Should the Military Buy Provigil?

Provigil 200mg x 100

It is absolutely no secret that the military has experimented with some physical stimulants, specifically to see if they can be used to help keep security personnel awake and alert beyond the times that they would normally require sleep.

Although not so far officially adopted by the military or the police, Provigil looks as if it may well become the drug of choice to battle the symptoms of fatigue – without having any harmful side-effects.

As a drug intended to treat people with sleeping disorders where they are prone to sleeping too much, it is little wonder that Provigil is of interest to security personnel.

Whether we’re talking about the military, the police or private security companies; it is a well established fact that at some time security related personnel need to maintain both their wakefulness and alertness beyond the limits of normal endurance.

However, what are the implications and risks of providing an artificial aid to achieve this and should we buy Provigil to keep military personnel awake?

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Stimulants Help Military Personnel Stay Awake

It is absolutely no secret that the military has experimented with some physical stimulants, specifically to see if they can be used to help keep security personnel awake and alert beyond the times that they would normally require sleep.

The stimulants tested, and indeed used for periods of time, range from the relatively harmless caffeine to more harmful substances like amphetamines and even MDMA, ecstasy.

Although not so far officially adopted by the military or the police, Provigil looks as if it may well become the drug of choice to battle the symptoms of fatigue – without having any harmful side-effects.

Although amphetamines are highly effective at keeping people awake and alert for potentially days on end, they do have two serious draw-backs.

The first one is that although they will produce feelings of well-being and elevated moods in the user, they also produce symptoms of depression and anxiety when the user stops taking them.

However, the same as for cocaine, it is the addictive nature of using amphetamines that makes them unsuitable as a general stimulant of any use to security personnel.

On the other hand MDMA is not addictive and will remove the urge to sleep in its users – unfortunately the fact that it will also urge users to dance is not particularly a trait helpful in a stimulant for security personnel.

Which is where Provigil comes in being non-addictive, and in normally healthy individuals, quite benign.

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So What Is Provigil?

Provigil, also commonly known as Modafinil in the USA, was designed as an analeptic drug to treat people with narcolepsy, obstructive sleep apnea and shift work sleep disorder.

In short, all of those sleeping disorders mean that sufferers of them either cannot control where and when they will fall asleep and/or will spend abnormally long periods of time asleep in any one day.

Or, if you prefer, they need something to help them stay awake.

Before the arrival of Provigil, as is outlined above, there were a variety of other drugs available to do this, most notably amphetamines, but all of them to some extent or other have adverse effects outweighing their benefit.

Even taking caffeine in very high amounts can be medically dangerous for some people.

Provigil works the same as other stimulants by releasing monoamines but, rather than just stimulating, it also raises the levels of hypothalamic histamines making it a novel wake promoting drug rather than a stimulant per se.

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Provigil 200mg x 100

Why Military and Security Personnel Might Use Provigil

Security guards should not fall asleep.

The following are some of the reasons and reports as to why Provigil might be used by the military and other security related services.

Although soldiers in past wars have used amphetamines they invariably become ‘jumpy’ using them and may even have their judgment impaired.

Studies in Cambridge, UK, have shown that not only will Provigil keep users awake but can actually enhance their cognitive abilities, or judgment if you will.

US military sources are quoted as saying that their soldiers can use Provigil and function for up to 40 hours, then after just 8 hours of sleep – be ready for action again, without any addictive or other side effects.

Indeed the Walter Reed Army Institute of Research states that soldiers can function effectively for 85 hours on Provigil.

Meanwhile, a piece of research at the Aeromedical Research Laboratory in Alabama, found that Provigil actually sharpened the performance of helicopter pilots between 1:30 and 3:30 in the morning.

It’s not just US forces that are using Provigil.

Since 2001 selected UK forces fighting in Afghanistan have been using Provigil, with the UK Ministry of Defense has spent nearly $100,000 on the drug to date for its forces out there.