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Comment by JoeAltmaier | Hacker News Reader

So, can I take an orexin pill and stay awake? The obvious question, not addressed by the article.

Googling, I see only dire reviews of orexin tablets, usually due to the other ingredients. What gives?

I have episodes of dire fatigue, and a way out of that mess would be very welcome.

Probably not, because you already have a functioning orexin system, and presumably whatever modulates that would just module the extra orexin as well. And anyways, who knows if consumed orexin even makes it out of your gut and past the blood-brain barrier.

You could just take modafinil if you wanted to stay awake.

But could otexin supplements potentially help people with narcolepsy? As opposed to just keeping people who are already healthy awake longer.

Judging only by that article, I'd say: Not generally. Its described as inhibiting REM sleep, not sleep or sleepiness in general.

Ask a doctor to help you figure this out. Wild guess, as a random layperson on the internet with no formal qualification: Could be lack of vitamins (E, D3, B5 or B6) or a melatonin insufficiency or a irregular sleep schedule or due to psychological causes. Alcohol and other drugs have quite the impact (especially in sleep quality). Or a combination or something completely different; it's like asking "My program is slow, what can I do?" ;-)

If I were a large military that routinely sent pilots on missions around the world, research into drugs like this would be well funded.

As someone with serious sleep issues, I dream of the opposite - take a pill (or shot, or whatever) and fall into 8 hours of blissful REM sleep.

the pill that solves restful sleep will be worth hundreds of billions of dollars

Trazodone works quite well for some people, is generic and isn’t particularly valuable.

Comes with extreme dependence from what I’ve heard.

Not for sleep, you take about 1/4 the dose for that. It’s generally safer than Ambien.

It's not a silver bullet, but have you tried (extremely) low-dose melatonin? Mind that most OTC melatonin capsules are at such a high dosage that they're likelier to harm your sleep than help it.

https://www.gwern.net/Melatonin

Mirtazapine is one of very few drugs that will knock you out without giving you poor quality sleep, being risky long term or becoming a physical dependency

I recall that Modafinil was used in a study with US Air Force pilots and it was found that they could continue to operate for 120 hours without sleep and without significant loss of function.

No but you can trick your body into creating more Hypocretin/Orexin by taking Opiates https://www.science.org/doi/10.1126/scitranslmed.aao4953#:~:....

Modafinil?

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