Cheating the sandman

[DEAagent924440385]

I'm a practical man. I've got nothing against recreational drug use, but I'm not interested in getting high or exploring the corners of my inner being. I want an edge!

So far nootropics are weaksauce, from what I've heard. But there ARE drugs that keep you awake, and (to an extent) keep your mind functioning while doing so.

Sleep steals away a full third of our lives. We know we need it, at least, we need parts of it, or we go insane and die. But we don't even really know why.

My question to you is this: What's the maximum number of hours of mental clarity that could be squeezed out of the human brain on an indefinite basis, and what drugs would be used to achieve it?

 

[Mr. White]

you could try the "uberman" sleep cycle http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Polyphasic_sleep

 

[DEAagent924440385]

Awesome, thank you! This looks like it might work all on its own.

 

[Tchort]

Modafinil and Adrafinil are being touted as the new 'everyman' drugs for stimulation and working effectively without sleep. Some proponents of the drugs say you can function for 48 hours the way you normally do in 24, without sleep. It is currently prescribed for shift-work sleep disturbance (and narcolepsy type conditions). Side effects are said to be minimal, and the therapeutic to recreational doses are very far below the overdose limit, which makes it attractive as a regular intake drug. Some proponents want it to be available OTC the way Caffeine and Ginseng are.

 

[theotherside]

You don't want to get high or explore the corners of your inner being? Cool. You should go chat on ICQ or youtube and debate which country is the best, or who's better Hannah Montana or Miley cyrus( oh wait they're the same person)

 

[DXM101]

get addicted to meth

 

[aoe2junkie]

you dont need/have to get addicted to meth to use it efficiently and sparingly

 

[wungchow]

Modafinil definitely takes the cake - it's easy to get online too (I won't provide sources though.)

 

[hamhurricane]

for maximum thought time try.
modafinil/dexmethylphenidate+piracetam+fish oil+lots and lots of yerba maté+polyphasic sleep

ive tried them all and they all work wonderfully (except polyphasic sleep)

 

[Hammilton]

Modafinil and Adrafinil are being touted as the new 'everyman' drugs for stimulation and working effectively without sleep. Some proponents of the drugs say you can function for 48 hours the way you normally do in 24, without sleep. It is currently prescribed for shift-work sleep disturbance (and narcolepsy type conditions). Side effects are said to be minimal, and the therapeutic to recreational doses are very far below the overdose limit, which makes it attractive as a regular intake drug. Some proponents want it to be available OTC the way Caffeine and Ginseng are.

I agree with the idea that it should be OTC, preferably replacing caffeine, which would then be put into schedule V.

One disagreement though regarding "and the therapeutic to recreational doses are very far below the overdose limit."

Unfortunately it's not true: there's not really a recreational dose for the stuff

 

[seep]

Hammilton is right about modafinil.

So far nootropics are weaksauce, from what I've heard. But there ARE drugs that keep you awake, and (to an extent) keep your mind functioning while doing so.

Some people call such drugs nootropics, a class which includes amphetamines and cocaine. This rumor of crack being "weaksauce" hasn't hit my neck of the woods yet.

I'm guessing you're serious about wanting to sleep a minimal amount of hours. I'm also guessing you're not currently addicted to anything. You've gotten some terrible advice so far. Modafinil is quite addictive, psychologically; once you take it for more than 3 straight weeks, you will find it difficult to discontinue because you'll feel intensely somnolent and anhedonic without it. If you don't currently have an addiction to anything stronger than caffeine or nicotine, stay the fuck away from uppers. If you absolutely must stay awake (if Freddy's after you or something), just pop 12.5 mg of ephedrine. Or better yet, grind up some raw ma huang stem and mix it into juice.

Now if you did want to plumb your unconscious or whatever, you'll find that sleep deprivation is a fantastic way to induce hallucination, dissociation, and to come face to face with your personal Mephistopheles...

 

[grue]

improve sleep quality: meditation, proper light timing (like staying away from blue light from computer or tv in the evening, , generally avoiding stressful activities in the evening -- winding down; delta wave binaural beats (maybe!); the right dose of cyproheptadine; the right dose of a dopamine agonist (or a mucuna pruriens preparation? I prefer unstandardized because I don't think the effective fraction is L-DOPA, or L-DOPA alone anyway, it seems from what research there is to last longer and be antineurotoxic) to kill any trace of RLS and yeah, deepen sleep; electric blankets; hot cocoa; love; taking advantage of state-dependent memory and keeping work outside the bedroom; maybe one of them effing new-agey magnets (or is it a pulsing thing? a microwave? a telltale heart? uh) under your bed or something ...

