Modafinil vs Adderall

Adderall isn't really toxic taken as prescribed by an adult, see info from reddit. No clue about children. Dopamine based neurotoxicity is what you're going to run into if there is an issue. Tolerance, negative side effects, and neurotoxicity can be protected against with chelated magnesium. It's a weak NMDA antagonist, which gives it it's neuroprotective qualities.

Adderall isn't really toxic taken as prescribed by an adult. No clue about children. Dopamine based neurotoxicity is what you're going to run into if there is an issue. Tolerance, negative side effects, and neurotoxicity can be protected against with chelated magnesium. It's a weak NMDA antagonist, which gives it it's neuroprotective qualities.

Noos Hx III I agree with the strict definition of nootropics as defined by Giurgea (1972). I think this means it excludes modafinil and amphetamines. Modafinil has a possible side effect of TENs, where your entire top layer of skin falls off. Amphetamines lower your dopamine levels over time:

"However, in the most relevant animal model, 4 weeks of treatment with an amphetamine similar to the pharmaceutical Adderal produced plasma concentrations in adult baboons and squirrel monkeys that matched human ADHD patients after clinical treatment, and both species showed a 30−50% reduction in striatal dopamine, its major metabolite, its rate-limiting enzyme, its membrane transporter, and its vesicular transporter 53. Although Parkinsonian symptoms generally require about twice as much dopamine reduction (80−90%), aging itself produces cumulative decrements in dopaminergic cells, dopamine metabolites and dopamine receptor binding 38. These changes have been associated with modest cognitive and motor losses 177, and age-linked reductions in frontal cortex metabolism 178 similar to those characteristic of cocaine abusers 179. Therefore, it would be of interest to explore whether there are any indications of delayed adverse motor or cognitive outcomes associated with very prolonged and high-dose stimulant exposure in older adults taking maintenance amphetamines, similar to what has been shown for aging boxers who accrued dopamine loss as a consequence of repeated closed head concussive trauma in their youth 180. The finding that dopamine levels in autopsied chronic methamphetamine users were reduced more in the caudate (mean = −61%, but maximum reduction = −97% ) than in the putamen (mean = −50%), whereas Parkinson's disease shows the opposite pattern, led to the suggestion that chronic amphetamine use may increase risk for cognitive deficits more than for motor deficits
http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC2670101/

I think it is key to recogize the difference between cognitive enhancers (which modafinil, amphetamines, and nootropics are) and nootropics. All nootropics are cognitive enhancers, not all cognitive enhancers are nootropics.

Modafinil made my anxiety really bad and made me drepressed, nuvigil doesn't bother either. Vyvanse didn't bother me, Adderall doesn't make my anxiety worse but it doesn't help it at all

methylphenidate (generic for Ritalin) is a dopamine and norepinephrine transporter blocker, which is different from a reuptake inhibitor although it results in the same thing. Adderal is a mix of two amphetamine salts and acts as dopamine and norepinephrine reuptake inhibitor and has many other effects on brain chemistry.

Any amphetamine is neurotoxic; however at the doses most PWN use the neurotoxicity is apparently negligible. Methylphenidate is not neurotoxic and may have neuroprotective qualities.

Adderall is amphetamine based, but Modafinil and Armodafinil aren't

My doctor explained to me that Adderall will turn all the lights on in the house while modafinil will turn the light on in the room you need the light. I also chose modafinil due to the potential addictive nature of adderall as addiction runs in my family.

If I had to rank my experience..
Ritalin: 1/10
Armodafinil & Modafinil: 2.5/10
Adderall: 4-5/10

I started on modafinil, gave me a lot of side effects and I felt like crap most of the time. About a month ago I switched to Adderall, no problems so far. The modafinil made my blood pressure sky rocket.

Adderall is the only thing that has worked! Modafinil and Armo did nothing besides make me feel like crap. Just make sure you eat and drink lots of water/Gatorade on adderall or else you'll get dehydrated, headaches from dehydration and bitchy!

I was on Adderall first. It worked better than the Modafinil that I am on now but the Adderall made me hypertensive and tachycardic.

I feel like modafinil worked better than adderall, but I had more side effects. I'm only a couple months in on a low dose though. So it might be better when moved up. I always got major migraines and would grind my teeth really bad with the modafinil.

I'm on both... Modafinil in the am and adderall in the afternoon as needed. The adderall works better for me, but shorter time span... Although I could go to sleep, if given the opportunity, with either...

