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Comment by mirimir | Hacker News Reader

It's been the standard military "go pill" for several decades. Maybe now superseded by modafinil. Modafinil is by no means as dramatic, but it's still great fun, and far easier on your teeth ;)

Edit: Actually, the progression in the US military was amphetamine to dextroamphetamine, and now also modafinil.

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As someone who has had a modafinil prescription since 2002, you're greatly overselling it. Hardly that fun. It's positively mild in comparison to meth or pretty much all other recreational drugs. Modafinil and recreational drugs aren't even in the same boat.

Yeah, I am. But maybe if one took enough modafinil?

Don't try this at home without a blood pressure monitor.

It's doesn't get more fun with higher dosages. You're just going to end up more on edge. Modafinil works by blocking the neurotransmitter that promotes sleepiness. Most stimulants work by causing your brain to dump tons of the neurotransmitters that promote alertfulness. Different mechanisms.

Thanks, I didn't realize that.

Higher doses do further reduce the need for sleep, however. And while they don't put me on edge, they do increase the risk of saying and doing risky things. But maybe that's because I'm bipolar.

Are you sure? Modafinil isn't much fun. I mean, it's fun the same way antidepressants are if you're depressed, but it's the opposite of habit-forming and if you mix with alcohol or caffeine you only get the bad parts.

Huh? I always mix with caffeine, and have no problems. Also, it is "habit-forming". If I increase the dose to stay alert longer, and then taper down too abruptly, I get dazed. However, I suspect that you're right about alcohol. But that doesn't matter to me, because I've never been much into it. And THC is just fine with modafinil :)

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