Posted by 3 Beer Effect on February 6, 2002, at 12:18:54
I always had a problem of abusing ADD psychostimulants such as Ritalin (my favorite), Dexedrine, & Adderall & even Cocaine a few times; So as a service to the wonderful field of psychiatry I thought I would take Provigil for a test drive of its abuse potential to make sure it is safe for my fellow psycho-babblers.
I just got a prescription for Provigil (Modafinil) for Provigil 200 mg/day. Since I had a complementary sample bottle of six extra Provigils I decided to try 600 mg the first day & 400 mg the second day (today). {from tommorrow onward I'll definitely go back to the normal 200 mg dose}. Somewhere I read that it was feared Provigil may have an abuse potential much like the other psychostimulants since it supposedly causes euphoria at doses of 500 mg/day or greater. Currently Provigil is Schedule IV (low potential for abuse) while the other psychostimulants/ADD meds Dexedrine, Adderall, & Ritalin, Focalin, Concerta are Schedule II (high potential for abuse, DEA triplicate prescription required, no refills allowed).
I personally found that Provigil has a low potential for abuse since it lacks the most desirable quality of abusable stimulant drugs- euphoria. Both 600 & 400 mg feel roughly similar to 5-10 mg Dexedrine but without euphoria. Provigil does none cause any of that great 'on top of the world' amphetamine feeling that Dexedrine or even Adderall does.
Unfortunately, at 600 or 400 mg, Provigil is dysphoric & feels exactly like if you took too many No Doz caffeine pills. The most notable dysphoric feeling is a rapid heartbeat that lasts all day long & nausea. Also seems to cause lack of appetite but does increase energy. It does seem to make you optimistic & have anti-depressant qualities-- will definitely get you out of bed in the morning if you have the type of severe depression where you stay in bed all day. So far, seems to be inferior to Ritalin for brain stimulation, but some said Provigil takes up to a month for its full psychostimulant effect.
Doctors take note: A great beneficial use of Provigil would be to counteract the daytime drowsiness/somnolence effect of Remeron. Remeron is supposed to be one of the most powerful antidepressants & if it was taken (at night) in combination with Provigil 200 mg (in the morning) it would be an antidepressant combo almost completely free of side effects! (Remeron has no sexual side effects, Provigil would cancel out both the Remeron daytime sedation & appetite increase).
Doctors now have a stimulant that they can safely prescribe to alcoholics or former alcoholics & perhaps even to former drug addicts who have attention deficit disorder or brain degeneration/atrophy/lesions from alcohol/drug abuse.
Perhaps more importantly, Provigil diversion to the street illegal drug trade will most likely NOT occur. Provigil is NOT water soluble & so cannot be given by a needle (intraveneuosly). There has been some diversion of the other psychostimulants (dexedrine) & surprisingly Ritalin is somewhat popular on the illicit drug market- Ritalin is known as "West Coast" & is often combined with Talwin(Pentazocine) "T's & Rits" or even with Zoloft "Zoomers" & is snorted or injected intraveneously.
poster:3 Beer Effect
thread:93083
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20020131/msgs/93083.html