Buying Drugs for Fatigue from Foreign Pharmacies: Adrafinil

[AccountForDrSteveQ's]

Dr. Steve,

Long time O+A and R+F listener, you're Wierd Medicine shows have been great. Heard a commercial on 202 directing to your website so I took a look and wound up here.

I'm in college and usually during finals and tight projects, I may use Adderall for which I admittedly have no prescription. Besides making me oddly more sociable in that I'll chat random people up more often then normal and that it makes me chain smoke, it also gives the unwanted effects of zombie-like detachment from thoughts, a light feeling all over the body, and generally a feeling like while I can get work done, I want to throw myself down a flight of stairs the whole time. By the way, I have no issue with addiction or anything, I use it on a strictly as-needed basis. The last time I used it was September and now I'm on an internship and shouldn't need to think of using it until late spring next year.

So a few weeks ago I'm reading an article about a drug that the military is testing to keep soldiers awake when need be called Modafinil (Provigil). It's marketed and approved by the FDA as a narcolepsy treatment but apparently has been used off-label as an ADD and depression treatment. Apparantly, your alertness on this drug is described as much more "crisp", "lucid" and "clean" where you don't feel so much stimulated and sped-out as much as just awake. Modafinil however is also illegal, and much less often prescribed and as such is much harder to get without a prescription (and as such costs a LOT).

Further research brings me to another drug, Modafinil's chemical precursor that was discovered and marketed earlier; Adrafinil (Olmifon), the cheif difference being that it latter takes much longer to metabolize than Modafinil. Apparantly this drug is neither sold in the US nor approved/banned by the FDA, which makes for a situation where a bottle of Olmifon (40x300mg) can be obtained online for ~$40.

I've researched the hell out of Adrafinil and on many online forums within which it is discussed I've found very positive feedback, especially with respects to depression though that isn't of concern to me. I wanted to know if you had any experience with these types of drugs and what your thoughts were on their use.

P.S.: I forgot to mention I realize that prolonged use (>6 months) of these drugs may cause elevations in liver enzyme amounts. Again though, I wouldn't use this on a regular basis, by any means.

[Dr Steve]

Dr. Steve,

Long time O+A and R+F listener, you're Wierd Medicine shows have been great. Heard a commercial on 202 directing to your website so I took a look and wound up here.

I'm in college and usually during finals and tight projects, I may use Adderall for which I admittedly have no prescription. Besides making me oddly more sociable in that I'll chat random people up more often then normal and that it makes me chain smoke, it also gives the unwanted effects of zombie-like detachment from thoughts, a light feeling all over the body, and generally a feeling like while I can get work done, I want to throw myself down a flight of stairs the whole time. By the way, I have no issue with addiction or anything, I use it on a strictly as-needed basis. The last time I used it was September and now I'm on an internship and shouldn't need to think of using it until late spring next year.

So a few weeks ago I'm reading an article about a drug that the military is testing to keep soldiers awake when need be called Modafinil (Provigil). It's marketed and approved by the FDA as a narcolepsy treatment but apparently has been used off-label as an ADD and depression treatment. Apparantly, your alertness on this drug is described as much more "crisp", "lucid" and "clean" where you don't feel so much stimulated and sped-out as much as just awake. Modafinil however is also illegal, and much less often prescribed and as such is much harder to get without a prescription (and as such costs a LOT).

Further research brings me to another drug, Modafinil's chemical precursor that was discovered and marketed earlier; Adrafinil (Olmifon), the cheif difference being that it latter takes much longer to metabolize than Modafinil. Apparantly this drug is neither sold in the US nor approved/banned by the FDA, which makes for a situation where a bottle of Olmifon (40x300mg) can be obtained online for ~$40.

I've researched the hell out of Adrafinil and on many online forums within which it is discussed I've found very positive feedback, especially with respects to depression though that isn't of concern to me. I wanted to know if you had any experience with these types of drugs and what your thoughts were on their use.

P.S.: I forgot to mention I realize that prolonged use (>6 months) of these drugs may cause elevations in liver enzyme amounts. Again though, I wouldn't use this on a regular basis, by any means.

You bring up several questions, and I may want to answer this one on the air sometime. The idea of chemically enhancing our ability to be productive has been out there for many years. Dextroamphetamine was first touted as a medication that could maintain productivity for hours without sleep, but as we all know it can have severely deleterious effects when used chronically.