Actually I wouldn't recommend going less than 8 hours even with these interventions, if your sleep is hella deep, although quality sleep will have nice benefits in general and certainly will improve things when you do have to make do with less. it's just really beneficial to get as much as you need, and as of yet it appears there is nothing, nothing that has allayed that need. modafinil and armodafinil and meth might help you with staying up 48 hours occasionally, but believe me when I say that you are not going to do that consistently regardless of what drug, without running into serious problems.

Some people (not me, I get totally fucked up, hallucinate) do function on only 6 hours consistently and deeper sleep would help them, but they would also probably benefit from getting more if they could.

 

[vecktor]

I agree with the idea that it should be OTC, preferably replacing caffeine, which would then be put into schedule V.

One disagreement though regarding "and the therapeutic to recreational doses are very far below the overdose limit."

Unfortunately it's not true: there's not really a recreational dose for the stuff

neither should be completely OTC, as stupid people will be excessive with it, not sleep for days go psychotic or crash their car and blame the modafinil, and then it will be heavily restricted.
there is also a certain incidence of really nasty side effects with both modafnil and adrafinil, the more people who consume it the more these effects will appear.

caffeine on the other hand has pretty unpleasant peripheral effects which limit excessive continuous use.

 

[Jamshyd]

OP: I'm sorry, but this is just plain dumb (ironically). Sleep is one of the most important functions in your life. A fucked up sleep cycle fucks up EVERYTHING in your body, from your feelings to your bowel movements.

You cannot "indefinitely" abuse yourself. You worry about sleep stealing away a third of your life, yet you want to destroy your natural sleep cycle.

Have you ever known any insomniacs? I guess not because you don't seem to realize how much they suffer.

I'm sorry if this is too blunt, but I'm just baffled by what you posted.

 

[The Monkey Mantra]

^^^ What he said, but also:

Adrafinil and Modafinil are NOT side-effect free, and I'm not even talking about the freaky rare scary effects. Well, first off, lemme say that you can actually develop Stevens-Johnson syndrom from the stuff (my psychiatrist regailed me with NASTY details about a client of his who did), but aside from that, dude, they'll make you feel jittery and crappy, or at least just plain anxious, if you don't use them sparingly. Sleep is a good thing! Enjoy it!

 

[welshmick]

OP: I'm sorry, but this is just plain dumb (ironically). Sleep is one of the most important functions in your life. A fucked up sleep cycle fucks up EVERYTHING in your body, from your feelings to your bowel movements.

You cannot "indefinitely" abuse yourself. You worry about sleep stealing away a third of your life, yet you want to destroy your natural sleep cycle.

Have you ever known any insomniacs? I guess not because you don't seem to realize how much they suffer.

I'm sorry if this is too blunt, but I'm just baffled by what you posted.

I can confirm this

 

[MurphyClox]

^^^ What he said, but also:

Adrafinil and Modafinil are NOT side-effect free, and I'm not even talking about the freaky rare scary effects. Well, first off, lemme say that you can actually develop Stevens-Johnson syndrom from the stuff (my psychiatrist regailed me with NASTY details about a client of his who did), but aside from that, dude, they'll make you feel jittery and crappy, or at least just plain anxious, if you don't use them sparingly. Sleep is a good thing! Enjoy it!

Yo! Totally agreed, especially with the last part. But also to the side-effects issue...

The idea that the period that one spents sleeping is waste of time is one of the major misconceptions of modern western society. ...IMHO, at least.

- Murphy

 

[Jabberwocky]

OP: I'm sorry, but this is just plain dumb (ironically). Sleep is one of the most important functions in your life. A fucked up sleep cycle fucks up EVERYTHING in your body, from your feelings to your bowel movements.

You cannot "indefinitely" abuse yourself. You worry about sleep stealing away a third of your life, yet you want to destroy your natural sleep cycle.

Have you ever known any insomniacs? I guess not because you don't seem to realize how much they suffer.

I'm sorry if this is too blunt, but I'm just baffled by what you posted.

quoted for truth

 

[DEAagent924440385]

I've tried modafinil, and I gave up on it after doubling the dose a few times because I didn't notice any effects. No side effects either, just... nothing. Maybe I still wasn't taking enough, unfortunately I don't remember how much I tried.

 

[DXM101]

There really is no natural way to do this, your body needs sleep for a reason.