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What are the effects of drinking alcohol while taking Modafinil?

There are some nights when I would just like to get home from a hard day’s work and chill out with a beer in hand watching a re-run of my favorite Game of Thrones episode.

When I really need to unwind, one drink may turn into three or four. Don’t get me wrong here, there’s a sea of difference between drinking to get drunk and having a beer or two.

Normally, I wouldn’t think too much about it, but since I regularly take nootropics, I wanted to find out if there were any adverse effects when you combine alcohol with a drug like Modafinil.

I should add that I’ve have gone a step down with my drinking since hitting the 30-year mark, so I drink a lot less these days.

Now, you must be wondering why I’m doing this.

Well, since it’s pretty hard to find comprehensive answers to questions about the exact effects of alcohol combined with Modafinil, I thought I would experiment with it during different times before I downed alcohol so I could give you an exact review of what happened.

Consider this me playing an inebriated scientist!

Note: these experiments were done using Modafinil (Modalert, to be specific) bought online here.

The Test Phase

Case 1: Modafinil and drinking the next day

So to start off with, I had my regular dose of Moda on a Thursday and skipped it on Friday so I could put a day’s worth of time between it and alcohol.

As far as I can tell, this situation posed no problems at all for me.

It was just a regular night with my friends and everything went about as exactly as I would’ve liked. I felt the buzz, laughed louder than I usually would and convinced myself I was a great dancer.

In short, the usual. There were no untoward effects and I got properly sloshed by the time I downed the fourth. Or was it the fifth? The regular drowsiness and the inability to hold a conversation lasting more than 2 words were upon me.

We had a designated driver in our group that night, so he dropped the lot of us home. Woke up the next day with a slight headache and ‘Friday night’ syndrome. Nothing out of the ordinary.

Case 2: Modafinil and drinking the same day

This led to far more interesting results. I took Modafinil on Friday morning and then again before going out with friends in the evening (a small dose).

I actually found it very hard to get drunk. I usually have 3 Jack & Cokes, but even after about 5 there was no slurred speech and I was able to think clearly. My body was drunk, but my brain wasn’t.

I found that I could still converse with clarity on various topics. But as time went on, I began to feel a slight dullness creeping in.

Even now, all my major motor functions were working without a hitch, for example, I could still stand on one leg or toe a line.

Things that require finer control, however, were beginning to lose their ability to perform. I should add that my dancing skills have had no improvement whatsoever.

There was a marked difference between the last case and now. I actually had to go at the bottle pretty hard to even begin to feel remotely drunk.

This I thought was a great way to stay up during extended drinking session during pub crawls or boat parties.

I got home in a taxi, crashed on the bed and was sound asleep. When I got up I had a splitting headache, but I think that’s got more to do with the amount of alcohol I consumed the previous night than nootropics in general.

Case 3: Modafinil and drinking within 6 hours

Well, sadly I did try this and it was not fun. And if ever you try this, please do it when you have trusted company around with you and not at a local pub by yourself.

I popped a pill in the afternoon as I knew I would be out in the evening. It was a friend’s house party, but with only about 20-ish people. Perfect to crash-test a nootropic drug with alcohol. Little did I know that my words would turn prophetic.

I got there at about 9-ish, got settled in. I was feeling good, Modafinil keeping me as sharp as ever.

‘This little pill definitely makes conversations easier!’ I thought to myself.

As the drinking started, I still didn’t feel too bad. I just wasn’t getting buzzed as easily as I used to.

Like, somehow the drug was keeping alcohol from affecting my brain. But after the 3rd drink, things started going downhill.

I had to use the bathroom… and then all I could remember vaguely is my friends carrying me and laying me on the couch.

People do pass out drunk at parties, but the weird fact is that I wasn’t nearly drunk enough. What I’d experienced was a blackout. And even today it scares the daylights out of me.

Blackouts are the body’s way of shutting down all systems because something went dreadfully wrong. In a small number of cases, it could even be fatal.

Thankfully I was able to function normally the next morning after a good night’s sleep. Needless to say, I don’t recommend this.

Case 4: Modafinil and drinking immediately

Since I had a reasonably bad experience with using it within 6 hours of drinking earlier, there was no way I was going to risk this.

Needless to say, you shouldn’t either.

I have heard of and read a few accounts of how people do this without any repercussions, but the majority always lean on the side of ‘No, don’t do it!’

People have also had blackouts, same as mine, to really bad cases ending up in a hospital.

I wouldn’t recommend this at all. Everybody has differing bio-rhythm patterns; what is okay for a few will not be so beneficial for a majority.

What I will tell you though is this: it is better to err on the side of caution. Specifically when it has to do with your brain.

Last word

Well, after my backyard brain experiment you should have a clearer picture of what you can and can’t do with Modafinil and alcohol.

There is no reason for you to skip on social drinking if you are taking Modafinil the right way.

The only things you need to be wary of are 1) getting quality Modafinil (only buy from one of these sites), and 2) taking Modafinil too close to before you start out your evening.

Ideally, taking Modafinil in the morning and drinking alcohol late evening or night shouldn’t be a problem. Learn from my experience and you should be fine.

Good luck! 🙂

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