to think a whole lot about sourcing or legality. Basically just mixing my own energy drinks.

I bought the smallest amount they offerred (20 tablets iirc) so I didn’t spend a ton. I will say that I didn’t feel like I was losing focus in the afternoon, which happens quite a bit, but I’m not sure if that was because I was engaged at work for most of the day or the modalert. I’ll keep taking it throughout the week to see how it goes. I’ve got a certificate at the end of May, which is why I bought it and plan to use most of it next month.

More to come.

I just received another ten pack in the mail Saturday! It took quite awhile due to some shipping issues in India and then sat in customs in New York for like ten days but sure enough it arrived and I was able to track it every step of the way.
I’m in the middle of an immense research project this stuff will help with but more interesting than that; I recently discovered a study comparing modafinil to prami for lowering prolactin levels. Apparently since they both upregulate dopamine they both suppress prolactin fairly well. Only modafinil doesn’t knock people out and make them super nauseous like prami does.
I’ll link the study later, I’m at the gym now. I’m considering ordering a bunch more modapharma and running a little experiment to see if my prolactin goes down.
This stuff is the most incredible drug for overall productivity in my opinion.

I just ordered another 50. Pretty stoked to have it for this research project.

I’ll be taking the remaining 19 I bought starting on the 13th or so in prep for a cert on the 31st.

Yep, modafinils is a respectable nootropic, especially if you have fatigue related issue. However, if you want even ‘cleaner’ energy or moda upgrade, you might want to try na-r-ala (300 mg), alcar, (500 mg) coq10 (300 mg) for mitochondrial boost.

just make sure not to use them around workouts…

“I mostly felt like I just wanted to do something productive while I had the energy.”

That is the beauty of modafinil: it makes you super productive. I’m a writer, and I have never felt more engaged in my work than after discovering modafinil.

I think it was the following article that first convinced me to pick up some modafinil online:

Does Modafinil Really Make You Smarter?

Evidence from Clinical Studies

Is modafinil (also known as Provigil) a genuine nootropic? Can it really make you smarter? This article presents several clinical studies on healthy individuals, which show that the consensus within the medical community is overwhelmingly affirmative: Modafinil is more than just a wakefulness-promoting agent—it is a legitimate smart drug with tremendous cognitive enhancement potential.

One of the most common questions that people who are interested in cognitive enhancement ask is whether modafinil should be considered a genuine nootropic or not. Most often, the questioner has read a pharmaceutical label or an online encyclopedia entry in which modafinil is described as a "wakefulness-promoting agent,” and so they wonder why it is even used for cognitive enhancement (See, for instance, RxList’s entry for Provigil [1]).

Indeed, it is true that modafinil promotes wakefulness, or mental alertness, and is most commonly prescribed to individuals with narcolepsy or shift work sleep disorder (SWSD). [2] In that sense, it is a wakefulness-promoting drug. However, modafinil is frequently touted on online forums, [3] in the news, [4] and virtually all over the Internet [5] [6] [7] as a “nootropic,” “smart drug,” “cognitive enhancer,” or “nootropic-like drug.”

So, how exactly should we view modafinil? Is it a medication for people with sleep disorders or a nootropic with cognitive benefits for healthy people like you and me? Not surprisingly, scientists have been studying the cognitive enhancing effects of modafinil in healthy, non-sleep-deprived individuals for some time. As it turns out, modafinil has repeatedly been shown to improve neuropsychological task performance in clinical studies, and therefore fits the profile of a genuine nootropic.

Let’s examine the most recent research. In a 2003 study by Cambridge University neuropsychologists, [8] 60 healthy college students were given either modafinil or a placebo before completing various tests designed to measure memory and attention (These included visual pattern recognition and logical problem solving tasks). The results? You guessed it: the modafinil group performed significantly better than the placebo group, showing up to 180% improvement in areas such as memory, concentration, visual pattern recognition, response time, and decision making.

What’s more, several other peer-reviewed studies have since confirmed these results (See, for example, [9] [10] [11] [12]). Some have even uncovered additional benefits. One study, in particular, found that modafinil reduced error rates on memory and attention tasks by a considerable measure. [13] Another study, conducted by researchers at Loma Linda University in California, found that modafinil facilitated “sustained attention, cognitive control, and working memory” in medical doctors who took the drug before work. [14]

For most people, a half-dozen or so clinical studies will not be enough to convince them of modafinil’s cognitive-enhancing potential, so consider this: In a recent review of 24 studies that assessed how modafinil affected healthy non-sleep deprived individuals, Oxford researchers Ruairidh Battleday and Anna-Katherine Brem found that Modafinil “consistently improved performance on complex tests [which measured] attention; the ability to focus on a task and process relevant information; learning and memory; and executive function.” [15] The last category, executive function, refers to the ability to process information and use it to produce plans or strategies.

Battleday and Brem’s survey of the literature is impressively comprehensive in scope, and the conclusion so well-supported as to be indisputable, that several prominent researchers have since come out with statements acknowledging Modafinil’s cognitive benefits. One researcher at Harvard Medical School and the Max Planck Institute for Psychiatry, commented: “[I]n the face of vanishingly few side effects in these controlled environments, modafinil can be considered a cognitive enhancer.” Guy Goodwin, M.D., D.Phil., President Emeritus of the European College of Neuropsychopharmacology (ECNP), said about Brem and Battleday’s article: “This overview suggests that, on current evidence, modafinil enhances cognition independent of its known effects in sleep disordered populations. Thus, the authors say that ‘Modafinil may well deserve the title of the first well-validated pharmaceutical nootropic agent.’ In other words, it’s the first real example of a ‘smart drug,’ which can genuinely help, for example, with exam preparation.” [16]

So, there you have it. Medical research has shown that modafinil is more than just a wakefulness-promoting agent—it is a legitimate smart drug with tremendous cognitive benefits, including improved attention, learning, memory and executive function. Now, before you go and buy modafinil online, you should consult a relevant health care provider. This article is intended only to provide facts, not medical advice. As with any supplement, do your own research before you begin taking modafinil.