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Dr. Bob is Robert Hsiung, MD,
bob@dr-bob.orgShown: posts 1 to 17 of 17. This is the beginning of the thread.
Posted by tensor on January 2, 2008, at 14:47:34
The last half year I have been having chronic fatigue and poor concentration. Currently take Edronax 8mg with Remeron 15mg for depression and 2mg clonazepam for SP. Will see my pdoc next week and I really have any ideas on how to boost energy/motivation/interest. The only thing I can think of is modafinil and I would like to hear your experiences with. Does it help? Doses? Will it poop-out quickly or can its effect be sustained?
Thanks.
Posted by star008 on January 2, 2008, at 15:52:53
In reply to Modafinil/Provigil, posted by tensor on January 2, 2008, at 14:47:34
Yes, provigil might help you.. It helps alot with energy though I have had to increase my dosage several times. The first few days I was buzzing along..lol.. That part passed. d..m.. it ws kind of fun.. It can make you very nervous though if you have something going on. It doenst' poop out but like i said, I did increase from 100mg to 200-400.. I dose it depending on how I feel and what I am doing. I work nites so I use more then.
I have been on it for a couple of years i think. Can't take Ampetamines cause i used to be addicted to them.. I liked ritalin better but my dose was increasing rapidly.
Stange but sometimes i can take it and go to sleep. Must be the way my body works.. Give it a shot and see..Very expensive though and I had to get preapproval from my insurance company.Provigil also has an off-label use for depression
Posted by Racer on January 2, 2008, at 17:09:07
In reply to Re: Modafinil/Provigil » tensor, posted by star008 on January 2, 2008, at 15:52:53
I took Provigil for a couple of years, and stayed at the same dose virtually the entire time. I may go back on it.
I found it augmented the AD I was taking, brightened my mood, and improved my sleep -- in fact, I've never slept better in my life than when I was taking Provigil! The down side was that I usually needed a nap in the afternoons, about an hour after taking it. Also, after a couple of years, it felt as though it was increasing my depression -- but there were some things going on at the time that probably had more to do with it.
Hope that helps.
Posted by bleauberry on January 2, 2008, at 17:43:50
In reply to Modafinil/Provigil, posted by tensor on January 2, 2008, at 14:47:34
I tried Modafinil and the drug it was invented from, Adrafinil. I liked Adrafinil a lot better. Seemed to have more antidepressant and energy punch to it, though it was slower coming on than Modafinil (weeks versus hours). It is dirt cheap compared to Modafinil.
Yes Modafinil can benefit all of your symptoms. I used to study all the responses people wrote in at various websites about their drug trials. Overall I guess Modafinil scored higher than anything else on the market for antidepression and energy. The downside was that it pooped out in days or weeks for many. And it seemed to provoke a strange feeling of total fatigue at random times regardless of dose. For some people it worked magically all the time. I think one or two people said they felt great the first couple days and then got worse and worse after that. As with anything else...mileage varies.
I think the most important thing is to ask your doctor to think in terms of your specific symptoms and not a syndrome. For example, you wouldn't want just any antidepressant. Maybe not even an antidepessant at all. You want something that will be specific in increasing motivation, and something specific to increase energy. It may be one drug that does both, or it may require two different ones.
Posted by Phillipa on January 2, 2008, at 17:54:27
In reply to Re: Modafinil/Provigil, posted by bleauberry on January 2, 2008, at 17:43:50
Really? I'd like to try the providgil I have but don't want to be anxious what does do you suggest? Phillipa thanks
Posted by 4WD on January 2, 2008, at 20:44:52
In reply to Modafinil/Provigil, posted by tensor on January 2, 2008, at 14:47:34
> The last half year I have been having chronic fatigue and poor concentration. Currently take Edronax 8mg with Remeron 15mg for depression and 2mg clonazepam for SP. Will see my pdoc next week and I really have any ideas on how to boost energy/motivation/interest. The only thing I can think of is modafinil and I would like to hear your experiences with. Does it help? Doses? Will it poop-out quickly or can its effect be sustained?
>
> Thanks.For me Provigil is a double edged sword. I can take it for four or five days and really feel better. Then something weird happens and one day I take the usual dose and about an hour later, I get severely depressed. The depression lasts several hours, about the amount of time it would take the Provigil to get out of my system.
A word of caution. It can definitely build tolerance. My husband takes it and started out at 300 mg a day. Now he takes 800-1000mg a day. I know (and he knows) this is too high a dose but he takes it like a drug of abuse. Actually he is abusing it and always runs out of his prescription early. When this happens he definitely goes into withdrawal--terribly cranky and moody and generally miserable. So be careful.
Marsha
Posted by star008 on January 2, 2008, at 21:03:56
In reply to Re: Modafinil/Provigil » bleauberry, posted by Phillipa on January 2, 2008, at 17:54:27
phillipa..
You might get anxious with it. I am okay unless there is something going on that is already makng me anxious. I do have a high tolerance to stimulants though. I am not sure how it would work for yu. mayabe your dr has samples you could try
Posted by star008 on January 2, 2008, at 21:09:34
In reply to Re: Modafinil/Provigil » tensor, posted by 4WD on January 2, 2008, at 20:44:52
it is true that you can abuse it. doesn't work well for me.. i have tsken too much and gotten tired. There have been days when I probably have taken 800 but it was only because i felt so bad and wanted a boost.. didn't work though.. I normally take 400, sometimes more if the day is really long. On slow days I sometimes don't take it at all or only take 200.. i have managed to keep my dose at what it is supposed to be most of the time and I am an addict..But everyone is different.
