There are individual differences in metabolism rates of all drugs, so you might want to try some in the 3-5 hour range to see how they affect you. If tolerance worries you consider cycling some drugs or taking days off.
Nicotine could increase the clearance of caffeine as much as 50 %, you could use this to your advantage.
Consider raising your alertness nonpharmacologically, like exercise or cold showers for example. Consider working in an upright position.
In the other comment you said you have problems with sleep. There are several options to improve that side too, so that you might tolerate the stimulants better. This of course makes no sense if the problem doesn’t lie in your waking hours. Melatonin you can probably get OTC. The nervousness induced by stimulants could also be dampened in several ways.
If I don’t particularly like modafinil for its long half-life then I’ll take a closer look at others. I’m sure my sleep doctor would be glad to give me a few samples of other stimulants.
I wasn’t aware of the effect of nicotine on caffeine. Seems to be potentially useful.
Nonpharmacological treatments generally don’t do much anything in my experience. Naps work fairly well, though they can leave me groggy. Exercise wakes me up during its duration, but not for much longer afterward (This is consistent with normal people’s experiences). Though, I have used exercise before to “anchor” my circadian drive (i.e., running in the morning helped my body know when to wake up), which I found worked well. Standing prevents me from falling asleep involuntarily, but it won’t stop me from feeling very sleepy. Neither does walks; I need a certain level of physical activity to counter sleepiness. Some large meals make me very sleepy, but not all. Eating delicious greasy food at an alehouse on Fridays with some coworkers last summer at about noon tended to cause outright collapse at 2 pm (note that I don’t drink alcoholic beverages), whereas eating a Chipotle burrito, which is similar in volume, causes no postprandial somnolence. Talking seems to wake me up more than I initially expected. I haven’t tried cold showers, but I suspect they’d be counterproductive as a decrease in body temperature is known to trigger sleep.
I thought I had issues with my sleep quality at night. I generally don’t wake up feeling rested, and the sleepiness continues through the day, usually abating sometime after dinner or an afternoon nap. I just recently got the results of an overnight sleep study, and they indicated that my sleep quality should be okay. Assuming that the study was not misleading in some way, this leaves the possibility that I am a long sleeper, i.e., that I require 10+ hours of sleep per night to function correctly.
I hadn’t considered trying to counteract the nervousness induced by stimulants. I’ll have to look into various relaxation techniques.
I hadn’t considered trying to counteract the nervousness induced by stimulants. I’ll have to look into various relaxation techniques.
You can do this pharmacologically too, with beta blockers for example. Consider asking your doctor about it.
Have you tried caffeine naps i.e. take a caffeine pill then start taking a nap? The caffeine absorbs while you sleep so when you wake up you could be more alert right away. This could also prevent oversleeping.
In the mornings I sometimes take a few caffeine pills after the alarm and continue sleeping until I wake up spontaneously when the effect peaks. Another way that works for me to increase morning alertness is to time some bright lamps to turn on an hour or so before wake up time.
There are individual differences in metabolism rates of all drugs, so you might want to try some in the 3-5 hour range to see how they affect you. If tolerance worries you consider cycling some drugs or taking days off.
Nicotine could increase the clearance of caffeine as much as 50 %, you could use this to your advantage.
Consider raising your alertness nonpharmacologically, like exercise or cold showers for example. Consider working in an upright position.
In the other comment you said you have problems with sleep. There are several options to improve that side too, so that you might tolerate the stimulants better. This of course makes no sense if the problem doesn’t lie in your waking hours. Melatonin you can probably get OTC. The nervousness induced by stimulants could also be dampened in several ways.
Thanks for your comment.
If I don’t particularly like modafinil for its long half-life then I’ll take a closer look at others. I’m sure my sleep doctor would be glad to give me a few samples of other stimulants.
I wasn’t aware of the effect of nicotine on caffeine. Seems to be potentially useful.
Nonpharmacological treatments generally don’t do much anything in my experience. Naps work fairly well, though they can leave me groggy. Exercise wakes me up during its duration, but not for much longer afterward (This is consistent with normal people’s experiences). Though, I have used exercise before to “anchor” my circadian drive (i.e., running in the morning helped my body know when to wake up), which I found worked well. Standing prevents me from falling asleep involuntarily, but it won’t stop me from feeling very sleepy. Neither does walks; I need a certain level of physical activity to counter sleepiness. Some large meals make me very sleepy, but not all. Eating delicious greasy food at an alehouse on Fridays with some coworkers last summer at about noon tended to cause outright collapse at 2 pm (note that I don’t drink alcoholic beverages), whereas eating a Chipotle burrito, which is similar in volume, causes no postprandial somnolence. Talking seems to wake me up more than I initially expected. I haven’t tried cold showers, but I suspect they’d be counterproductive as a decrease in body temperature is known to trigger sleep.
I thought I had issues with my sleep quality at night. I generally don’t wake up feeling rested, and the sleepiness continues through the day, usually abating sometime after dinner or an afternoon nap. I just recently got the results of an overnight sleep study, and they indicated that my sleep quality should be okay. Assuming that the study was not misleading in some way, this leaves the possibility that I am a long sleeper, i.e., that I require 10+ hours of sleep per night to function correctly.
I hadn’t considered trying to counteract the nervousness induced by stimulants. I’ll have to look into various relaxation techniques.
You can do this pharmacologically too, with beta blockers for example. Consider asking your doctor about it.
Have you tried caffeine naps i.e. take a caffeine pill then start taking a nap? The caffeine absorbs while you sleep so when you wake up you could be more alert right away. This could also prevent oversleeping.
You are full of good suggestions!
I had not considered beta blockers at all. Perhaps I should; it appears that they also treat some of my other (minor) health issues.
I have not tried a caffeine nap. Doing some quick reading suggests that it may counteract the grogginess I experience.
In the mornings I sometimes take a few caffeine pills after the alarm and continue sleeping until I wake up spontaneously when the effect peaks. Another way that works for me to increase morning alertness is to time some bright lamps to turn on an hour or so before wake up time.