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Provigil

I dont know if this is accurate or not, but I thought it should be shared.  I just read this in the "Health" Section of Foxnews.com  I have heard a lot of really good things about Provigil, although I've never used it.  It was recommended to me many times though.  Just some food for thought.  Seems EVERYTHING comes with its own set of dangers attached.   Much love MH,
RB (Christina)


Popular 'Smart Drug' Prescription May Carry Addiction Risk
Wednesday, March 18, 2009  

A so-called "smart drug" popular with young people may carry more of an addiction risk than thought, a small government study suggests. Scans of 10 healthy men showed that the prescription drug Provigil caused changes in the brain's pleasure center, very much like potentially habit-forming classic stimulants. Modafinil, the drug's generic name, is sometimes used as an illegal study aid by college students.

"It would be wonderful if one could take a drug and be smarter, faster or have more energy," said Dr. Nora Volkow, director of the National Institute on Drug Abuse, who led the study with a Brookhaven National Laboratory scientist. "But that is like fairy tales. We currently have nothing that has those benefits without side effects."

The study, appearing in Wednesday's Journal of the American Medical Association, may bust the myth that the drug is safe for healthy people, experts said.

Provigil is approved to treat excessive daytime sleepiness caused by narcolepsy. On the market since 1999, it's the flagship product of Cephalon Inc. of Frazer, Pa., and its sales approached $1 billion last year. The company is developing a spin-off called Nuvigil.

Modafinil's reputation as a brain enhancer stems from an Air Force study that found it improved the performance of sleep-deprived fighter pilots. College students buy and sell it illegally, as they do Ritalin and Adderall, to stay alert while studying.

Several scientists recently wrote in the journal Nature that healthy people should have the right to boost their brains with pills like Provigil. One author of that commentary, brain scientist Martha Farah of the University of Pennsylvania, said the new study "goes to show that we need a little caution and a little humility when we're messing around with our brain chemistry."

"But even now, after all the years that it has been on the market, we are still learning things about it that are relevant to its safety," Farah said.

The men in the study were 23 to 46 years old. They received either a dummy pill or modafinil. Effects were measured by PET scans, which showed that the drug increased dopamine, the brain's "feel-good" neurotransmitters.

Modafinil once was thought to be safer than conventional stimulants because it was believed that it did not engage the brain's dopamine system, which is linked with addiction. Studies in mice and monkeys suggested otherwise.

The new study is the first human evidence that a typical dose of modafinil affects dopamine in the brain as much as a dose of Ritalin, a controlled substance with clear potential for dependence.

Volkow said modafinil acts slowly when swallowed and is difficult to inject, making it less likely to be abused. Its high price, about $10 per pill compared to Ritalin at $2 per pill, also makes it less attractive to people seeking a high. That may change when generics become available in 2012, Volkow said.

Jeffry Vaught, chief science officer for Cephalon, said the company has seen no evidence the drug is highly abused.

"If abuse is a problem with modafinil, it's minimal at best," Vaught said. "We're not seeing it used at rave scenes."

Prescribing information for the drug warns of severe rashes and other side effects such as headache, nausea and anxiety. Cephalon doesn't support the drug's use as a cognitive enhancer.

"There's no substitute for sleep," Vaught said.

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Avatar universal
I agree fully with stacey - if I hadnt gone through the speed kills days of the 60's it would have gotten me - - too many things hit the market without enough knowledge - - and the Docs are frequently the victims of large Pharm companies propoganda -- -- and we all know who ends up paying the price for that propoganda - the users, of course.....
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
omg!!!!!!!!!!!!!this is the most amazing and addictive drug i have ever done and in my eyes if i did not realize that i had a problem with prescription meds i would have been a very serious pravigil user.  It is like speed and it was givin to someone i new for her sleep apnea my advice to any addict is stay far far away to addicting bad bad bad for someone who really does have a problem with staying awake during the day than maybe but for someone who is abusing it stop ;now before you go any farther.
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Thats good info to read - around here a few Docs hand that stuff out like candy..... I would imagine that the attitude will change as our knowledge base expands.... "If it sounds too good to be true ....."  Was it Huey Lewis and the News?  I want a new drug ....
Helpful - 0
775823 tn?1239676122
the doctor i used to work for would take provigil all the time as an "upper."  my mom (she is nurse who worked for him too) and i swear he was addicted to it.  then he would take ambien/lunesta to go to sleep.  all of the provigil and ambien/lunesta samples would always be gone from the drug room at the office i worked at and they were not going to the patients...

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