Modafinil is sold as "Provigil" and it is indicated for certain sleep disorders, multiple sclerosis and "shift worker's fatigue". The cool thing about this medication is that it makes people alert without seeming to make them "high" in any way. It's reasonably well tolerated, and is currently indicated for long-term use. The downside is that it's ridiculously expensive ($248/month), and has the usual long list of adverse effects that are possible, including visual changes, fainting, heart rhythm disorders and dependency.

Adrafinil is not available in the US, and the studies I looked at indicate to me that its a crappy drug compared to its cousin modafinil. A dog study indicates that Adrafinil disrupts certain memory functions. In addition it makes your piss smell like sulfur.

I'd be really careful with Adrafinil...even if I thought it was an ok drug (which I'm not convinced of, but have an open mind), ordering it from a foreign pharmacy is really problematic. So many of the pharmacies are ripoffs it's not funny; I've heard horror stories of people ordering, say Xanax from what they thought was a Canadian pharmacy, but got some knock-off antipsychotic drug instead from the Seychelles.

Hope this helps, my brotha


your friend,


steve

[AccountForDrSteveQ's]

Thanks a lot doc.

Ya, I realize how shady some of these pharmacies are but I plan on doing a fair bit of research as far as people vouching for having received what they ordered without issue.

As far as the drug goes, sure Adrafinil is clearly inferior, but like you said Modafinil isn't even approachable as far as cost goes and it's much more risky legally to deal with. Memory issues are acceptable when considering on Adderall, there are times where if I get sidetracked, I literally have to stare into space for a few minutes to get my mind back on track to what I was doing. Piss smells? Oh well, I'll deal with it for the short time I'm using it. Otherwise, the prospect of being able to sidestep the shakes and speed mouth that comes with Adderall is worth trying.

Again, thanks a lot for your input, it really is nice to have the opinion of a medical professional available about something out-of-norm without feeling judged.

[sailor]

Buying Drugs for Fatigue from Foreign Pharmacies: Adrafinil

you're tired of foreign pharmacies? i'm confused.

[west milly Tom]

Thanks a lot doc.

Ya, I realize how shady some of these pharmacies are but I plan on doing a fair bit of research as far as people vouching for having received what they ordered without issue.

As far as the drug goes, sure Adrafinil is clearly inferior, but like you said Modafinil isn't even approachable as far as cost goes and it's much more risky legally to deal with. Memory issues are acceptable when considering on Adderall, there are times where if I get sidetracked, I literally have to stare into space for a few minutes to get my mind back on track to what I was doing. Piss smells? Oh well, I'll deal with it for the short time I'm using it. Otherwise, the prospect of being able to sidestep the shakes and speed mouth that comes with Adderall is worth trying.

Again, thanks a lot for your input, it really is nice to have the opinion of a medical professional available about something out-of-norm without feeling judged.



I once ordered valium from what I thought was a Canadian pharmacy. Cost me in the neighborhood of $150, which never came. So I sent an email to the "help" address on the site. Well turned out they did send the valium the first time and it arrived a day later and was the real deal. Here's the catch, due to the email I sent they sent a second package. It turned out that I was really ordering from Pakistan and the second package was caught at customs. I got a super fucking scary ass letter from the Homeland Security Department. I thought I was going to federal prison. I had to tell my parents, get a lawyer and all sorts of embarrassing shit. This was 11 years ago. Needless to say I never made that mistake again. Be very careful, and if you decide to order make sure you know what you're getting into. The DHS takes this very seriously. In my humble opinion, its not worth it but if you jump in know you're jumping into the deep end of the pool. Hope this helps.

[Dr Steve]

I once ordered valium from what I thought was a Canadian pharmacy. Cost me in the neighborhood of $150, which never came. So I sent an email to the "help" address on the site. Well turned out they did send the valium the first time and it arrived a day later and was the real deal. Here's the catch, due to the email I sent they sent a second package. It turned out that I was really ordering from Pakistan and the second package was caught at customs. I got a super fucking scary ass letter from the Homeland Security Department. I thought I was going to federal prison. I had to tell my parents, get a lawyer and all sorts of embarrassing shit. This was 11 years ago. Needless to say I never made that mistake again. Be very careful, and if you decide to order make sure you know what you're getting into. The DHS takes this very seriously. In my humble opinion, its not worth it but if you jump in know you're jumping into the deep end of the pool. Hope this helps.

Holy crap, that is one hell of a story.

For CANADIAN pharmacies, you can use this website to see which ones are the real deal:

http://www.ciparx.ca/

all of them will require a legal US prescription. I think it's time to cover the Canadian pharmacy issue on the show. Thanks for the input, everyone.

[AccountForDrSteveQ's]

Homeland Security didn't exist 11 years ago.