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Comment by 80386 | Hacker News Reader

Yes, modafinil. The majority of the people I know use it. (So do I, but that's because I work an overnight shift... maybe once I finish this side project I'll be able to land a nice 9-5 software job.)

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That still making the rounds? I remember in the coding bootcamp kids were going on about it, so I asked my psych about it as an alternative to adderall (always willing to explore treatments to my adhd), and she was surprised to hear people were taking it thinking it was like adderall. She said "people with narcolepsy take that, it doesn't help focus at all." This was early in days of it, looks like it's a known thing to try to use modafinil as a cognitive enhancer, though there's little data to support it actually works like that:

Modafinil, sold under the brand name Provigil among others, is a medication to treat sleepiness due to narcolepsy, shift work sleep disorder, or obstructive sleep apnea (OSA).[3][7] In OSA continuous positive airway pressure is the preferred treatment.[3] While it has seen off-label use as a purported cognitive enhancer, the research on its effectiveness for this use is not conclusive.[8][9] It is taken by mouth.[3]

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modafinil

It does help in my experience. Less so than Dexamphetamine, but also feels like it's doing you less damage. I tried Ritalin, but got headaches. We can't get adderall in .au so I don't know about it first hand. The problem is you can't get Modafinil subsidised if you have ADHD, only if you have Narcolepsy, so while Dexamphetamine is probably doing long term damage, it costs me $20 a month where Modafinil is > $200.

"Adrafinil is a precursor to modafinil, meaning the body converts adrafinil to modafinil, and are often discussed together for this reason. Adrafinil is a mild stimulant designed to fight off sleepiness and fatigue."

You can buy it online, legally in the US anyways, probably in Aussieland too.

Sounds like your psych wasn't familiar with off label uses. I know a lot of people who have tried or regularly used Modafinil. It eliminates brain fog and improves focus, like many stimulants do.

It helps if you're tired. I'm not sure if it helps with focus or if most people just have dismal sleep quality.

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