Provigil vs. Cocaine
In an attempt to see if there is an interaction between cocaine and Provigil, 20mg or 40mg IV cocaine was given pre and post Provigil (400mg or 800mg) for 7 days. There was an interaction, but it turned out to be positive: Provigil reduced systemic cocaine exposure.
A safety study investigated (in 7 people) the interaction between cocaine (30mg IV) and Provigil (modafinil) 200mg or 400mg, or placebo, and found no synergistic effect on vital signs (T, BP, HR) or EKG. Not only did it not augment cocaine euphoria, it blunted it in one person.
In another study, 62 (mostly black) males addicted to cocaine were randomized to placebo, CBT, or Provigil 400mg. Abstinence, the primary outcome, was measured by benzoylecgonine in the urine. Patients on Provigil were abstinent longer, and produced fewer positive urines (i.e. fewer relapses.) Importantly, no one got addicted to Provigil.
Unlike cocaine and Ritalin (methylphenidate) Provigil did not produce "cocaine like discriminitive stimulus" (i.e. didn't feel like cocaine; Ritalin and cocaine do feel like cocaine.)
That's all we know about Provigil vs. cocaine so far, which is pitiful but not inconsequential. Given Provigil's near absence of terrible side effects, I say it's worth a try.
In the interest of completeness (and correctness) I have to correct the major paper, above (the 62 people with the urine tests) . The authors of that paper propose the following potential mechanism:
Its glutamate-enhancing action (Ferraro et al, 1998; 1999) might be clinically advantageous in cocaine dependence because the repeated administration of cocaine depletes extracellular glutamate levels
Except that the Ferraro paper doesn't actually say that. What it says is that it inhibits striatal and globus pallidus GABA, but doesn't directly affect glutamate. In order for it to have any effect on striatal glutamate, you needed 300mg/kg (i.e. 21,000mg. See you on the other side.) Given that GABA and glutamate are opposites (i.e. glutamate goes up because GABA goes down), it's probably a small point, but not an insignificant one: if it directly increases glutamate, it could antagonize Lamictal or even potentially cause seizures (and it does neither.)
The second Ferraro reference finds essentially the same thing: inhibition of medial preoptic area and posterior hypothalamus GABA, and consequently glutamate increases. And again, all of this occurs at preposterously high doses (100-300mg/kg.)
In interesting side finding of Ferraro's study is that the medial preoptic area and posterior hypothalamus are primarily controlled by tonic GABA inhibition; consequently modafinil's (or any drug's) effect of increasing glutamate in these areas can be blocked by giving a GABA-A antagonist.
So Provigil operates by (probably) by antagonizing GABA, not specifically by enhancing glutamate (neither synthesis of or transport of).
To further complicate this picture, it may be that the effects on GABA and glutamate are both indirect, and really the result of serotonin agonism. In an earlier study by the same guy, the decreases in GABA were partially prevented by a 5HT3 blocker (think Zofran, Remeron). Does Provigil work through serotonin? In a later study, the same guy finds that at 100mg/kg, Provigil does, after all, increase serotonin in the medial preoptic area and posterior hypothalamus. (At lower doses, 10-100mg/kg, it increases serotonin in the cortex, dorsal raphe and the amygdala.) (And in another study, (yes, by that same guy again,) 3mg/kg Provigil, which in itself has no effect on serotonin, synergistically augmented serotonin increase to fluoxetine and imipramine.)
We already know that Provigil can reduce the sedation that comes from varying drugs, like SSRIs, general anesthesia, haloperidol, and chlorpromazine. It would be interesting to see if Provigil was unable to improve sedation on Remeron, supporting the 5HT3 hypothesis.
Good luck out there.
May 25, 2006 1:49 PM | Posted by : | Reply
re: dopamine: for sure it is important, DAT knockout mice don't respond to modafinil. but modafinil doesn't bind to DAT or to dopmaine receptors, so the link isnt known. also the article anonymous referenced shows that dopamine autoreceptor agonists can block modafinils effect on nrem, but does not inhibit modafinils effect on rem sleep.
March 21, 2007 5:35 AM | Posted by : | Reply
I use remeron and provigil. I work the night shift and the sedation from remeron is effictively reduced by modafinil at 45mg and 300mg respectively. Coffee does not work when I awake, but does later in my shift, which puzzles me.
March 24, 2007 6:42 AM | Posted by : | Reply
I have fibromyalgia and have suffered for many years with all the symptoms,severe, soreness,pain,aching,chills,fatigue,sleepless nights and many more symptoms. I have asked many doctors, if there wasn't any thing they could give me for the fatigue. And they told me no, it just has to run it's course. But in December of 2006 I was referred to a new pain management doctor and after seeing him a few times I told him how I was doing that week. The tired and weakness feelings that goes along with fibromyalgia,is also so hard to bear. He gave me a prescription for Provigil 100mg. tablets and told me to try it and see how I do. He said sometimes it does help people with fibromyalgia. After taking one, I was feeling so much better. I finally had some energy to actually move around without having to hold on to something. After trying this medication I recommend anyone who suffers from fibromyalgia ask their doctor about trying this medication. I only had to take that one tablet and I still have energy on the second day after.However I am not going to take it unless I need to.
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