make me stay awake

[Nashers]

hi guys

just watched a program on BBC1 called "make me stay awake" and got me thinking. there was alot on how the presenter started feeling tired and his responce time increasing while he was getting more tired, and ofcourse this is the same with pilots. however in the last bit of the program he tries out a drug called Modafinil which is kept him up for a very long time and he felt totaly fine.

i would like to know from a medical point of view, how viable this drug is and if it is already being used in the aviation industry. the program stated that the USAF does sometimes use the drug for very long haul flights. the presenter Michael Mosley took it and felt fine. he went to bed in the end feeling totaly fresh after something like 2 days with no sleep but did wake up with a body rash.

i dont intend to take this drug as i love my duvet too much but i am someone who needs quite a bit of sleep. how do some people manage with just a couple of hours a night and other require 8-10 hours?

how safe would someone be taking this drug, not sleeping and being incharge of a jet coming into heathrow at peak time, with 400 people in the back? the presenter found someone in canada who uses the drug to stay awake at night to basicly double his income. the guy goes to work, comes home says good night to the family and heads back to work again..

finaly, any stories about people going without sleep and how well or badly the managed?

many thanks.

BBC - BBC One Programmes - Make Me..., Stay Awake (http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/b00hvvj1)

Modafinil - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modafinil)

[LambOfGod]

I want it...

But does it realy stop every part of your body from fatigue?

Like your eyes...

[MartinCh]

from the linked wiki entry.
Military use

Militaries of several countries are known to have expressed interest in Modafinil as an alternative for amphetamine (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Amphetamine)—the drug traditionally employed in combat situations where troops face sleep deprivation (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sleep_deprivation), such as during lengthy missions. The French (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/France) government indicated that the Foreign Legion (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/French_Foreign_Legion) used modafinil during certain covert operations. The United Kingdom (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_Kingdom)'s Ministry of Defence (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ministry_of_Defence_%28United_Kingdom%29) has admitted conducting ongoing research into Modafinil[50] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modafinil#cite_note-49) and spent £300,000 on one investigation.[51] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modafinil#cite_note-50)
In the United States (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/United_States) military, Modafinil has been approved for use on certain Air Force missions, and it is being investigated for other uses.[52] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modafinil#cite_note-51)One study on helicopter pilots suggested that 600 mg of modafinil given in three doses can be used to keep pilots alert and maintain their accuracy at pre-deprivation levels for 40 hours without sleep.[53] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modafinil#cite_note-52) However, significant levels of nausea and vertigo were observed. Another study of fighter pilots showed that modafinil given in three divided 100 mg doses sustained the flight control accuracy of sleep-deprived F-117 (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/F-117) pilots to within about 27 percent of baseline levels for 37 hours, without any considerable side effects.[54] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modafinil#cite_note-53) In an 88-hour sleep loss study of simulated military grounds operations, 400 mg/day doses were mildly helpful at maintaining alertness and performance of subjects compared to placebo, but the researchers concluded that this dose was not high enough to compensate for most of the effects of complete sleep loss.[55] (http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Modafinil#cite_note-54)

Looks like it is reasonably safe for critical operations. Still, taking things too far wouldn't really help. Maybe as a backup for unexpected delays/diverts when having to exceed duty time limits etc. I particularly like that appetite reducing effect.