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New approaches to treating attention deficit disorders like Nuvigil ADHD therapy could offer safer alternatives to stimulant ADHD medications such as Adderall or Ritalin.
Nuvigil, also known by the generic name Armodafinil, was originally conceived as an aid to help people regulate sleep cycles in cases of narcolepsy and Shift Work Sleep Disorder.
Now, it has been increasingly suggested as a treatment for ADHD and ADD, due to its powerful ability to aid concentration and attention span.
Difficult to obtain a prescription for, Nuvigil is widely traded on international pharmacy websites, making its use as a viable medical treatment for clinical conditions like ADHD exceedingly difficult.
Read on to find out how using Nuvigil for ADHD differs from other smart drugs on the market, and how it is legally prescribed.
We’ll also suggest some easier to purchase legal alternatives which may also provide relief for ADHD patients.
Energy
Cognition
Motivation- Wakefulness-boosting stimulant
- Enhances motivation and focus
- Shown to boost mental performance
The ADHD Epidemic – Statistics
Related Topics
- What is Armodafinil?
- What is Nuvigil?
- Armodafinil vs. Modafinil
- User Review
- Typical Nuvigil Experiences
- How it Works
- Nuvigil for ADHD
- Effects on Depression & Anxiety
- Dosage Recommendations
- How to Take
- Reported Side Effects
- Withdrawal & Tolerance
- Prescription Information
- Buying Nuvigil
- Generic Nuvigil Brands
- Is Armodafinil Legal?
- Is Nuvigil Safe?
- Comparison to Adderall
ADHD (Attention-Deficit Hyperactivity Disorder) is a very common mental imbalance which makes focusing on tasks or holding onto thoughts very challenging.
The disorder is predominantly diagnosed in children, though it can affect people their whole lives, and sometimes isn’t diagnosed until adulthood.
Symptoms include poor school performance, disruptive behavior, excessive talking, inability to sit still, trouble reading long passages, and the tendency to be easily distracted.
As many as one in 20 children suffer from ADHD symptoms, even if they are not diagnosed. More than 6 million children have been diagnosed in the U.S. alone.
Common treatments include the pharmaceutical drugs Ritalin and Adderall. These stimulants do come with serious potential side effects and even addiction risks, making these treatments of questionable use for young children.
Ritalin works by stimulating the release of Dopamine and Norepinephrine, two neurotransmitters which can create mental energy and alertness. Adderall is a form of amphetamine-based salt that leads to similar stimulating effects in the brain.
The main concern with these drugs is that they lead to energy crashes or “hangovers” the following day in which users feel drained, fatigued and experience brain fog due to a deficit in available neurotransmitters.
Using Nuvigil for ADHD may avoid these problems due to a different mechanism of action. However, prescribing this drug for Attention Deficit Disorders is still considered experimental at this time.
The History of Nuvigil
Armodafinil (the compound that makes up Nuvigil) is the latest in a line of compounds known as eugeroics. Eugeroics are wakefulness promoting compounds that have stimulant-like effects, but are different from amphetamine based stimulants in their mechanism of action and potential side effects.
Armodafinil is closely related to the compound Modafinil and Adrafinil that both were developed in the 1970s at the French pharmaceutical company Lafon Laboratories. Adrafinil is one of a series of benzhydryl sulfinyl compounds that was developed in 1974.
Testing to figure out how Adrafinil works in the body led to the discovery of Modafinil. Modafinil is the primary active component of Adrafinil. When it is ingested, Adrafinil is transported to the liver where it is broken down into its component parts, the inactive modafinilic acid, and the active Modafinil.
Both Adrafinil and Modafinil were thoroughly testes in animals and found to have stimulating and alertness promoting effects. Due to the wakefulness effects seen in animal trials, these drugs were first tested and then later approved for treating the sleep disorder narcolepsy in humans.
Adrafinil was first approved for use for humans as a treatment for narcolepsy in 1986 in France. Later, Modafinil was approved for this same use in 1994 in France, and in 1998 in the United States.
In 2001, the American pharmaceutical company Cephalon Inc bought Lafon. Cephalon was acquired by Teva Pharmaceutical Industries in 2011. To this day, as a subsidiary of Teva, Cephalon continues to produce the name brand versions of Modafinil and Armodafinil, Provigil and Nuvigil, respectively.
A few years before the patent on Provigil was due to expire, scientists began to do research on simplifying and changing the structure of Modafinil to make it more potent. The development of Armodafinil as a new, refined version of Modafinil was done to help Cephalon maintain an exclusive share of the pharmaceutical market.
Nuvigil – A Super-Charged Version of Modafinil
Modafinil has been informally used as an ADHD treatment for at least ten years. The popular smart drug not only creates a heightened state of alertness and diminishes the brain’s perception of tiredness, Modafinil also has been shown to make it easier to resist mental distraction.
