Adrafinil Dosage: The BEST Guide on the web [2019]

Javier

Last Updated June 21, 2022

What is Dosage?

 

A dose is: “a quantity of a medicine or drug taken or recommended to be taken at a particular time”.

Although true, most of us are more concerned with ensuring we get the desired effect from our drug, so the following definition would be more accurate for our purpose:

“An effective dose (ED) in pharmacology is the dose or amount of drug that produces a therapeutic response or desired effect in some fraction of the subjects taking it.”

The key difference here being the term “therapeutic response”, which means the desired and beneficial effect of a drug intended by the user.

The dose most certainly makes the poison, and not only when referring to supplements and drugs. Even the air we breath and the water we drink can become toxic in large concentrations. On the other hand we have therapy. Even the greatest drug becomes useless if dosed too low.

The remedy to this situation is to know the effective dosage for the drug or supplement you are taking. Is it 100mg once a day? 200Mg twice a day? Well the good thing is that the proper dosages for most supplements and drugs are well known.

Every drug has side effects. Luckly most rarely experience them. Did you drink coffee this morning. If you did you took the drug caffeine. You probably didn’t feel many side effects from your caffeine, but you’d probably be surprised at the list of side effects that caffeine can possibly cause. Just take a look at the official list of all the possible side effects caffeine may cause.

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We want to maximize the positives and minimize the negatives. But why are there negatives in the first place!? Surely drug companies spend billions of dollars making sure a drug is perfect before it goes out to the public – true – but they can only ensure this for the majority of people. This means that a certain percentage of users may experience negative effects.

So before we delve into the details surrounding Adrafinil dosage, it’s probably best to briefly run over some basic principles about drug side effects.


Drug side effects (ADR’s)

Everyone varies in their unique physiology, thus the quantity of any given drug will have a varying effect on the body, which although usually beneficial, can also include a variety of unwanted side effects AKA – Adverse Drug Reaction’s (ADR’s).

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I would like to point out that no drug is completely void of ADR’s, for instance, the commonly used and openly available drug Caffeine, has the following list of ADR’s

More common

Diarrhea, Dizziness, fast heartbeat, hyperglycemia, including blurred vision, drowsiness, dry mouth, flushed dry skin, fruit-like breath odor, increased urination, ketones in urine, loss of appetite, nausea, stomachache, tiredness, troubled breathing, unusual thirst, or vomiting (in newborn babies). Hypoglycemia, including anxious feeling, blurred vision, cold sweats, confusion, cool pale skin, drowsiness, excessive hunger, fast heartbeat, nausea, nervousness, restless sleep, shakiness, or unusual tiredness or weakness (in newborn babies), irritability, nervousness, or severe jitters (in newborn babies), nausea (severe), tremors, trouble in sleeping, vomiting.

Rare

Abdominal or stomach bloating, dehydration, diarrhea (bloody), unusual tiredness or weakness.

I am showing you this dazzling array of scary words to firmly plant your feet back on the ground when thinking ADR’s. Clearly most people reading this will have taken Caffeine, and found no negative ADR’s at a standard dose, but there will always be those who experienced some ADR’s (usually a minority).  The point of this is that you most likely experienced none of these. This is the case with most drugs. There exists a laundry list of side effects, yet you may rarely or never experience any one of them.

Just how Caffeine commonly causes users to urinate more frequently, Adrafinil will have it’s own common list of ADR’s which will be common, but more importantly a large list of ADR’s which will be rare.


So what are Adrafinil’s ADR’s?

Adrafinil is processed by the liver and broken down into the active metabolite – Modafinil. With this being the case, Adrafinil shares most possible side efffects with Modafinil. Below is the list of possible side effects taken directly from the Modafinil Package Insert:

Side effects reported greater than or equal to 5% occurrence over placebo: Headache, Nausea, Nervousness, Rhinitis, Diarrhea, Back Pain, Anxiety, Insomnia, Dizziness, and Dyspepsia.

**We have outlined some of them below, but for the most in depth and up-to-date information, we have dedicated a whole page to Adrafinil side effects.

A study published in 2002 outlined some of the side effects specific to Adrafinil, as a pro-drug.

  • stomach pain
  • skin irritation
  • anxiety
  • Elevated liver enzymes (with prolonged use)

Adrafinil – Recommended Dosage?

Let me start off buy pointing out that Adrafinil was sold up until 2011 by the pharmaceutical company Lafon Labs, under the brand name Olmifon. Although the product is no longer available as Olmifon, I have obtained a copy of the official manufactures insert, which you can see here below.

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Within the insert it states the recommended dose is “2 to 4 tablets daily”, with each tablet containing 300mg of Adrafinil Powder, this equates to 600 to 1200mg daily. However, I have to point out that Olmifon was prescribed to the elderly to combat excessive tiredness and narcolepsy, so this recommended dosage is intended as a guide for those symptoms.

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After some research regarding the recommended dosage for Adrafinil I have come across a variety of dosages which have been cited, see below.

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It is very important to distinguish the difference in dosages here, ranging from 300mg to 1200mg, for humans. It is also very important to note the laboratory dose administered to research animals. Some of these are extremely high and should never be taken by humans. Interestingly, the animals survived these mega doses and managed to complete task as governed by the study. So it seems that, in some instances, even high doses of Adrafinil may be well tolerated in living organisms.