Both Modafinil and Adderall trigger mania for me so I am on anti- psychotic medications. The first week I was on nuvigil, I could not stop thinking about buying clothes I did not need. When I was put on adderall, I was dead set that I could afford a brand new Lexus and I just had to have one. Normally these thoughts wouldn't raise red flags except I'm a scrooge with my money and I'm definitely not an impulse buyer!

Adderall is more effective for me and remained more effective over a greater period of time. Modafinil would stop being effective after a few days of taking it and it left me feeling jittery.

Modafinil seemed to wake up my brain but not my body for the first few days. Then that stopped and I started having major sleep attacks and mood swings. Sat on my porch and bawled for an hour a couple of times then I would pass out for 12 + hours. Made me feel crazy. Adderall wakes me up and I'm more productive. I take 20 mg when I wake up and break another 20 in half around 1 pm. I'll take a whole 20 in the afternoon if I'm going to be busy. It does make me a bit irritated but nothing like nuvigil. I'm also on paxil for anxiety so that helps. Good luck

NuVigil by itself only worked for a few days. New sleep Dr added it along with my twice daily Adderall 20, once daily for NuVigil 250mg. So far it's helping, only been 4 days. We will see if it lasts. Adderall only worked fair. Could always go to sleep on Adderall. But not so much when 9:00pm rolls around!

Modafinil did nothing. Switched to armodafinil. It kept my brain awake but not my body (sleepwalking zombie feeling with severe insomnia) and made me seriously CRAZY! (4yr old temper tantrum crazy).
Switched to Adderall. No side effects besides rapid heartbeat and elevated bp (same as w nuvigil). No cra-cra effect.
Only thing is: it lasts exactly 3 hrs. So I take half dose 4x a day instead of full dose 2x a day

adderall did nothing for me. Modafinil is a life saver, although it only kind of works. Anything is better than nothing

First, my goals are to be awake having energy all day long, and to have a sharper state of mind. Because even when I sleep 8 hours, I feel tired all day long.
I have been using méthylphénidate (Ritalin) for a couple of weeks and liked the energy, focus and confidence effects it gave me. Otherwise the half life is very short (max 4 hours), sexdrive is increased, and it mess with heartbeat. I recently tried modafinil and armodafinil (not in the same time) to avoid these 3 cons, and it worked well, but I found that it lowers my social and communication skills, creativity as well, and increases anxiety. Good to be alone on computer, but not for meetings and management stuff. It also doesn't give me the same amount of motivation than méthylphénidate.
I would love to try Dexedrine or Adderall, but very hard to get. Or maybe Selegiline, but I saw mixed reviews about this one.
All the racetam family (and other strictly defined nootropics) seems to have very low effectiveness, compared to "real" drugs like the ones I just talked about.

Modafinil didn't not suppress my appetite. It helps some with the mind fog but I've found adderall to be better for that.

Modafinil did nothing for me whatsoever. adderall helps a lot better with my N symptoms but yeah, the loss of appetite sucks. I found myself setting an alarm to make sure I ate lunch

I found modafinil both more effective for Narcolepsy symptoms and Adderall made me more anxious.

Adderall was many years ago, but I recall having no response to it at all, even at max dose. I did Dex for a while, and had no appetite whatsoever while on it, but it didn't help the brain fog or ADHD. I'm now on Modafinil. I'm much, much more alert more often than not (though I still have days I feel one step away from death with a pulse). I don't feel the fog and ADHD are quite as extreme, but they are still very present. As for appetite, I wouldn't say I have much of one now, but do recognize being hungry a little more (I differentiate the two as hungry being strictly physical, and appetite also including actually wanting to eat). Even when hungry, I'll avoid eating as long as I can, just because of the amount of energy required to prepare food and actually eat it - which is incredibly exhausting for me. When it's easy to get to, though, I'm more likely to actually eat when I get hungry. (For instance, if I bake a pizza or tacquitos, I make more than I'll eat in that sitting, then keep the extra on a plate or container near me. When I get hungry again, it's right there.)

but basically modafinil is used to increase wakefulness so yes it will combat drowsiness and due to this can be helpful in paying attention in class to learn subject matter, but not nearly in the same way adderall will stimulate you, modafinil is a dopamine reuptake inhibitor (speculated to be active in other unknown mechanisms as well) whereas adderall increases activity of dopamine aand norepinephrine transmitters providing you with not only increased wakefulness but altering your mood and the way you perceive/behave in social situations, the most common effects of adderall include; increased energy, increased ability to focus, increased desire to socialize and converse, increased motivation to be productive, increased confidence in social settings and decreased anxiety in social settings, however there is also a lengthy list of diverse side effects that an individual may suffer from, many of which are contradictory to the desired effects (for example; spiked anxiety levels, scattered thoughts and tendency to get distracted easily)

a nootropic like modafinil and a stimulant like amphetamine are worlds apart, you have this wonderful trove of information known as the internet at your fingertips, consider using it as youre likely to get very ill informed responses from people who have no clue what theyre talking about here