This quality makes it a natural treatment for ADHD, as it allows patients to experience a calm, focused mental environment for hours at a time.
Armodafinil was created as a highly concentrated derivative of Modafinil, producing nearly the exact same effects, but effective at higher strength in smaller doses. Nuvigil and generic Armodafinil are very closely related to Modafinil because Nuvigil is literally a part of Modafinil.
Modafinil is comprised of two enantiomers – a specific type of stereoisomers. Stereoisomers are essentially the same compound at the molecular level, they just differ in their configuration; enantiomers are mirror-image copies of the same isomer – like a left and right hand are identical copies of each other mirrored on one axis.
Modafinil is comprised of R- and S- enantiomers in equal proportion, making it a racemic compound. It has been determined that the R-enantiomer of Modafinil is the pharmacologically stable and active, as well as longer-acting isomer of the pair that is thought to cause most of Modafinil’s effects.
Armodafinil therefore is made by isolating the R-enantiomer of Modafinil alone. This is also where the name of this new compound came from – Armodafinil, from R-Modafinil. The resulting chemical is like a super-charged Modafinil, composed of the most effective parts of this molecule, without the parts that are thought to cause greater side effects.
In the U.S., Nuvigil is made by Cephalon, the same company that manufactures Provigil. While Nuvigil ADHD treatments are still considered off-label uses of the drug, the same effects can be achieved as with Provigil/Modafinil.
- Increases energy, wakefulness and motivation
- Boosts mental performance and focus
- Supports memory and cognition
How Nuvigil Works in the Body
The precise mechanism of action of Nuvigil is still unknown at this time, as is that of its predecessor Provigil. However, research has shown that Provigil has effects on many different neurotransmitters in the brain, including Dopamine, Serotonin, Epinephrine, Norepinephrine, Orexin (Hypocretin), and Histamine.
It is thought that many of Modafinil’s wakefulness effects are due to effects on Orexin and Histamine, and it is thought that Nuvigil shares these same effects. Orexin is a neuropeptide that helps regulate wakefulness, appetite, and arousal; Modafinil has been seen to strongly activate Orexin neurons in the brain.
In turn the Orexin stimulates the release of Histamine in the hypothalamus. Histamine is a neurotransmitter with a variety of functions, including the same ones as Orexin – maintenance of wakefulness, arousal, and appetite control.
Another documented effect that both Provigil and Nuvigil have been seen to have is acting as a Dopamine transport and reuptake inhibitor. By blocking the transport of Dopamine, levels of free circulating Dopamine in the brain rises. Elevated Dopamine has been seen to have positive effects on mood and motivation.
Prescribed Nuvigil Uses
In the United States, Nuvigil is categorized as a Schedule IV prescription medication. This means that it is legal to buy and own this drug, provided you have a valid doctor’s prescription. The prescribed on-label uses of Nuvigil are the same as its predecessor Provigil: narcolepsy, shift-work sleep disorder, and obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome.
Nuvigil has been seen to significantly reduce the excessive daytime sleepiness experienced and increase wakefulness in people with narcolepsy. In one study, patients with narcolepsy were given either a placebo or Nuvigil. It was found that compared to placebo, the Nuvigil patients had significantly increased sleep latency times on the Maintenance of Wakefulness Test, as well as improved scores on the Epworth Sleepiness Scale.
In a study on people suffering from shift-work sleep disorder, it was observed that patients given Nuvigil had significantly increased sleep latency times as measured by the Multiple Sleep Latency test, compared to a decrease in placebo patients. Patient sleep diaries also revealed that Nuvigil patients reported significantly reduced sleepiness during night work or laboratory testing shifts, as well as during commutes.
The most common treatment for obstructive sleep apnea/hypopnea syndrome is using a nasal continuous positive airway pressure (nCPAP) machine at night to help keep the airway clear and prevent breathing episodes while sleeping. Some people still experience residual excessive sleepiness during the day even with treatment for their condition.
In these cases, Nuvigil has been used to reduce excessive sleepiness. In one study of people receiving nCPAP treatment with residual sleepiness, compared to placebo patients, Nuvigil patients had significantly improved sleep latency times as measured by the Maintenance of Wakefulness test. Secondary memory, patient-evaluated sleepiness, and fatigue were all improved as well.
Is Nuvigil Legally Prescribed For ADHD?
There is not much research using Nuvigil for attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder, however many studies have been done using Provigil, and it is reasonable to extrapolate these results to what may be experienced using Nuvigil for the same purpose.
In multiple double-blind placebo-controlled research studies, Provigil has been seen to decrease symptoms of ADHD compared to a placebo. When using Provigil, scores are improved over baseline and placebo scores on a variety of tests, including the Teacher and Parent ADHD Rating Scale-IV, the Clinical Global Impressions-Improvement scale, Conners Rating Scales, and the DSM-IV ADHD Behavior Checklist.
