Modafinil is often called the “king of smart drugs” and it’s become a popular drug among students and professionals who want to get ahead. It’s typically prescribed to treat narcolepsy, but it’s also used off-label for other reasons.
It promotes wakefulness and alertness, so it’s useful for conditions like narcolepsy, shift work sleep disorder, and obstructive sleep apnea. It may also help reduce fatigue related to multiple sclerosis and jet lag.
Reduces fatigue
Millions of people suffer from jet lag, a temporary sleep disorder caused by rapid travel across time zones. Symptoms include extreme fatigue, disrupted circadian rhythms, and trouble concentrating.
Buy Modafinil Australia is a wakefulness-promoting agent that enhances alertness without the side effects of traditional stimulants like jitteriness, heart rate acceleration, and elevated blood pressure. It is FDA-approved for treating narcolepsy, shift work sleep disorder, and obstructive sleep apnea but has gained off-label use as an effective anti-jet lag treatment.
In one study, 32 healthy members of the Royal Netherlands Air Force were double-blindly administered 300 mg of caffeine, 200 mg modafinil, or a placebo on three test days after a regular work day.
They were then asked to complete the psychomotor vigilance test (PVT), Vigilance and Tracking task (VigTrack), and Stanford Sleepiness Scale six times until 8 a.m. the next day. The authors found that modafinil reduced lapses on the PVT and SSS compared to placebo.
The same research team also conducted a flight simulator study and observed that pilots who did not receive modafinil experienced a degradation of performance after 25 hours without sleep whereas those on the drug continued to perform at a nearly normal level. Unlike the jitteriness and heart rate acceleration associated with caffeine, which leads to withdrawal syndrome, modafinil does not induce withdrawal symptoms.
Increases focus
In the RNLAF study, pilots were not kept awake for more than 24 hours before completing the test. This limited testing period may explain why the performance improvements of modafinil compared to caffeine were more pronounced for the PVT parameters and SSS than for the VigTrack mean tracking error. However, future studies could compare the effects of modafinil and caffeine over longer durations to determine if these stimulants have a more extended effect on vigilance and focus.
Improves sleep
Jet lag is the result of rapid cross-time-zone travel, disrupting the body’s circadian rhythms. It’s a common problem experienced by millions of travelers, resulting in extreme fatigue, sleep disturbances, and cognitive impairments. Traditionally, the most effective treatments have been behavioral adjustments and various medications that stimulate the central nervous system.
Modafinil (Modawake 200 mg) a wakefulness-promoting drug originally developed to treat narcolepsy and excessive daytime sleepiness, works differently from traditional stimulants by directly targeting specific brain areas. It has been shown to improve cognitive function, alertness, and vigilance in conditions of extreme fatigue, making it an attractive option for jet lag.
One study involved 30 volunteers from the Royal Netherlands Air Force who were kept awake for 17 hours and then double-blindly administered modafinil, caffeine, or placebo on three non-consecutive test days.
Their vigilance and psychomotor performance were measured using the Vigilance and Tracking Test (VigTrack) and the Psychomotor Vigilance Task (PVT). Results showed that both 200 mg and 400 mg of modafinil significantly reduced the effects of a short period of sleep deprivation on PVT parameters and SSS scores, with modafinil showing greater efficacy than caffeine, possibly due to its longer half-life.
Other subjective-effect ratings such as ‘Alert’ also improved with modafinil, which reflects its ability to promote wakefulness and enhance focus, even during sleep. In contrast, the placebo condition yielded no significant improvements in any of these measures.
Reduces stress
The stress of jet lag, especially when combined with long flights and long stays, can cause a great deal of mental fatigue. Modafinil reduces the symptoms of jet lag by increasing alertness and cognitive function. It does so without causing the hyperarousal and preservative behavior that can occur with traditional stimulants. This makes it an ideal drug for use in travelers who need to focus, stay awake, and remain productive whilst traveling, or for people suffering from shift work sleep disorder.
It’s been proven that Modafinil improves the ability to concentrate and pay attention, but it also boosts memory and increases something called “fluid intelligence” – our capacity to solve problems and think creatively. This makes it a useful drug for people who have to work late night shifts or for students doing last-minute cramming before an exam.
Like amphetamines, which were widely used to keep military personnel awake during World War Two, Modafinil can help people cope with extreme drowsiness. However, unlike amphetamines, which can be addictive and lead to abuse, Modafinil is not.
Interestingly, the 5C-CPT improvement induced by Modafinil was due to improved target detection (hit rate) rather than increased overall responsivity. It will be interesting to see if Modafinil affects specific brain regions that contribute to different aspects of attention, to identify the mechanisms through which it improves the 5C-CPT task.