Modafinil and drug testing | What you should know

When it comes to Modafinil and drug testing., it is in your best interest to be armed with pure facts.

Anonymous testimonials and speculative information will not conclusively answer the question:

Will Modafinil show up on a drug test?

Drug testing may be part of a new job you were hired for in the business world or in the government. If you are an athlete, do your research to see if Modafinil drug testing applies to your sport and level.

You cannot afford to be ignorant when it comes to the topic of modafinil and drug testing.

That's why we've put together this guide as a starting point for you to better understand how your Modafinil drug test might work.

NOTE: This goes without saying, but take the following information with a grain of salt. We are not responsible for any consequences, employment-related or otherwise, that may result from failing a drug test or similar examination. While we are committed to keeping the information in this guide up to date, please do not rely entirely on it and always conduct your own research before making any decision that may affect your employment, professional or academic status, eligibility or reputation.

---

What is modafinil?

Before we can discuss Modafinil drug testing in more detail, let's briefly talk about what Modafinil is and why some organizations conduct relentless testing for this pharmaceutical medication.

Modafinil is a eugeroic, which is another way of saying it is a drug that promotes wakefulness. Although it was discovered in the early 1970s, it was not until 1994 that it was approved in France for the treatment of narcolepsy.

Modafinil was subsequently approved by the United States Food and Drug Administration in 1998 for the same purpose and was given the brand name "Provigil." It would later be approved as a treatment for excessive daytime sleepiness associated with shift work sleep disorder and obstructive sleep apnea.

While we don't know its exact mechanism of action, here's what researchers have discovered to date [1]:

“…Modafinil improves several chemicals and neurotransmitters in the brain, including dopamine, serotonin, histamine, glutamate, and GABA.

Studies have shown that the arousal-promoting effects of modafinil match those of stimulants such as amphetamine and methylphenidate. although its structure is unique and not comparable to those drugs.“

These effects have attracted the attention of pilots, day traders, CEOs, entrepreneurs, and Ivy League students who want to stay alert all night, improve their concentration, and become unstoppable productivity machines.

The testimony of an anonymous university student in the United Kingdom says it all [2]:

“You don't feel high, you don't feel like taking speed… that's why I took it, because it was quite pleasant and I didn't feel like I was high… [Modafinil] just feels like having a cup of coffee that lasted all day”

Many of these students are concerned about being tested for modafinil before important exams, which begs the question: “Will Provigil show up on a drug test?” It continues to be asked in Internet forums.

With this in mind, let's take a look at how Modafinil drug tests work.

---

Modafinil and drug testing | The basics

Does modafinil show up in drug testing procedures? Before we can even attempt to answer this question, let's look at the science of how modafinil is metabolized and excreted from the human body.

How long does modafinil stay in the body?

Thanks to work done by Dr. Nancy Wong and her team of researchers in 1999, we have a good understanding of how the body processes modafinil [3, 4]:

1. Modafinil is metabolized into two inactive products that are then excreted in the urine: modafinil acid and modafinil sulfone.
2. Modafinil acid is the main metabolic product and accounts for 35-60% of the total modafinil dose (so 40-65% of any modafinil you take is passed into the bloodstream).
3. Modafinil sulfone is produced in such small quantities that it is considered negligible.
4. Modafinil has a half-life of 10 to 15 hours (i.e. it takes 10 to 15 hours for the total concentration of Modafinil in your body to be reduced by half)
5. The way the body processes Modafinil is the same between 200 mg and 800 mg doses.

With this in mind, let's use a theoretical example to determine how long it takes for a standard dose of Modafinil to be completely eliminated from your body.

A healthy adult man takes a dose of 200 mg of Modafinil from hour “zero”.

Let's assume that we are working with a half-life of 15 hours and that 65% of the original Modafinil dose remains as the active Modafinil molecule in our bloodstream (130 mg).

Here's what modafinil clearance over time might look like and how much you have in your body with each passing half-life [5]:

• Time #15: 65 mg (50% left)
• Hour #30: 32.5 mg (25% left)
• Hour #45 16.25 mg (12.5% ​​left)
• Hour #60: 8.125 mg (6.25% left)
• Hour #75: 4,063 mg (3.125% left)
• Hour #90: 2,031 mg (1.56% left)
• Time #105: 1,016 mg (0.78% left)

As you can see, Modafinil stays in your system much longer than its cognition-enhancing effects last, which users say ranges from 12 to 20 hours. It takes a total of 4.4 days (105 hours) after taking Modafinil to see it remain in our body in trace amounts, and around 7 days for the medication to be completely eliminated.