However, at this time, neither Provigil nor Nuvigil is approved by the FDA as a prescription medication for ADHD. It is only officially prescribed for patients who have been diagnosed with sleep disorders like obstructive sleep apnea, narcolepsy, and shift work sleep disorder.
Other nootropic benefits of Nuvigil, like increased concentration and freedom from mental distraction, are still considered “off-label” uses of the drug and do not warrant prescription as per FDA guidelines.
In some cases, certain doctors will consider writing prescriptions for Provigil or Nuvigil for ADHD, especially in cases where previous treatments have not been successful, or have caused serious side effects (i.e. various cardiovascular side effects common with amphetamine based stimulants).
The writing of off-label prescriptions is entirely legal, and some doctors will write them, however it can be difficult to find these doctors. Many doctors are not willing to write off-label prescriptions for Provigil and Nuvigil because they are wary of repercussions from medical boards.
Because using prescription drugs as nootropics in healthy people is not recognized as a valid use of these compounds (the FDA maintains they are supposed to be used to treat conditions), doctors who prescribe them for off-label purposes could come under scrutiny.
Even though using Nuvigil for ADHD falls under the category of using the drug to treat a condition, it still has not been approved for this use, and using it this was is considered off-label.
Is Nuvigil ADHD Therapy Safe For Children?
In adults, Nuvigil is considered safe and easy to tolerate. Side effects are generally minor and limited to light headaches. Even though the drug is designed to enhance wakefulness, it does not seem to interfere with natural sleep cycles when taken at appropriate times.
While it has not been approved as an on-label use of Nuvigil, many adults with ADHD have used the drug to help manage their symptoms. So, can we also assume that Nuvigil ADHD therapy is safe for kids? Unfortunately not at this time.
At this time, there have been no significant studies regarding children and Nuvigil use. The manufacturer, Cephalon, cautions that not enough information is known about the medication’s safety record with children, and therefore it should not be taken by anyone under the age of 17.
For this reason more than any other, any potential benefits of Nuvigil for ADHD-like symptoms in children cannot be explored. However, adults who suffer from this condition, or similar symptoms, can benefit greatly from the medication.
Buying Nuvigil Online
Adults who wish to try Nuvigil as an ADHD treatment often do so without a prescription. To satisfy this demand, some international pharmacies have started offering Nuvigil for sale online, without requiring a prescription.
Unfortunately, this is still not a viable option for most ADHD patients. Illegally sold medications like these are frequently seized at U.S. Customs if they are not accompanied by legal prescription paperwork when imported back to the USA.
Not only is this a hassle and a huge waste of money for consumers, it could pose a significant health risk for anyone who relies on Nuvigil to relieve their ADHD symptoms.
Without a predictable, safe source of medication, these patients may find themselves suddenly without any medication at all due to a Customs seizure. Furthermore, without the quality controls found in the U.S., these international Nuvigil pills may not be pure or contain any Nuvigil at all.
For these reasons, ADHD sufferers are advised to avoid this gray market drug trade. One solution is to look into the wide range of legal nootropics which are known to address ADHD symptoms.
Non-Prescription Nuvigil Alternatives
Because most people cannot get a prescription for Nuvigil for ADHD, and they also do not want to risk their money or health buying from gray market international online pharmacies, many will turn to using a non-prescription alternative such as Adrafinil or one of the Racetams.
As described before, Adrafinil is the prodrug of Modafinil. In the liver, Adrafinil is broken down into its component parts, including the active Modafinil. After this initial conversion process, it is said that the effects of Adrafinil in the body are very similar to those experienced when Modafinil is taken directly.
Because of how it is metabolized in the liver, there is concern over the possibility of a buildup of toxic liver enzymes if Adrafinil is taken frequently. Because of this it is often recommended to only take Adrafinil occasionally, on an as-needed basis when a mental boost is really needed, for example to tackle school exams or work presentations.
Another option that some people use is one of the Racetam family of compounds. This group is all based off of the parent compound, Piracetam, that was developed in the 1960s. The Racetams have been observed to have positive effects on the neurotransmitter Acetylcholine in the brain, which in turn may increase neuroplasticity, enhancing learning ability and memory.
There have been derivatives of Piracetam developed over the years that are all considered more potent than their predecessor. These derivatives including Aniracetam, Oxiracetam, Pramiracetam, and Phenylpiracetam.
Adrafinil and the Racetams are considered unregulated, unscheduled compounds in the United States. They are legal to buy and use, but FDA laws on the sale of compounds like this can make it difficult to find them for sale. There are a large number of online nootropic stores that have them though.
Some people will stack Adrafinil and various Racetams together with each other, and with nootropic supplements to create a stack that is tailored to their ADHD needs. Check out this article for a summary of many other popular and effective legal ADHD nootropic treatments which are for sale from U.S. vendors. Information is also available about building nootropic stacks for ADHD.
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Article last updated on: April 13th, 2018 by Nootriment
1 Comment
need to stay focused.