A disturbing feature story in Men’s Journal shares a writer’s story on using Provigil to sleep less and function better.

It’s 4 a.m., humans’ most tired time of day, but 12 hours after downing a tablet of Provigil I’m still a house on fire, writing like the wind. Provigil isn’t like the speed I took in college that kept me up for two days, jittery and wired, alphabetizing my CDs. This drug is reputed to have uncannily few short-term side effects; so far my only complaint is the mild headaches, which are suffered by 10 percent of users. I feel so calm and focused, in fact, I could go to sleep right now if I wanted to. But that’s just it: I don’t want to.

Read former Sleep Review editor Frank Holman’s editorial about recreational Provigil use.