This is a reference that Murray sent me on Modafinil that
I'll share with the group. I had asked about this drug because
my PD sister told me yesterday that she fell alseep at a stop
signal yesterday and the driver behind her honked his horn
to wake her up. She is on Mirapex and she will not stop driving
so another solution is needed.
Gail
From THE GOOD DRUG GUIDE
Modafinil is proving clinically useful in the treatment of narcolepsy,
a neurological disorder marked by uncontollable attacks of daytime
sleepiness.
http://www.modafinil.com/
"....modafinil is a memory-enhancing and mood-brightening psychostimulant. It
enhances wakefulness and vigilance, but its pharmacological profile is notably
different from the amphetamines, methylphenidate (Ritalin) or cocaine. It is less
likely to cause jitteriness, anxiety, or excess locomotor activity - or lead to a
hypersomnolent 'rebound effect' - than traditional stimulants. Subjectively, it
feels smoother and cleaner than the amphetamines too.
Current research suggests modafinil, like its older and better-tested analogue
adrafinil, is a safe, effective and well-tolerated agent. It is long-acting and
doesn't tend to cause peripheral sympathetic stimulation. Yet its CNS action isn't
fully understood. Modafinil induces wakefulness in part by its action in the
anterior hypothalmus. Its dopamine-releasing action in the nucleus accumbens is weak
and dose-dependent; the likelihood of dose-escalation and tolerance is apparently
small. Modafinil has central alpha 1-adrenergic agonist effects i.e. it directly
stimulates the receptors. More significant, perhaps, is its ability to increase
excitatory glutamatergic transmission. This reduces local GABAergic transmission,
thereby diminishing GABA(A) receptor signalling on the mesolimbic dopamine terminals.
Modafinil is proving clinically useful in the treatment of narcolepsy, a
neurological disorder marked by uncontollable attacks of daytime sleepiness.
Experimentally, it is also used in the treatment of Alzheimer's disease, depression,
attention-deficit disorder, age-related memory decline, idiopathic hypersomnia and
everyday cat-napping.
Prudence, however, should be exercised in drastically curtailing one's sleep.
Prolonged sleeplessness weakens immune function. Animals tortured in
sleep-deprivation experiments eventually die from massive bacterial infections of
the blood..."
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