Words’ End

I would’ve been posting, but early last week suddenly found myself unable to log into my MovableType install. The lessons I learned from this are two: one, that it is always better to have one geek in the house than a whole support forum full of them on the Interweb; and two, that at any point your sysadmin might upgrade a database and not tell you. To be fair, the sysadmin didn’t know I needed to be told; hence the advantages of having a geek in the house.

They’re easy to feed, too. Unless you add too much chili powder and asafetida to your soup; then you just get to blush and feel remorseful.

The sleep study (sorry this is so late, Johanna) revealed that I do not, in fact, have narcolepsy in any form. On one hand, this is reassuring; because, hey, no narcolepsy – or any other sleep disorder they could see, for that matter. On the other hand, I’m still sleepier than I should be. Granted, my schedule is highly variable; but the doctor was realistic and did not even suggest changing my schedule (this would be entirely impractical, for me). Instead, she prescribed modafinil (Provigil), a non-amphetamine stimulant, relatively new on the market.

I’m still experimenting. I don’t know how well this’ll work. For the moment, it’s interesting: modafinil seems to be more or less a wonder drug, though that will probably change when there’s more research data on it. For the moment, it’s said to not be addictive, and there are no grave side effects commonly associated with it. It may or may not be affecting my mood, but the jury is still out on that one.

I’m no biochem specialist, but from what I’ve read, instead of supplying the body with a lot of stimulant hormone, modafinil seems to inhibit the brain trigger that tells us we’re tired. It does not make me jittery or “speedy,” and is thus far considered to not be habit forming. Its effects last 8-12 hours, and it does not make it difficult to fall asleep – unless, of course, you take a significant dose of it too late into the evening. Based on others’ reports, it does not seem to be effective in perking you up when you’re already tired.

Having started to take this stuff last Tuesday, here are some positives so far. I get to regulate my dose; they have you start at a quarter of the maximum, and find what works for you. (I’m at the minimum right now, and don’t intend to go much higher.) I’ve felt not only more alert, but more easily able to concentrate. However, there is a noticeable drop in energy level as the drug wears off, and it’s not so much the tiredness itself as the abrupt transition that gives me pause.

Since Tuesday, I’ve had maybe two cups of coffee, a few cups of caffeinated tea and less than a can of caffeinated soda. This is big, for me: I get habituated to caffeine easily, so it’s difficult to balance using it as a stimulant with absolutely loving a good cup of coffee. Separating the two would be grand.

There is a warning on its documentation that modafinil may interfere with the effectiveness of orally administered hormonal birth control, by making you process the hormones more quickly. This has been tested by one study, which used just over thirty subjects; only sixteen of them were given modafinil and not a placebo. They were all on the pill; so things like the Nuva Ring haven’t been tested. Also, these women were given 200 to 400mg of modafinil – the highest dose – for a month. This is all the information available about the interaction so far; the rest, for the moment, is up to individuals and their doctors.

This entry was posted on Sunday, March 21st, 2004 at 11:52 pm and is filed under health. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.