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Modvigil only continues to grow in popularity, which begs the question of what exactly is it and how does it compare to all the other products out there.
How does it work? Who takes Modvigil? Why is it generally being sold for a little cheaper than similar products like Modalert? Who makes it?
These are the types of questions you should be asking yourself prior to taking the Modvigil, well any medication for that matter. If this is you and you're interested in learning more then you've come to the right place.
In this blog post we'll cover all the information that we think you need to know when it comes to one of the Modafinil favourites - Modvigil.
Understanding the basics of Modvigil
Long story short - Modvigil is a generic version of Modafinil.
But if you're interested in slightly longer story, let's dig into that now...
To give you some background, how it works in the pharmaceutical industry is that when a new medication is discovered, it gets patented by the pharmaceutical company. This will provide them with exclusive manufacturing rights for a certain period of time: generally 20 years. This company will then sell the branded version of the medication, which in the case of Modafinil was the french family-owned French drug company Lafon Pharmaceuticals. They had chosen to call it Modiodal.
Modafinil was sold over the counter under the different brand name Provigil in the United States by the American biopharmaceutical company Cephalon Pharmaceuticals. They had leased the manufacturing rights from Lafon Laboratories, but in 2001 they made the move to acquire the whole Lafon Pharmaceuticals company, giving Cephalon the sole manufacturing rights.
When the brand name of Modafinil is referenced, sources will usually always use Provigil, and not Modiodal.
Now back to the story, Cephalon were able to maintain their manufacturing monopoly right up until 2012 through a combination of patent protection and litigation legal cases following the patent expiry back in 2001.
Once the patent expired, Modafinil could be manufactured and sold by all pharmaceutical companies. These companies branded their own products with different names, and these versions are known in the industry as the generics, because they contain the same active ingredients but they've been manufactured by someone else.
Once of the more popular generic versions of Modafinil is manufactured by HAB Pharmaceuticals and Research Limited under the name Modvigil.
Now that was a long explanation for what is a pretty simple concept! But hopefully it makes more sense to you now.
To summarise -
Active ingredient: Modafinil
Brand name: Provigil (formerly Modiodal)
Generic [Brand] names: Modalert, Modvigil, Modawake, Modafresh, Modaheal, Vilafinil
HAB Pharmaceuticals and Research Limited
We mentioned HAB Pharmaceuticals and Research Limited (HAB Pharma), but who exactly are they and do they warrant our trust? After all, we are putting our health into their hands.
HAB Pharma aren't as large as Sun Pharma (who manufacture Modalert and Waklert), however their products are nearly as popular. Their most sought after Smart Drug products are Modvigil with the active ingredient Modafinil and Artvigil with the active ingredient Armodafinil. Modvigil and Artvigil have been the slightly cheaper versions of Modalert and Waklert, respectively, for quite a while.
HAB Pharmaceuticals is a global pharmaceutical company that focuses on the research, development, and commercialisation of innovative medicines. The company has a portfolio of products in various therapeutic areas, including oncology, immunology, and infectious diseases. HAB Pharmaceuticals has a network of manufacturing, research, and development facilities around the world. The company's mission is to provide innovative medicines that improve the lives of patients worldwide.
HAB Pharmaceuticals was founded in 2006 by Dr. Rakesh Jain and Dr. Sanjeev Agarwal. Both Dr. Jain and Dr. Agarwal are experienced pharmaceutical executives with a passion for improving patient care through innovation. HAB Pharmaceuticals is headquartered in Boca Raton, Florida, USA.
The company's oncology portfolio includes treatments for solid tumours and blood cancers. The immunology portfolio includes treatments for autoimmune diseases and allergies. The infectious disease portfolio includes treatments for HIV/AIDS, hepatitis, and tuberculosis. HAB Pharmaceuticals has a strong commitment to research and development.
The company has invested over $1 billion in research and development since its inception.