I'm a bit of a biohacker. I use anabolics, and other performance-enhancing substances. One of those of course is adrafinil. I use it on account of how busy my schedule is (I've Posted about it many times before, but by the time classes in a few weeks start I'll be working, like, 70 hours a week. Plus I have 6[!] classes this semester, and am in the gym 5 days a week, among other things). A lot of students use adderall as their study/wakefullness drug of choice, but there's a number of problems with that particular substance.

First of all, Adderall is a prescription drug. So, assuming you can even obtain it without a prescription, in doing so you're breaking the law. Second, unlike adrafinil/modafinil/armodafinil, it's a central nervous system stimulant. So, Adderall can cause jitteriness, and has a number of nasty side effects. And like most CNS stimulants it doesn't so much increase focus and wakefulness as it just increases alertness. That's great, but if you think about it, alertness and focus are opposites on a spectrum. Alertness is about scanning around, observing things generally, whereas focus is just that: focusing in on one thing specifically. It's like when you're at a grocery store, the difference between scanning the shelves, as opposed to honing in on the one specific item you want.

Adrafinil/ Modafinil is pretty amazing in its ability to REALLY wake you up, and allow you to focus. Contrary to what you might think, the side effects are minimal. If you're super-busy like I am, you should check it out. I order mine online from Neomodafinil (it's legal to possess in the UK for 3 month supply, so there's no worries about that). Adrafinil and modafinil are used extensively by students, ER doctors, the military, and just anyone doing shift work, to help them remain wakeful for prolonged periods of time

I just read someone write on their blog that fat burners cause them depression. While I am aware of many side effects that can happen with chronic use of fat burners and other stimulants, I do not remember depression being one.

Depression is usually a state of low dopamine (and serotonin, thanks to my cousin aastha reminding me hehe) levels and last time i read fat burners and other stimulants like meth, adderall, modafinil actually alleviate depression like symptoms by releasing dopamine and that is the same pathway hunger is blocked by them.
For those who do not know, dopamine is brain's reward hormone and that is one poweful hormone. As you might have guessed by now. Most of the joyful activities like winning a game, intense exercise, eating your favorite foods, smoking cigarettes etc all release dopamine. Problem is when we artificially stimulate its release with drugs.

That is because the release made with drugs is much more powerful than compared to what would normally be from life situations and after abuse of these drugs you will pretty much not feel joyful from anything in life at all.

You will pretty much lose interest in life without them. Every drug loses its positive effects after a time but not its side effects. So there will be a point when you will need these drugs only to feel normal and keep away withdrawal symptoms, and then you are pretty much fucked. Though you can always see help of medical professionals who specialise in helping you combat with drug addictions.

Again short term use doesn't harm anyone but you should just know when to stop. Like if you start fat burners, swear yourself to stop them after say 3 months and keep your diet top notch during the use, and then stop after the three months are over and wait before you hop onto them again.

However I am not promoting use of any illegal substances, i often read on all related drugs of the same categories to get a clearer picture. Like say meth is neurotoxic unlike other drugs like modafinil, but what happens with a chronic overuse of stimulants is pretty much the same if you procude the effect of same strength even with something as common as caffeine.

You can get depression but only as a withdrawal effect after you have ceased using them.
And this is why you should not read random blogs by people for whom its another means of making a quick buck or those who don't disclose their name and background. Blogging industry has gone to dogs, people are writing blogs on all topics and have nothing to do with that industry by just compiling information from top people's blogs and in that process they make mistakes which can cost someone their life.
Lot of people ask me why I don't write full fledged articles or make videos. Partly the reason is I know enough to make things work practically but I don't wish to make any public statements without being 100% sure which can harm someone or put me in controversy. So I can assure you though I write less but I always write whatever I am 110% sure about. And whenever someone posts in my forum or messages me, I simply deny if I do not know about it than pass on wrong information.