Please note that there are NUMEROUS factors that affect the half-life of Modafinil and therefore the time it takes to eliminate Modafinil from your body. Here are some of the most important ones:

• The purity of the medication (contaminants can make the elimination of Modafinil faster or slower)
• Age (older people eliminate Modafinil at a slower rate than younger people)
• Gender (women eliminate modafinil faster than men) [3, 4]
• Race/Ethnicity [6]
• Genetics
• Body weight
• Diseases that affect your body's ability to metabolize and absorb modafinil (for example, kidney/hepatic dysfunction)
• Medications, foods, and herbal supplements that inhibit or induce the activity of CYP3A4, the enzyme that metabolizes modafinil* [7]

* Inducing an enzyme means it is more metabolically efficient, so Modafinil is eliminated from the body more quickly and its cognitive-enhancing effects are shorter-lived. Inhibiting an enzyme means it is more metabolically inefficient, so modafinil is eliminated more slowly from the body and its cognitive-enhancing effects last longer.

This all refers to a single dose of Modafinil - taking a dose of Modafinil every day will naturally mean that it will take much longer for the Modafinil to be eliminated.

What types of modafinil drug tests could I undergo?

No discussion of modafinil and drug testing is complete without first understanding how drug testing agencies look for modafinil.

The only two body fluids where we can reliably track modafinil are blood and urine [8].

Urine tests are designed to track a drug's metabolites several hours after use. They are cheaper than blood tests.

Blood tests are designed to accurately identify the medication itself within 2 to 12 hours of administration. And unlike urine tests, the samples are much less susceptible to tampering, making them the most accurate sampling method to date. However, they are much more expensive than urine tests and more invasive, so they are not as common.

Typically, either sample is tested using an immunoassay for "screening" of the drugs, followed by a GC-MS (gas chromatography-mass spectrometry) or LC-MS (liquid chromatography-mass spectrometry) test to confirm the results. With the high degree of sensitivity and specificity these tests offer, they are extremely unlikely to generate false positives or negatives.9]:

• False positive = Drug test says there is a drug in your system when it is not actually there
• False negative = Drug test says a drug is NOT in your system when it is actually there

Please note that these tests ONLY work if they specifically look for Modafinil in your system.

Modafinil can be reliably detected and accurately measured at concentrations as low as 2 ng/ml [10]. For context, 1 ng is equal to 0.000001 mg! And the World Anti-Doping Agency has a “minimum required performance limit” of 500 ng/mL for Modafinil to indicate that an athlete was doping [11].

---

---

Will modafinil show up on a drug test?

Will Provigil show up on a drug test? The truth is that it totally depends on the situation you find yourself in.

First, you need an authority to perform the specific type of tests mentioned above using your blood or urine. In other words, they have to seek out Modafinil intentionally.

Second, your Modafinil drug tests will come back positive or negative depending on how long ago you took Modafinil.

In two separate studies involving healthy male volunteers in their twenties receiving 100 mg of Modafinil, it took between 72 and 80 hours for Modafinil to be completely eliminated and undetectable in their urine samples [12, 13].

If you want to have a good chance of having a negative drug test, the test should be done a minimum of 80 hours AFTER taking Modafinil. To be even safer, the test should be done a full week after your last dose of Modafinil.

And because modafinil has a unique chemical structure from amphetamine and other stimulants, the test is extremely unlikely to generate a "false positive" result.

---

Modafinil and “Corporate America”

When it comes to Modafinil and drug testing, both private employers and government organizations are unlikely to care about your Modafinil use for several reasons.

First, companies will only drug test their employees in very specific circumstances:

• They have reason to suspect that you are abusing drugs;
• The medications in question reduce your productivity and cause you to make mistakes that can hold you accountable;
• More rare but not uncommon, some entities make all new employees take a drug test.

Second, modafinil is not the type of medication that typically causes concern regarding worker productivity.

In fact, it's quite the opposite: modafinil can “It sharpens your focus, allowing you to make better decisions and retain more information, successfully address new ideas, and skillfully handle multitasking.” [14].

Combined with almost no side effects and no addictive properties for the vast majority of users, why would a company fire someone who works hard to improve their mental state and make the company more money?

Third, the types of standardized drug tests administered by your employer simply do not look for Modafinil.

They will perform tests called "drug panels," in which a urine sample is taken to look for the following medications:15]:

Cocaine, marijuana, PCP, amphetamines, opiates, benzodiazepines, barbiturates, methadone, propoxyphene, quaaludes, ecstasy/MDA/MDMA and oxycodone/Percocet.

So, a 4-panel test would look at the first four, a 5-panel test would look at the first five, and so on... until you get to an extensive 12-panel drug test.

These types of mass tests are scalable and affordable, so they can be run on thousands of employees at a time.

Even if your employer wanted to test for modafinil, it would probably be a very expensive and time-consuming process to test on a single person.

In reality, most companies don't have the time or money to investigate every prescription medication an employee takes, 99 out of 100 times.

However, keep in mind that companies have the right to require you to take a drug test any time they want.

