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Modafinil & Birth Control
Modafinil is one of the world’s most powerful and safest nootropics, providing enhanced attention, alertness, and all-day concentration. Birth control or contraceptives are methods or medications to avoid pregnancy in women.
While both the pills work wonders in serving their own purposes, the question that arises, again and again, is whether it is safe to combine Modafinil and birth control.
Let’s have a look at Modafinil And Birth Control.
What is Modafinil and how does it work?
Modafinil is a stimulant that promotes wakefulness and is used in sleeping disorders.it is a prescription medicine which is primarily used to treat medical conditions like:
- Narcolepsy
- Obstructive sleep apnea
- Shift work sleep disorders
Modafinil improves wakefulness by activating the brain, increasing alertness and decreasing excessive fatigue during the day.
Modafinil works by acting upon brains’ neurotransmitters like dopamine, serotonin, histamine and norepinephrine which are all mood enhancers hence physicians all over the world are now prescribing it off-label to treat depression, Alzheimer’s disease, Parkinson’s disease, memory deterioration in the elderly, and a variety of other health concerns.
Other Off-label uses include cognitive improvement, which is why students and professionals utilise Modafinil to increase productivity throughout the day. This smart medicine is popular since it is less harsh than amphetamines and has fewer or no adverse effects.
Why shouldn’t you combine Modafinil And Birth Control
Any health therapy that interferes with the effectiveness of birth control can result in an unwanted or unplanned pregnancy.
If a woman is sexually active and does not intend to have children, she may choose to utilise hormonal birth control. Furthermore, it is excellent for hormone modulation. The following are the most common types of birth control:
Combined oral pills;
Transdermal patches
cervix rings;
IUDs are intrauterine devices (or intrauterine devices).
Modafinil interacts with certain types of contraception, reducing their effectiveness and increasing your chances of becoming pregnant.
Modafinil can potentially cause birth abnormalities in unborn children and should never be used if you intend to become pregnant.
When taking Modafinil, it is critical that you use the proper contraceptive method.
Modafinil is classified as a ‘enzyme-inducer,’ which means it stimulates the action of enzymes located in your liver that are also responsible for the breakdown of your contraceptive. When the activity of these enzymes is boosted, the contraceptive in your body is broken down faster, allowing it to operate for a shorter period of time.
There have been no large-scale experiments that specifically examined Modafinil in conjunction with the various contraceptives available whereas there have been trials that have explored other drugs that are also ‘enzyme-inducers’ with contraceptives, and evidence showed that ‘enzyme-inducers’ made contraception less effective.
So Modafinil has contraindications with birth control pills and other contraceptives.
Works Cited
1. Modafinil Improves Episodic Memory and Working Memory Cognition in Patients With Remitted Depression: A Double-Blind, Randomized, Placebo-Controlled Study. Muzaffer Kaser, Julia B Deakin , Albert Michael , Camilo Zapata , Rachna Bansal , Dragana Ryan , Francesca Cormack , James B Rowe , Barbara J Sahakian.
2. Cognitive enhancing effects of modafinil in healthy volunteers. Danielle C. Turner, Trevor W. Robbins, Luke Clark, Adam R. Aron, Jonathan Dowson & Barbara J. Sahakian.
3. Modafinil improves attentional performance in healthy, non-sleep deprived humans at doses not inducing hyperarousal across species. Zackary A.Cope, Arpi Minassian, DustinKreitner, David A. MacQueen, MorganeMilienne-Petiot, Mark A.Geyer, WilliamPerry, Jared W.Young.
4. Effects of modafinil on cognitive performance and alertness during sleep deprivation. Wesensten, Nancy J.
5. A phase 3 randomized, placebo-controlled, double-blind, clinical trial of the effect of modafinil on cancer-related fatigue among 631 patients receiving chemotherapy: a University of Rochester Cancer Center Community Clinical Oncology Program Research bas. Pascal Jean-Pierre 1, Gary R Morrow, Joseph A Roscoe, Charles Heckler, Supriya Mohile, Michelle Janelsins, Luke Peppone, Amy Hemstad, Benjamin T Esparaz, Judith O Hopkins.
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7. Modafinil reduces depression’s severity when taken with antidepressants. Barbara Sahakian, Dr Muzaffer Kaser.
8. Long-term safety and efficacy of armodafinil in bipolar depression: A 6-month open-label extension study. Terence A.Ketter, JessAmchin, Mark A.Frye, NicholasGross.
9. Modafinil treatment in patients with seasonal affective disorder/winter depression: an open-label pilot study. LeslieLundt.
10. Modafinil and Memory: Effects of Modafinil on Morris Water Maze Learning and Pavlovian Fear Conditioning. Tristan Shuman, Suzanne C. Wood, and Stephan G. Anagnostaras.
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16. Is modafinil safe in the long term? Cox, David.
17. Modafinil treatment for fatigue in HIV+ patients: a pilot study. Judith G Rabkin 1, Martin C McElhiney, Richard Rabkin, Stephen J Ferrando.
18. Modafinil in children and adolescents with attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder: a preliminary 8-week, open-label study. Samuel W Boellner, Craig Q Earl, Sanjay Arora.
19. Modafinil improves symptoms of attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder across subtypes in children and adolescents. Joseph Biederman, Steven R Pliszka.
20. Modafinil in the treatment of excessive daytime sleepiness in children. Gozal, Anna Ivanenko Riva Tauman David.
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