X-Message-Number: 18530 From: "Tim Freeman" <> Date: Sat, 9 Feb 2002 11:50:51 -0700 Subject: Stay Awake Pill/circadian cycle References: <> >Could a drug ever replace a good cup of coffee to keep us alert after >a bad night's sleep? >http://webcenter.health.webmd.netscape.com/content/article/1836.50502?DEST=WebMD&contentSRC=nsmain Coffee can't keep you going for a few days. According to reports, modafinil can, and unlike amphetamines, on modafinil people can continue to function nearly normally during that time. I read somewhere that it doesn't prevent the deteoriation to the immune system that happens from staying up too long, though. I haven't tried it. >Hmph, I need a stay asleep pill, or rather a sleep by night awake by day >pill. Anyone have advise on changing ones circadian cycle? Blind people have the same problem, since they don't see the daylight and seeing daylight is what keeps most people's sleep habits stable. I heard from one person in this situation that their life became much more bearable when they discovered that melatonin can be used to control their circadian rhythyms. I don't know the details, but I suppose you just take it when you intend to go to sleep and you'll probably feel sleepy at about the same time the next day. I've tried melatonin, and in my experience it gives me about four hours of sleep, then I wake up. The aforementioned immune system deterioration seemed to happen to me in this case because I got an unusually unpleasant respiratory infection after taking advantage of this phenomenon a few days consecutively. -- Tim Freeman ; formerly Rate This Message: http://www.cryonet.org/cgi-bin/rate.cgi?msg=18530