As for the long-term safety of amphetamines, the jury is out. Unfortunately it's not very easy at all to measure neurological changes in human beings—mostly because you can't experiment on them and then cut their brains up to see what happened—and most of what we know about the toxicity of drugs in humans is the result of extreme adverse reactions or animal models. Amphetamine is acutely neurotoxic for many animals, including some other primates, for example, but is not known to be so for humans. Does dopamine receptor downregulation occur with chronic use? Almost inevitably. But the question is to what degree, and how reversible it is. Might it contribute to the hastening of the death of dopaminergic neurons? Nobody knows for sure. A year or two ago I did a thorough examination of the literature and found several meta-analyses that failed to make any specific conclusions about the long-term effects of clinical amphetamine usage.


What is known for certain are anecdotal reports of problems. Go to ADD forums, various drug forums, etc., and you'll find plenty of people who took Adderall for many years and claim they are not the same anymore and that there's no going back—fatigue, brain fog, and a host of other maladies, even after long periods of abstinence. Of course, everyone is different and it seems like some people tolerate amphetamines for years or decades just fine. 

Personally I love the stuff for occasional recreational use but would never, ever risk taking it on a regular basis for any considerable period of time.

Modafinil it seems is much less neurologically stressful than amphetamine. If you insist on taking stimulants every day, then modafinil is surely the safer bet. No matter what you take, it's *vitally important* to take drug holidays of at least a week or more, lest your tolerance continue to grow steadily over the course of months or even years.

I take Ritalin extended release and it's good to keep me more awake but jittery but provigil helps get my mind awake and clears the SEVERE brain fog. I'm taking a combo of both right now. I like provigil so much more for me but i have negative side effects from it that aren't as bad as the Ritalin (SEVERE dry mouth, mouth sores, dead taste buds on my tongue, etc) But insurance approval was a pain! I have narcolepsy without C fyi

I had to take Ritalin until my insurance agreed to cover Modafinil, and I didn't like the Ritalin. Definitely "crashed" as it wore off. Modafinil feels like a more gradual wearing off if that makes sense. Ritalin made me jittery. Just felt more "normal" on Modafinil than Ritalin.

 I tried both, but I really have ADD and N. I tried to switch from Adderall to Modafil and I did for a few months. At first I was fine but as time went on my ADD got bad and was not being helped. I just went back to Adderal and feel so much better but I am getting headaches. I've been really stressed out lately so I'm not sure it's the meds. My doctor said I could only use one or the other so I'm sticking with Adderall.

Some people have great success on both, one, or neither. I think we are all very different. For me, armodafinil and modafinil didn't work. I felt completely disconnected. Like my brain and body weren't communicating. It was disorienting and scary. But that was just my experience. So I stick to adderall. But if you've never tried modafinil or armodafinil I think it's worth giving it a shot to see if you do better on that than on adderall.

 I'd been on Ritalin since 2005 until this past week when I was switched to Adderrall XR. i I've also taken Provigil and Nuvigil, but currently take Provigil in combination with Adderrall. I prefer the Provigil, as there are less side effects.

 I take low doses pf both. At the dosing I can tolerate, Provigil does nothing for executive functioning (I do have a prior ADD diagnosis but jury is out as to whether or not it's separate from or a side effect of narcolepsy sleep deprivation), and Adderall does nothing for sleep attacks.Neither addresses cataplexy.

 I had to switch to modafinil from methylphenidate, as the methylphenidate gave me palpitations and tanked my appetite to the point where it was a chore to force down a cup of yogurt. Modafinil worked perfectly for me.

Modafinil did a fantastic job for me (almost perfect), but I had an allergic reaction to it (and Nuvigil) so I gave Vyvanse a try. It did a mediocre job for helping me stay awake, but it made me feel anxious and uneasy.

Neither worked well for me on their own. I now take both. 200mg modafinil in the morning, 20 mg adderall in the afternoon as a booster. I also get another 100 mg of modafanil that I can either take in the morning with the AM modafinil dose or in the afternoon, as needed. I usually just take the full 300mgs of modafanil in the morning and the adderall in the afternoon. This combination seems to work best for me, but really I'm still just as sleepy, except now instead of napping all the time I Just feel lazy and can't fall asleep if I try when I feel like I need a nap in the afternoon because my brain won't shut off even if my body is tired... my doc says this means the medicine is working, it prevents me from napping but doesn't give me energy. That makes me sad because I thought I would get some energy, but the doc says that I just need to accept that I may never be at 100%.

Modafinil interacts badly with my birth control pill and makes it less effective so I take Adderall. It works well enough for me. But if you also happen to be on hormonal BC, check for interactions there.