Additionally, in the very unlikely event that a typical employer performs any type of Modafinil drug test and the result is positive, you could face consequences if you do not have a prescription for Modafinil (a Schedule IV, prescription-only drug).

---

---

Modafinil use in the military

Modafinil's powerful cognition-enhancing effects were recognized early on in the military, which is one of the reasons it has gained worldwide popularity today [16].

As with Corporate America, you probably don't have to worry about Modafinil drug tests being positive unless specific tests are done to detect it. And their current standardized drug testing methods do not look for Modafinil.

Anecdotally, we have heard reports of soldiers opting for Adrafinil instead of Modafinil. Adrafinil is a perfectly legal over-the-counter alternative, although drug tests for Modafinil would also come back positive because Modafinil is the primary metabolite of Adrafinil.

While there is an alleged case of someone who was discharged from the military in part for use and possession of Modafinil, that individual was also accused of fleeing the scene of an accident following a narcoleptic episode [17].

---

Modafinil and athletics

There is a completely different story to tell when it comes to modafinil and drug testing in competitive sports.

Many international sports organizations consider modafinil a performance-enhancing drug and test before any event to make sure you don't have any in your system.

These are some of the organizations that have officially banned the use of Modafinil and Armodafinil:

• National Collegiate Athletic Association (NCAA) [18]
• Any sports organization governed by the World Anti-Doping Agency (WADA) [19]
• United States Anti-Doping Agency (USADA) [20]
• Olympics [21]
• CrossFit22]
• Electronic Sports League (ESL), an organization for professional video game competitions [23]

Believe it or not, in countries where chess is officially designated as a sport, modafinil is also considered a banned drug and is subject to detection through drug testing [24]!

These organizations classify modafinil as a stimulant: something that can increase the time it takes to feel fatigued, reduce reaction time, and improve alertness... all of which can grant enough competitive advantage to make it a banned substance.

If an athlete is caught with modafinil in their system, some of the possible consequences include long-term suspensions from competition, disqualification from the event for which the test was performed, and loss of official ranking and/or prize money.

History is littered with examples of high-level athletes who tested positive for Modafinil drugs and lost or lost a lot [25].

Even in cases where a therapeutic use exemption can be obtained prior to competition, we can think of no reason to justify the unique risks of modafinil use faced by competitive athletes.

In sum: Professional athletes subject to drug testing should STAY AWAY from Modafinil!

---

Modafinil for truckers

This section will apply to many, but not all, truck drivers in the United States, so be sure to research the rules and regulations that may be applicable to your particular case.

For what it's worth, Modafinil has some mixed results regarding its benefits for driving performance [25]:

“Modafinil offers some benefits with respect to objective driving performance under sleep-deprived conditions. However, it may induce overconfidence, suggesting that its use as a countermeasure to drowsiness while driving requires further examination.” .

As a truck driver in the US, obtaining your commercial driver's license (CDL) will involve a medical exam.

The Department of Transportation (DOT) requires a standard 5-panel drug test similar to that used in much of corporate America. So in theory, most trucker applicants will not be subject to any modafinil drug testing.

However, this does NOT mean that you have a free pass to use Modafinil without a prescription.

If you look at the Modafinil product monograph, the label says that it may affect your ability to perform hazardous tasks and operate heavy machinery. That's more than enough to worry the medical examiner.

The Federal Motor Carrier Safety Administration (FMCSA) states that “Until a [commercial motor vehicle (CMV) driver] knows how Provigil affects him, he cannot drive, operate machinery, or perform any activity that requires mental alertness.” [26].

Here's what this means in clearer terms [27]:

“The use of Provigil needs careful supervision. Drivers who are prescribed Provigil should not qualify until they have been closely monitored for at least 6 weeks while taking Provigil.

The medical examiner will require documentation from your treating physician [i.e., a primary care physician (PCP) medical clearance form] that the treatment is effective and that there are no side effects that would affect your ability to operate a commercial vehicle. safe way".

That means you NEED a prescription to use Modafinil while driving a truck, and a medical examiner must grant you permission.

And even with approval from your prescribing doctor, along with a clean drug panel test, medical examiners may deny your approval if they have reason to believe that it is too unsafe for you to use Modafinil during your transportation shifts.

---

Does modafinil show up on a drug test? | The verdict

When it comes to Modafinil and drug testing.Will Modafinil show positive? Absolutely it will be if two circumstances occur:

1. You are given a test SPECIFICALLY looking for the use of Modafinil
2. You took Modafinil before it has been completely eliminated from your system (i.e. less than 70 to 80 hours before testing).

But as far as we know, it is extremely rare for employers to pay top dollar for Modafinil drug testing. In most cases they look for illicit drugs such as marijuana and amphetamines.

However, athletes don't have it so easy: there is a good chance that you will be tested. When it comes to modafinil and drug testing, you can expect consequences if the test comes back positive. For that reason, we recommend athletes stay away from it completely.

---