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Provigil Extends Your Day?

John Mearns writes "It looks like before long all caffeine junkies will be able to ditch the bottle of Mountain Dew or cup of coffee in favor of pill. Its not a true stimulant so you don't get the "caffeine crash," just countless hours of alert attentiveness. " It's also still in testing so it'll probably make you grow horns or something, and is supposed to only be used for people who are sleepy during the day, but it raises several interesting ethical questions.

21 of 631 comments (clear)

  1. First Post. by QuodEratDemonstratum · · Score: 5, Funny


    Cool, if I take these it will increase my chances of getting a first post.

    Pop pill.
    Reload /.
    Pop pill.
    Reload /.
    Pop pill.
    Reload /.
    Rinse,
    Repeat.

  2. caffene crash is great by Lumpy · · Score: 5, Interesting

    How else do i know it's time to give up and go to bed? when you finally come crashing down in the bathroom as your body is expelling all that water...

    Boom.... now sleep for 12 hours.

    I want something that will reduce my bodies need for sleep... make me feel good and refreshed on 3 or 4 hours of sleep.

    --
    Do not look at laser with remaining good eye.
    1. Re:caffene crash is great by Wonko42 · · Score: 5, Interesting

      Try Uberman's Sleep Cycle. If your schedule allows it, and you're able to adjust to the cycle, you'll end up getting around two to three hours of sleep per day (just not consecutively) and you'll feel better than after a normal eight hours of sleep. Or so people say.

    2. Re:caffene crash is great by Quixote · · Score: 5, Informative
      I saw a news magazine program once which monitored a guy doing this for weeks. They had a camera setup in the bedroom, and this dude was supposed to perform mental tasks (puzzles, memorization, etc.) at periodic intervals.

      He seemed to be getting along just fine, until about day 62 or so, and then he crashed, and crashed hard!

    3. Re:caffene crash is great by SandSpider · · Score: 4, Funny

      Yeah, some kids in my dorm did this. They had heard that DaVinci did it or something. It went for a few days, until they overslept and nothing at all would wake them. They only missed a few classes.

      =Brian

      --
      There is nothing so good that someone, somewhere, will not hate it.
    4. Re:caffene crash is great by dbretton · · Score: 5, Funny

      That's because he began to deviate from the pattern.

      I've been on the Uberman cycle for about ~95 days now, and I feel great. I've average about 3.5 hours of sleep a day, and I realy feel as refreshed as I used to be after a 10 hour sleep-fest.
      I highly recommend it to anyone who is willing to
      ..Hccchhhh.............zZZZZZzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz zzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz

  3. Seriously by crumbz · · Score: 4, Funny

    What would happen if you took this with an Ambien, a couple of beers, a Tylenol-3 and a grande mocha? I think you would time travel...

    1. Re:Seriously by TheDarkRogue · · Score: 5, Funny

      one glass vodka, $3
      one shot nyquil (The icky green liquid stuff, not Gelcaps), $2
      two tablets nodoze, $3

      not knowing where the fuck you are, what day it is, what time it is, your name, what language your speaking, and then comming too 7 hours later and finding you wrote a web/gopher/ftp/qotd/chargen server that works, priceless

      --
      (Score:0, Interesting)
  4. Wow... by MonkeyBot · · Score: 4, Funny

    If I would have had this during my undergrad career as an engineer, maybe I could have gotten a degree AND had a social life!

  5. It won't replace coffee. by Hiro+Antagonist · · Score: 4, Insightful

    There's something incredibly cozy about having a cup of hot coffee or tea to sip on throughout the day, a sort of tangibility that you won't get from popping a pill. It's kind of like the difference between muzak(tm) and Pink Floyd...sure, both are music, but only one is music.

    --

    --
    I Hit the Karma Cap, and All I Got Was This Lousy .sig.
  6. Sleep and dreams... by Steveftoth · · Score: 5, Interesting

    Since this deprives you of sleep, but somehow keeps you from falling asleep, the long-term side effects of this are compeletly unknown. All the studies show that not sleeping is extreamly bad for you in the long run. Lowers immune systems, increases stress, reduces hapiness, etc.
    One thing they don't mention is if you have to sleep for a 'normal' amount after the drug wares off. So if you are awake for like 36 hours, then how long do you sleep? 8 hours? or 16 hours?

    Even if this has bad long term effects, this will be very popular, everyone has those nights that they 'have' to stay up and work. Could be the procrationators drug of choice.

  7. WARNING! No one knows how it works!!! by toupsie · · Score: 4, Insightful
    From the article:
    Provigil was developed in France in the 1970s. Although no one is sure how it works, animal studies show that the medication--unlike other drugs that induce wakefulness--doesn't seem to dramatically increase levels of dopamine, a neurotransmitter associated with arousal and alertness.

    If you want to take a drug that no one knows how it works, go for it. However, I will not be taking a drug that scientists are clueless about.

    The best treatment for sleepiness is SLEEPING!!! If you are engaging in an activity that is depriving you of sleep, STOP!!! There is a reason you get sleepy. Your body and mind needs to rest and recharge and sleepiness is the signal to do so. Medical test after medical test has shown that people that deprive themselves of sleep go insane and lose their ability to perform even the easiest of tasks. That is why sleep deprivation is used so often as a torture device to break down subjects, so they will spill the proverbial beans.

    --
    Strange women lying in ponds distributing swords is no basis for a system of government.
    1. Re:WARNING! No one knows how it works!!! by t0qer · · Score: 5, Funny

      Medical test after medical test has shown that people that deprive themselves of sleep go insane and lose their ability to perform even the easiest of tasks.