But why are HAB Pharma's Smart Drug products so popular around the world, yet still cheaper than Modalert and Waklert from Sun Pharma?
All medications manufactured by HAB Pharma are delivered according to similar high manufacturing standards and quality controls (think FDA oversight in the US), but the price difference can be brought down to one thing - brand awareness and appeal. Sun Pharma are seen as larger and therefore 'safer' regardless of both companies operating at the same standards, so Sun Pharma is able to get away with selling their products for more. Even though they're practically the same thing.
This is the nature of all markets so it isn't anything new, but as a consumer it is important and good to know, because you can save money by choosing one product over another, knowing that they are the same thing, just branded differently. The outcome and effect will be the same, you'll just same some money in the process.
What is Modafinil?
Modafinil, being the active ingredient in Modvigil, is a central nervous system stimulant and wakefulness-promoting drug.
It is approved for the treatment of narcolepsy, shift work sleep disorder, and excessive daytime sleepiness in people with obstructive sleep apnea. Modafinil has also been used off-label to treat attention deficit hyperactivity disorder, chronic fatigue syndrome, myotonic dystrophy and major depressive disorder.
Modafinil is structurally different from other central nervous system stimulants such as amphetamines, methylphenidate and cocaine. The precise mechanism by which modafinil promotes wakefulness is unknown. However, it is thought to work by increasing the activity of certain neurotransmitters in the brain, including dopamine, norepinephrine and histamine.
Modafinil is available in a number of different countries with a prescription. In the United States, it is classified as a schedule IV controlled substance, which means that it has a low potential for abuse and dependence. However, there have been reports of people abusing modafinil for its stimulant effects.
However, modafinil is commonly used off-label for its stimulant effects to help increase cognitive performance, while promoting alertness and wakefulness. This is largely why it is being used by more and more by students and professionals around the world to assist them to stay on top of the workloads.
How does Modafinil work?
The exact mechanism by which Modafinil works is still not completely understood. Despite decades of research conducted on Modafinil, it remains a mystery on how it effectively treats conditions such as narcolepsy and sleeping disorders.
Don't let that discourage you however, what research has been able to conclude is that Modafinil is effective.
There is ongoing research still underway to try and get to the bottom of this mystery, hopefully one day we'll find out. The good news is that we don't have to wait until then before we can experience the benefits that Modafinil has to offer.
Modafinil is a racemate with the two enantiomers; R-enantiomer and S-enantiomer. Armodafinil, which targets just the R-enantiomer, has also been commercialised as a waking drug, with some members of the community finding it to be more effective as a smart drug than Modafinil.
The pharmacological profile of Modafinil is notably different from the traditional psychostimulants, such as amphetamines, cocaine or methylphenidate.
Research indicates that Modafinil elevates dopamine levels in the hypothalamus. It is thought to do this by acting as a dopamine re-uptake inhibitor. Interestingly, it is understood that Modafinil binds to the same site on the Dopamine Transporter (DAT) as cocaine, but in a different way.
Aside from Modafinil, examples of other atypical DAT inhibitors include Vanoxerine and Benztropine, which have a relatively low potential for abuse similar to Modafinil.
What does Modafinil treat?
Modafinil is generally prescribed to treat issues surrounding sleep, arousal and wakefulness.
Some of the conditions treated with Modafinil include the following:
Obstructive Sleep Apnea (OSA)
Traumatic brain injury (Craniocerebral trauma)
Shift-Work Sleep Disorder (SWSD)
The benefits of Modafinil
Modafinil has a number of advantages, which has made it one of the most popular nootropics regularly taken by people all around the globe.
The following list contains some of the advantages reported for taking Modafinil:
Improved alertness and wakefulness
Improved cognitive function
Improved ability to concentrate and focus
Reduced fatigue; and
Improved mood.
Side effects of taking Modafinil
No medication or drug is ever perfect. Even NZT in the movie Limitless with Bradley Cooper had negative side effects which he only discovered later on since it was very much still an experimental drug. There are always going to be downsides, but ideally you need to find products that have more positives than they do have negatives. Otherwise, what's the point.
