Posted by Jonathan on June 17, 2000, at 21:36:39
In reply to Re: Adrafinil - Angela, Andrew, posted by JohnL on June 17, 2000, at 18:47:11
> > You mentioned overseas Adrafinil as something I might consider. I've found many things posted here about where to find it, dosage, etc., and I've gathered that it's in the same category/family as Ritalin or Adderall? What makes it different from these two/how does it work/what is ist used for as opposed to those?
> >
> > Thanks,
> >
> > Angela
>
> You know, you ask some pretty tough questions! :-) I'm not a technical expert at all. I'm more of a hands on real life experience kind of guy. Hopefully Andrew will show up because he knows the technicals with astonishing detail.
>
> As he explained in another post, I think Ritalin and Adderall basically cause the release of more NE and/or dopamine, among other things. I don't think Adrafinil does that. Adrafinil instead, I think, helps the existing NE work better than it does on its own. I kind of think of it like this. What if there was some molecule we could attach to a copper molecule that would allow the copper wire to transmit electricity better than copper alone? Or maybe, what if there was a molecule we could attach to the corroded section of a damaged wire that would restore the wire to its original conductivity? Adrafinil is the molecule that does that. It helps norepinephrine along where, for whatever reason, it is weak. That's how I look at it in layman's terms.
>
> Adrafinil is indicated primarily for narcolepsy. It is supposed to promote wafefulness. But in some parts of Europe it is viewed as a highly superior antidepressant over Prozac and such. I think it has its little niches and locals of popularity in the world, though no widespread popularity anywhere. Most people I think have never heard of it. It is also a common drug at the antiaging websites, because it is touted as being a memory enhancer. It is claimed to work on the parts of the brain that deteriorate with age, restoring vigilance and activity. Based on my own trial of n=1, I have to agree strongly with all those claims. And it's only $30 without a prescription? Weird.JohnL,
I think that adrafinil is a noradrenergic alpha(1) agonist.
According to Arnsten, AFT [Catecholamine regulation of the prefrontal cortex (PFC),
J. Psychopharmacol. 11(2): 151-162 ('97)] noradrenaline exerts its beneficial effects
on PFC function through alpha(2A) receptors, but actually impairs PFC action through
alpha(1) receptors. He suggests that high levels of noradrenaline release due to
stress cause the alpha(1) effect to predominate and take the PFC 'off-line',
allowing faster, more instinctive responses arising in lower parts of the brain
to take over. I can confirm that stress makes my inattention problems, which
probably result from impaired PFC function, much worse, and more so since I've
been taking reboxetine. Mightn't adrafinil, being an alpha(1) agonist, have the
same effect?On the other hand, an alpha(2) agonist like guanfacine might improve PFC function.
Guanfacine is used to treat ADD, as is clonidine, an agonist at both types of
alpha receptor. I've never heard of adrafinil having a beneficial effect on
attention deficit symptoms, and fear the opposite.In the absence of stress, noradrenaline at levels boosted by the right dose of a
reuptake inhibitor may affect alpha(2) receptors in the PFC more than alpha(1),
hence the interest in tomoxetine for ADD. The same applies to noradrenaline
released by Ritalin or Adderall.My instinct is to favour reuptake inhibitors over agonists because the pattern of
which noradrenergic neurons are firing and which are not may encode important
information. Reuptake inhibitors amplify this signal, like your nice example
of a molecule that restores the conductivity of corroded sections of copper
wire, but presumably has no effect where there never was a wire: agonists swamp
the signal with noise, as if someone has poured mercury everywhere so that the
current can flow regardless of whether the wire was ever there or not.However, this is all theory. Theory in psychopharmacology is always too simple
and often wrong.Jonathan.
poster:Jonathan
thread:37644
URL: http://www.dr-bob.org/babble/20000610/msgs/37666.html