Although the above discussion can give you a good idea of an effective dose of Adrafinil, I would say that the dosage range is fairly wide, from 300mg to 1200mg and in some instances higher doses have been reported with varying success. So for many people, their decision on dosage relies on the subjective Adrafinil reviews they come across on the internet. Users on the site Reddit have reported taking doses much higher than those specified in the package insert. These Redditors may have felt fine after their heroic doses, but doses above those specified in the package insert have not been proven safe in humans.

It is important to note that we are talking about all formulations of Adrafinil, as to my knowledge there is no extended release version of Adrafinil. So these discussions here relate directly to, Adrafinil powder, pills, capsules and solutions. It is the users responsibility to determine the amount of active ingredient within their specific Adrafinil formulation.

Want to skip directly to our dedicated “buyer’s guide” find it here: Buy Adrafinil


Adrafinil – High dose, Max dose and Lethal dose

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As touched upon early, Adrafinil does seem to be well tolerated by the body even at relatively high doses. Due to there being relatively few studies conducted on humans, it is more appropriate to discuss the subjective high doses reported by users in internet forums.

Some reddit discussion have discussed the effects of a high dose, saying that they felt a marked increase in therapeutic effect up to a certain point. One user reported not increase in effect beyond 700mg. The discussions have further pointed out that unlike some other drugs like Morphine, there will be a ceiling effect. This means users will not experience more effects after a certain dose is reached. Many drugs will have a rate limiting step, and this may also be true for Adrafinil due to a limitation with the enzyme needed for its metabolism.

Another reddit discussion has one user asking if 1200mg is too high for a single dose. Most responses indicate this is too high, with one user recommending a switch to Modafinil if they are not getting the desired effects from a normal adrafinil dose.

Another user claims that Adrafinil is most effective on a completely empty stomach, with nothing having been ingested 1 hour before dosing and 1 hour after.

I would conclude by saying that it’s not a good idea to ingest more than around 600mg in one go, and no more that 1200mg per day. I believe that the side effects from a dose higher than this may be uncomfortable. Although there may be ceiling effect, it is likely that very high doses may cause your liver to over work, and may cause damage.

With regards to Adrafinil max dose, there doesn’t seem to be all that much information from user reports, which is probably a good thing! There are some reports of people taking 1200mg in one go which is not necessarily a max dose, but is fairly high for a single dose. I would say that users should not really stray far from 1200mg per day. The likely hood of ADR’s increases, and you will probably find it difficult to sleep.


Adrafinil – Low dose?

Although not so commonly discussed as Adrafinil high dose, there is still some talk of Adrafinil low dose, and what may be the lowest dose for a therapeutic effect.

It seems that there is some discussion of low doses, with a question being posed on reddit for 50mg of Adrafinil. Most responses go on to discuss the equivalent Modafinil dosage – which I think is a fair comparison to make. 50mg Adrafinil was thought to have roughly one third the potency of Modafinil, so this being true, it would seem that a 150mg dose of Adrafinil would be a low dose. Skip to our dedicated article all about Adrafinil vs Modafinil.

However, another user reports, in the same discussion, that they have a a therapeutic effect with as little as 25-50mg, adding “I’m pretty sensitive to this chemical“.

I think one comment left by a user in this discussion who claims to be a pharmacy technician, is useful for deciding on Adrafinil doses – “I work as a pharmacy technician and I don’t know how many times I’ve heard a pharmacist say no drug effects two people the same way. There is someone out there that 50 mg of adrafinil is too much“.


Adrafinil – first time or starting dose?

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One user in an Adrafinil first time experience thread, reports to have taken 50mg as a starting dose to make sure he does not get any unwanted ADR’s and to generally “play it safe“. The report goes on to say that within around 30 minutes after dosing, he felt slightly heavier and felt a sense of being obligated to concentrate on uninteresting things. The report goes on to describe the experience in a very positive light and is well worth a read.

I would advise to start off with maybe 20mg. This dose is a tester, just so your body can adjust to the compound and give you some feedback. Most people will probably feel very little at this dose, but some may find this adequate. If you are sensitive to adrafinil, it is good to either stay at this starting dose, then move your way up only as you fit. If you are not sensitive, move onto 100mg then 200mg and upwards as you feel is necessary. If you feel nothing after taking a 700mg dose, it is probably wise to discontinue Adrafinil.


Adrafinil Dosage Longecity and Reddit

There are so many threads on reddit discussing dosage, so I wanted to give my readers an idea of the discussions being had  – without the need for them to read through pages and pages of forum chats.

So here is a summary of the dosages people have reported to be therapeutically beneficial in a single day. Please take this information as anecdotal.

Within the reddit community from the many pages I have read, it seems that most users are happy with a standard dosage of 300mg in the morning and another re-dose in the afternoon of the same amount. Some users will say that they will take 600mg in the morning with another 600mg in the afternoon, however, it is all dependent on your weight.

The users of longecity report similar findings, most the discussion about Adrafinil dosage is between 300 – 600mg per day.


Adrafinil dosage compared to Modafinil?

It is very easy for users to confuse the two products, as many online discussions talk about the comparison of dose between the two. Due to this topic being so highly discussed and searched for online, we have dedicated an entire page to it here: Adrafinil vs Modafinil.


References

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