Despite modafinil not being completely understood, it has been somewhat researched and consumed by the public long enough for us to have a pretty good idea of all the different symptoms and side effects that you might experience while taking it.
If you head over to the webmd page for Modafinil it might give you a fright, although looking at any medication on webmd (or any page for that matter...) will cause a shock. Their list mostly contains "infrequent" and "rare" side effects. These are useful to know but the chances that you experience any of them is very slim, especially if you follow our advice and take it slow while listening to your body and consulting the required health professionals.
Let me bring your attention to the more common side effects, which affect less than 15% of users:
Indigestion
Backache
Dizziness
Difficulty sleeping
Nausea
Diarrhoea
Anxiousness
While these side effects are not very appealing, they don't happen to everyone (less than 15%) and some of these can also be avoided by better understanding the medication, as well as your own body and tolerances. We'll continue to prepare some posts to cover all that is know about Modafinil and how to minimise the side effects so that users are able to get the most out of their experiences.
Although it can be incorrectly mentioned online, Modafinil has been found to not be addictive.
Research has also generally concluded that the likelihood of abuse is very low with zero reported Modafinil caused fatalities. There is an interesting medical article written on the attempted suicide of a teenage who took 5000 mg of Modafinil (~25 tablets which is 25x the recommended average dose of 200 mg), however, lived to tell the tale...
"Approximately 2 hours following ingestion the patient complained of headache, nausea and abdominal pain. /.../ There was no deterioration of kidney or liver functions, and no change in complete blood count or blood pressure."
Not a bad outcome all things considered.
Do people buy Modafinil online?
It is becoming increasingly popular for people to want to buy their medicine online. The growth of this trend has only been accelerating. People already buy most of what they need need online, so it was only a matter of time until the pharmaceutical industry started to also head in the same direction.
Pricing is a lot cheaper when you're purchasing online, especially for generic medication since there is more competition. Brand named products are still expensive, but you'll still be paying less than if you were to walk into a physical store.
The purchase of Modafinil online has followed the same trend. More and more people are looking online to try and find ways that they can better perform at school, in their jobs, or just in life in general. The benefits of trying a smart drug like Modafinil seem all too irresistible, but who can blame us, life is all about trying to be our optimal selves.
The increased competition between online Modafinil vendors has only meant one thing - lower prices. I would have liked to add 'better service', but from what we've seen over the years it hasn't been the case... The industry is a mix of reliable vendors but also plenty of scammers looking for trusting buyers. It can be very difficult to tell the difference between the two, especially with fake or misleading reviews being plastered all over the internet.
We've started writing our own vendor reviews to try and help people to avoid getting scammed or misled.
So this brings us to the question of whether or not it is legal for people to be purchasing their Modafinil and Armodafinil products online. Let's dig into this in some more detail.
Is buying Modafinil online legal?
The answer to this question is a combination of 'yes' and 'no'. It just depends, but let's dig into why this is the case.
Long story short, it will depend on which country you live in and whether a prescription is required for Modafinil. Modafinil has been around for decades now with approval to be sold in the US, throughout Europe and the rest of the world. Each country has classified Modafinil differently, which is generally the case for all pharmaceutical products. It's a complicated space to say the least - and it's no different for nootropics or smart drugs.
There isn't a universal standard that all countries follow, so in order to know whether buying Modafinil online is legal or not, I'd recommend that you have a look at our country Buying Guides which cover country by country in a lot more detail.
Where to buy Modafinil
While Modafinil can be purchased from your local pharmacy with a valid prescription, it can also be purchased online easily enough without a prescription.
That being said, it isn't obvious to know where to purchase from and which vendor you can trust. This is why we've prepared some detailed vendor reviews to help you find a supplier that best suits your needs based on how much you're looking to spend and what country you live in.
Remain productive and stay safe!
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