Adrafinil is a drug that is claimed to make users feel awake and alert. It has become somewhat popular as a \u201cnootropic\u201d (\u201ccognition-enhancing\u201d) drug, in part due to its supposedly low rate of side-effects and lack of legal regulations. But how much do we really know about the effectiveness and safety of this drug? In this post, we\u2019ll discuss what the science has to say about how adrafinil works, what it does, and some of the potential medical uses that have been proposed for it – read on to learn more!<\/p>\n
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Disclaimer:<\/em><\/strong> This post is not a recommendation or endorsement for adrafinil. This drug has not been approved by the FDA for any specific medical uses, and relatively little is known for sure about its effects or safety in humans. We have written this post for informational purposes only, and our goal is solely to inform people about the science behind adrafinil\u2019s mechanisms and potential effects.<\/em><\/p>\n Adrafinil<\/em> is a synthetic drug that is often touted to promote long-lasting mental arousal. Adrafinil is a non-amphetamine psychostimulant which reduces drowsiness but does not increase heart rate<\/a> or anxiety<\/a> [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n It is often experimented with as a \u201cnootropic\u201d or supposedly \u201ccognitive-enhancing\u201d drug. However, this use is not medically approved<\/strong>, and the science behind its potential effects on cognition is still in a very early stage, with highly mixed (and often conflicting) results.<\/p>\n As a \u201cprodrug\u201d (an inactive compound that is converted into the active drug inside the body) for the prescription stimulant modafinil<\/em><\/a>, adrafinil becomes active by converting to modafinil in the body. Adrafinil\u2019s effects and mechanisms are therefore most likely identical to those of modafinil, although the relative lack of research on adrafinil specifically means that some significant differences are still a possibility [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n Adrafinil was originally designed to treat narcolepsy and attention disorders in the elderly. It was sold in France under the name Olmifon<\/em>, but was discontinued in 2011. Adrafinil was discontinued because it was less potent than modafinil, and required higher doses to achieve a similar effect [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n Adrafinil is unscheduled<\/em> in the United States, Canada, and the UK, where it is considered a \u201cdietary supplement\u201d rather than a prescription drug. This means it is neither FDA-approved nor controlled, and does not require a prescription to purchase or possess. In contrast, adrafinil does<\/em> require a prescription in other countries, such as Australia, Germany, and New Zealand.<\/p>\n However, don\u2019t be misled by the fact that it\u2019s \u201ctechnically legal\u201d in some places. As a prodrug of modafinil – which is<\/em> a controlled substance with known potential for abuse – it shares essentially the same risks and potential dangers that come with abuse of modafinil. In other words, \u201ctechnically legal\u201d does not necessarily mean \u201csafe\u201d, \u201charmless\u201d, or \u201ceffective\u201d<\/strong>!<\/p>\n In fact, if anything, adrafinil\u2019s unusual legal status means that it is much less well-studied than many other medically-approved prescription drugs, and<\/em> cannot be used under the guidance of a legitimate medical professional – two very good reasons for added caution against casual use or experimentation with this drug.<\/p>\n It\u2019s also worth noting that, due to concerns over the potential for illegal abuse of adrafinil, the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) has banned adrafinil for use by professional athletes, who might try to use it to enhance their own performance [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n Adrafinil is inactive in its initial form. It becomes active by converting to modafinil in the liver (i.e. it is a \u201cprodrug\u201d of modafinil) [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n Only a small amount of adrafinil converts to modafinil, with the majority becoming entirely inactive. Thus, relatively greater amounts of adrafinil than modafinil are required to achieve similar effects [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n Adrafinil has a short biological half-life (the time it takes a substance to lose half of its biological activity) of only 1 hour. However, some of it is converted to modafinil, which has a 12-to-15-hour half-life. This means that a user may continue to feel its effects many hours after initial consumption [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n According to one study (randomized controlled trial) of 10 elderly patients, peak blood levels of adrafinil occurred 1 hour after consumption. Meanwhile, its main effects on the brain and behavior reportedly began to occur roughly 2 hours after initial consumption [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n In theory, adrafinil produces its effects using the same mechanisms as modafinil. Some of these potential mechanisms include:<\/p>\n A few potential medical uses have been proposed for adrafinil, although this is mostly just because of its similarity to modafinil, which has been much better-studied in comparison.<\/p>\n Because sufficient scientific and medical evidence is lacking, none of the below uses have been officially approved by the FDA, nor are they currently used by doctors.<\/strong> The only evidence available so far is still too limited to allow any firm conclusions about adrafinil\u2019s potential for treating any specific medical conditions.