      Lol, I got an insanity story to tell...

      When I was 18, I worked construction down in bakersfield. Everyday my boss would give me a little bit of krank to stick in my gums. I honestly didn't know what I was getting into as I had never done it before.

      After a week of no sleep, drinking pint's of whiskey like they were soda pops, and various hallucinations. I decided it would be a *Good Thing* to take on my friends 350lb father with my 150lb kranked out self.

      Lucky for me, all he did was throw me 30 feet to which, I landed on my feet, ran across the street and started yelling, "C'mon you pussy come on this side of the street i'll kick your ass!" After that episode I went home, slept for 28 hours, and vowed never to do that shit again. Haven't touched the stuff since.

  8. I do cocaine.... by teamhasnoi · · Score: 4, Funny
    so I can work more, so I can make more money, so I can do more coke, so I can work more, so I can make more money, so I can do more coke, so I can work more, so I can make more money, so I can do more coke,so I can work more, so I can make more money, so I can do more coke,so I can work more, so I can make more money, so I can do more coke.....

    ....I'm always chasing rainbows...

  9. What "interesting ethical questions"? by stuce · · Score: 5, Insightful

    Where does society get off saying what people can and can't do with their own bodies, given that they are aware of the risks (or at least aware that the risks are not known). These are not questions for the government or society to ask. These are questions for individuals to ask. "Is this a good choice for me and my body?"

  10. I've used it. by dietz · · Score: 5, Informative

    I've used it. The longest I've ever stayed up is 40 hours or so. The only noticible side effect was a slight headache, but that could've been caused by any number of things (I get headaches a fair amount because I don't eat very well :/). Headaches are the most common reported side-effect by far.

    Even after 40 hours of being awake, I was still at nearly full mental capactity and able to work, etc. I did not feel the normal symptoms of sleep deprevation at all (I've stayed awake too long many times, and I'm familiar with how it makes you feel). I did not feel high, either. I was just... awake. I also didn't feel many physical problems (sore back, sore legs, etc) like I expected to, but YMMV, of course.

    Afterwards I slept about 9 hours and had a normal next day. By my calculations (figuring you normally sleep .5 hours for each hour of wakefulness), that means I gained 22 hours of wakefulness.

    You can find them on the internet if you look around enough. I am hesitant to mention sites, but there are two in the UK that sell 100mg pills. I have been unable to find the 200mg pills. They sell for about $145 + shipping ($15 or so) for 30 pills. That's $5.33 a pill. During my 40 hours awake, I took four, which works out to about $1 per hour.

    Many people I tell this to think it would be a good idea to take them during finals. I must warn you that it's probably not a good idea because there is a very good chance your sleep schedule will get completely fucked up. For example, you may stay up for 32 hours, decide it's time for sleep, and then sleep through a final. In other words, I would take it a few times beforehand to get used to it before you decide to jump in and potentially fuck up something important.

    1. Re:I've used it. by John+Whitley · · Score: 4, Insightful

      Many people I tell this to think it would be a good idea to take them during finals.

      I never grokked why this stay-up-for-hours mentality became such a powerful meme with college students. I *always* did better by getting a reasonable amount of sleep than by staying up to cram. Give yourself a few extra days lead time for in-depth studying. Get proper sleep sleep for the period just before and during exams. Watch your performance soar.

  11. You need to mix the stuff up. by MongooseCN · · Score: 4, Funny

    What happens if you mixed a pot of coffee a few liters of mountain dew and a few Provigal pills? Would you become the Kwisatz Haderach ?

  12. One step in the right direction by YouAreFatMan · · Score: 5, Funny

    Hmm, now if I can get pills that remove my need for food, air, water, and sex, I will legally qualify as a robot.

    --
    Robotiq.com is heavily tested on animals
  13. Sleep and Dreams... by BlackGriffen · · Score: 4, Insightful

    I would advise against using this if you want your memory to function. It's still probably just a theory, but I still remember hearing the most probable explanation for the brain's need to sleep that I've ever heard. Basically, the theory goes that when you enter deep sleep (i.e. non-REM sleep) your brain is literally wiring new connections: shifting memories to long term storage, connections are reinforced with more connections, etc. Your brain then goes in to REM sleep to test those connections, which is why REM sleep seems pretty random, but is often related to what's going on in your life.

    Some evidence for this: there is a specific type of autism (I can't remember the name) that baffled researchers until they started monitoring the EEG's at night. The researchers found out that the people with this type of autism were literally going in to seizures at night, at least they were experiencing the "electrical storm" in their brains that characterize a seizure. The researchers put the patients on anti-epilepsy medication, and it cleared up the symptoms right away. As the theory goes, the brain was using all of it's connections every night, preventing unused/unneeded connections from atrophying. So the patient was literally unable to forget anything, but also didn't have any more room for more connections.

    The moral of the story (considering that only a fool wouldn't realize that these pills won't be more abused than Viagra)? Don't use/abuse these pills if you want to be able to remember/learn anything long-term.

    BlackGriffen

  14. Exercise is making a huge difference for me by mikosullivan · · Score: 5, Insightful

    I've had a problem with getting sleep during the day for years. It has nothing to with how interested in my projects I am or how much sleep I get: I would always get sleepy right at 10 am and about 2pm. Lately I've taken to walking to work each morning (about five miles) and it's made a huge difference. It took me a week to realize that most of my sleepiness problems had disappeared. Now, a month later, there's no mistaking the difference: if I walk to work I feel alert. If I don't, I get sleepy. I usually hate exercise but I enjoy the walk.

    --
    Miko O'Sullivan