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My experiment with smart drugs (2008)

johannhari.com

21–30 of 139 posts

Re: My experiment with smart drugs (2008)

#21
I tried Modafinil (provigil). Its effect was mild at best, and it was hard to determine whether this was a placebo effect or not. Ritalin, on the other hand, was very effective, but it gives a bit of a cocaine-like high, which scared me enough not to use it for more than a week. Luckily that was enough to get me through that seemingly insurmountable pile of work I had to do.

Re: My experiment with smart drugs (2008)

#22
Modafinil and Startups (Daniel Tenner): http://swombat.com/2012/2/27/modafinil-and-startups

Here is the conclusion:

"I will come strongly on the side of saying that anyone who wants to build a startup should stay away from any regular or semi-regular Modafinil use, as it will impair their judgement enough to make up for any apparent gain in productivity, and I would further posit that any founder who takes Modafinil regularly has a habit (as I did) of taking on potentially large, unknown long-term liabilities for small short-term gains, which is not a good thing."

Re: My experiment with smart drugs (2008)

#25
I've been taking 200mg of Modafinil probably on average of 3 times a week for the best part of 4 years now and it has certainly changed my life for the better. It is very effective at raising my mood and motivation. I disagree that it doesn't have a stimulant-like effect though. Before taking Modafinil, I had a very high caffeine tolerance (I could drink as many cokes or coffees as I liked and not even notice the effect). I usually have to limit the amount of caffeine I drink to one coffee these days, or my heart rate goes through the roof. It also makes my jaw tense (a common side-effect of stimulants, apparently). I am quite a clumsy person at the best of times, but I've also noticed that my co-ordination seems to be adversely effected (poor judgement of space, etc) although my reaction times do seem to improve (I've surprised myself sometimes catching falling objects that I'm sure I'd never catch if I hadn't taken Modafinil). I haven't seen this effect documented anywhere though.

Re: My experiment with smart drugs (2008)

#29
post #26
post #2

On so many levels I am so tempted to try this, but I just can't bring myself to - but I am in constant envy of co-workers who 'juice' and watch their productivity soar.

What exactly do you mean by juice? I'm guessing not the fruit/Veg kind...

I believe his use of 'juice' comes from the sports world and how they refer to the use of performance enhancing substances as 'juicing'.

Re: My experiment with smart drugs (2008)

#30

As someone with ADHD who takes Ritilin, this seemed interesting to me as a non-stimulant alternative. However, it appears that Modafinil is a "pro-histamine" which would mean that it could aggregate allergy symptoms. I wonder if anyone has ever studied the correlation between anti-histamine use and the development of ADHD.

My personal experience with Modafinil is that it very much does have a stimulant effect, if that makes you feel any better.
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