Wake-Up Pill Could Jolt Sleepy People

LOS ANGELES — Do you get sleepy at work, while studying or at home? If so, a pill that may help you wake up is just being approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

Wake-Up Pill Could Jolt Sleepy People
Prescription Medication May Become Available Over-The-Counter

POSTED: 5:56 p.m. PDT September 26, 2003
UPDATED: 6:03 p.m. PDT September 26, 2003

LOS ANGELES — Do you get sleepy at work, while studying or at home? If so, a pill that may help you wake up is just being approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

NBC4 first reported on this pill called Provigil when it was just being studied. It is already available by prescription for narcoleptics — people who fall asleep suddenly because of a brain condition. The FDA panel is considering approving it for plain old sleepiness as well.

Lots of Americans work the graveyard shift. Still others rotate shifts, alternating days and nights that never let their bodies adjust to one schedule. The odd hours can be hard on their health.

“They have loss of attention, loss of performance capabilities across the night. Also the drive home in the morning they could fall asleep while driving or they don’t react as quickly to situations,” said researcher Naomi Rogers.

The cure may be as simple as the pill Modafini, sold under the name Provigil. Unlike coffee or amphetamines that can make you feel wired, it keeps you awake without side effects.

“With Modafinil, you don’t get that buzz or the high so that’s why it’s thought not to be addictive and also doesn’t affect your sleep following taking it across the night shift. The pill was studied by giving it to people in the sleep lab and while they worked,” said Rogers.

Ideally, the pill could benefit workers who, at times, must stay awake and alert for long hours. But researchers don’t see it routinely replacing sleep for everyone.

“The brain needs sleep and when you go without sleep for too long, as well as getting all those performance detriments and trouble staying awake, the brain starts micro-sleeping, like it forces you to have some sleep,” said Rogers.

Still, if the wake-up pill pans out, working into the wee hours might get a lot easier.

Modafinil is available by prescription. Studies are under way for a number of other potential pill uses, including age-related memory decline, Alzheimer’s disease, attention-deficit hyperactivity disorder and depression.

I’ve heard about similar pills before. One type that comes to mind are called “Go Pills” used by Air Force pilots to stay awake and in a non fatigued state for long flights / missions. I had always wished I could get my hands on some. It’s probably a good thing I didn’t though. It will be interesting if they do start selling something similar over the counter. It would be very easy to abuse the hell out of a drug like that.

Expect the white trash truckers to be the first to get this shit banned a week after it is introduced to the consumer. I guess it is cheaper than Black Beauties. You can’t get a hold of GO Pills and your actually in the military. Are they some type of like amphetamine lite? Christ, I had a friend give me a needle of that anti-nerve agent that you have to inject into your leg so you don’t croak from Gulf War One. The name escapes me of what it is called. What the hell did I do with it? More rumbling heard in the background as TT goes of looking for more lost shit.

Once I’m awake, I’m cool. What I need is a pill that will actually wake me up from sleeping. My current alarm clock wakes up all of my neighbors, but I sleep right through it.

TT you might know this; are there different levels of unconsciousness that people fall into during sleep? I’ve come to the conclusion that I actually die every night then come back to life in the morning.

Twatteaser-

Are you thinking of Atropine?