<\/p>\n Because adrafinil works by being converted to modafinil in the body, in theory<\/strong> adrafinil could be used to treat some of the same conditions that modafinil is approved for, such as narcolepsy, work-shift sleep disorder, and other fatigue-related conditions [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n However, because adrafinil is less well-studied – and because modafinil is already the officially-established treatment for such conditions, adrafinil is not widely used by doctors for these conditions. Additionally, adrafinil is generally less potent than modafinil, which means that doctors would have to use larger doses to get the same effects as they would by using smaller – and therefore generally safer – amounts of modafinil [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n Therefore, adrafinil will probably not become medically approved (e.g. by the FDA) for these uses any time soon.<\/p>\n One early study (from 1999) first suggested the potential of adrafinil to treat depression<\/a>. According to this one placebo-controlled clinical trial in 70 elderly patients with depression, 2 months of treatment with adrafinil led a noticeable improvement in depression symptom severity scores on the Hamilton Depression Rating Scale<\/em> (HAM-D) and other common clinical tests of depression [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n However, this study has some major limitations to note.<\/strong> For one, the cases of depression treated were not \u201cfull\u201d depression, but just a milder sub-form of depression sometimes seen in older adults. Second, adrafinil\u2019s effect on depression severity scores was most likely primarily due to improvements in some of the \u201cpsychomotor<\/em>\u201d symptoms of depression (such as slowed movements and decreased energy), rather than any genuine effect on mood symptoms per se<\/em>. Lastly, although the study\u2019s authors concluded that adrafinil may have some (limited) potential in treating depression that they proposed should be followed up on by further studies, not much follow-up work seems to have been done in the time since this initial study was published over 20 years ago [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n In just the few follow-up studies that have been done, a few (including 1 double-blind randomized controlled trial in 471 adults) have reported that adrafinil may partially reduce symptoms of depression [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n Adrafinil was also reported to reduce symptoms of depression similar to an antidepressant (clomipramine<\/em>) in a study of 70 depressed patients. The group receiving clomipramine reported frequent side effects, but adrafinil was comparatively well-tolerated [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n Nonetheless, without a lot more clinical evidence to back up these preliminary findings, it\u2019s quite unlikely that adrafinil will become widely-used in treating depression any time soon – especially since there are many other effective treatments for depression currently available.<\/strong><\/p>\n Because adrafinil becomes active by converting to modafinil<\/a>, both drugs have similar effects on the brain and body (at least in theory).<\/p>\n The following studies highlight some of the research conducted on adrafinil. However, these findings are all still very preliminary and have not strongly established a scientific case for using adrafinil for these uses.<\/strong><\/p>\n Additionally, adrafinil\u2019s lack of FDA approval – as well as a general lack of data regarding its safety in human users – means that caution is advised against experimenting with adrafinil in order to get any of these effects.<\/strong><\/p>\n As always, we at SelfDecode are not endorsing or encouraging the casual use of adrafinil<\/strong>; the information below is strictly to inform people of what science currently says about some of its potential mechanisms and effects.<\/p>\n According to one study, adrafinil reportedly increased participants\u2019 ability to perform daily activities in a randomized controlled trial of 548 older adults with attention and memory problems [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n Adrafinil has also been reported to improve slowness of thought and movement (psychomotor impairment<\/em>) compared to an antidepressant (clomipramine<\/em>) in a study of 70 depressed older adults [R<\/a>].<\/p>\n However, some early evidence from animal studies has reported that adrafinil increases movement and overall exploratory behavior in mice, rats, monkeys, and dogs [R<\/a>, R<\/a>, R<\/a>, R<\/a>]. While inconclusive, these findings may suggest that some of the supposed \u201cimprovements\u201d reported in the human studies may just be due to a general \u201cstimulating\u201d effect of adrafinil, as opposed to any specific or targeted effect on cognition and behavior per se<\/em>.<\/p>\n In light of the relatively small amount of evidence, as well as the fact that only one of these preliminary studies was done in healthy humans, it is definitely still way too early to know whether adrafinil would consistently have any similar effects in non-depressed human users, and a lot more research would be needed to find this out for sure.<\/p>\n<\/a>What Is Adrafinil?<\/strong><\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/a>Mechanism of Action<\/strong><\/span><\/h3>\n
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<\/a>Potential Medical Uses (Unapproved)<\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/a>1) Narcolepsy and Other Fatigue Disorders<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/a>2) Depression<\/span><\/h3>\n
<\/a>Other Potential Uses & Effects<\/span><\/h2>\n
<\/a>1) May Affect Mental and Physical Function<\/span><\/h3>\n