Posted by Mishal on January 3, 2008, at 3:21:29
In reply to Re: Modafinil/Provigil tensor » 4WD, posted by star008 on January 2, 2008, at 21:09:34
> it is true that you can abuse it.
Provigil can be abused? I don't think so.
It doesn't work at all over a therapeutic range and maximum therapeutic dose is 400mg daily. Some anecdotal reports are there for its efficacy on 600mg too, but it is not well documented.
I tried as high as 800mg a day, but failed to find it any better to my current 300mg.
Posted by tensor on January 3, 2008, at 6:13:41
In reply to Modafinil/Provigil, posted by tensor on January 2, 2008, at 14:47:34
Ok, thanks for your input. I will definately take this up with my pdoc, if I arm myself with enough articles from pubmed etc. he might allow me to try it, although I have a strong feeling Provigil can give me only a transient boost, if at all. However, it will at least buy me some time to evaluate other options.
Thanks.
Posted by tensor on January 3, 2008, at 6:30:01
In reply to Re: Modafinil/Provigil, posted by tensor on January 3, 2008, at 6:13:41
Could you please share your experiences with this drug? I think it would be easier to get a prescription for this one than for modafinil. Someone wrote that he/she liked it better than modafinil, but I read it has really short halflife, which could render it useless for me that needs a full day coverage.
Thanks.
Posted by star008 on January 3, 2008, at 11:03:13
In reply to Re: Modafinil/Provigil tensor » star008, posted by Mishal on January 3, 2008, at 3:21:29
I was referring to the post above where her husband takes 800 and runs out and crashes.. taking 800 when you are perscribed much less is abuse.. It doesn't work for me when i try to abuse it either but everyone is different. I crash when i take too much.. it's like it works backwards.. but everyone reacts to meds differently
Posted by Sigismund on January 3, 2008, at 15:04:01
In reply to ADRAFINIL/OLMIFON, posted by tensor on January 3, 2008, at 6:30:01
I took it for a while and even liked it for a bit, but it gave me 'feelings of inner tension' and I was better without it.
It's not that short acting.
Maybe twice a day dosage.
Posted by bleauberry on January 3, 2008, at 19:45:25
In reply to ADRAFINIL/OLMIFON, posted by tensor on January 3, 2008, at 6:30:01
When I became undepressed, but emotionally numb, on 20mg prozac, I added adrafinil. It fixed the emotional numbness almost completely. Contrary to the recommended dose of 2 or 300mg tabs per day, I found just one in the morning was perfect. It enters as adrafinil and is then metabolized in your body into modafinil. For the first couple weeks it made it hard to fall asleep at night even though I took it in the morning, so I know for sure it is not in and out real fast, despite what any literature says.
Side effects at too high of a dose were what is common on the label...inner tension. I found the lower dose worked just fine with zero side effects, but that it took about a month to fully kick in. Which is in line with the literature on it. It does have delayed effects similar to antidepressants. Benefits are seen over weeks, not days. Modafinil is more of an instant hitter. Adrafinil creeps up over time and I found it so much more effective and smoother than modafinil.
Speaking of inner tension...modafinil. Oh my. To me it was tons worse than adrafinil. At least with adrafinil I could find a good dose and let it work over time. I could never do that with modafinil. It just wouldn't cooperate with me. The two drugs are so darn similar, and yet quite unique from each other. Some literature says, and my experience agrees, that adrafinil is the better of the two as an antidepressant. The key is, it takes time just like an antidepressant. No instant homerun.
Adrafinil is not available in USA, but is easily available from mailorder nootropic websites who sell it worldwide. It is dirt cheap and takes about 2 weeks to arrive. I ordered it many times and never had a problem with customs. They are looking for hardcore drugs and allow a personal 90 day supply of just about anything else.
> Could you please share your experiences with this drug? I think it would be easier to get a prescription for this one than for modafinil. Someone wrote that he/she liked it better than modafinil, but I read it has really short halflife, which could render it useless for me that needs a full day coverage.
>
> Thanks.
Posted by tensor on January 3, 2008, at 20:26:04
In reply to Re: ADRAFINIL/OLMIFON » tensor, posted by bleauberry on January 3, 2008, at 19:45:25
How does methylphenidate compare to modafinil? Is it more effective? How about side effects?
Thanks.
Posted by bleauberry on January 5, 2008, at 20:06:25
In reply to How about Methylphenidate?, posted by tensor on January 3, 2008, at 20:26:04
I think it depends on the person. The mileage varies thing.
For me it is hard to compare the two. Even though they are both stimulants, they feel different in a way that is hard for me to put into words. Modafinil feels dirtier, ritalin cleaner. Ritalin more pronounced in energy, concentration, and mood. Ritalin less of a crash. Ritalin more reliable. Until tolerance develops, you know what to expect each time. Modafinil is sometimes unpredictable. Both can give me a bit of inner tension, but ritalin's is short lasting while modafinil is long lasting.
Modafinil has a gold plated price tag while ritalin is relatively cheap.Some people who have been the whole route through adderall and ritalin end up really liking modafinil. So again, mileage varies.
> How does methylphenidate compare to modafinil? Is it more effective? How about side effects?
>
> Thanks.
Posted by 4WD on January 6, 2008, at 16:57:53
In reply to Re: ADRAFINIL/OLMIFON » tensor, posted by bleauberry on January 3, 2008, at 19:45:25
Hi,
I ordered some adrafinal online but it wasn't dirt cheap. It was $38.00 and $15.00 shipping. It came from South Africa. Have you found a cheaper source?
Marsha
This is the end of the thread.
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