I love this old Erowid post about modafinil:
https://www.erowid.org/experiences/exp.php?ID=92932
I think people think modafinil is lighter than the other stims, doesn't impact you as much, lets you function normally.
Unfortunately, the truth is that it's just a drug that has a couple interlocking effects:
- stimulant
- memory formation impairment
- not noticing peripheral sorts of perception (this is I think why it works such magic on tired people—but it also makes you not realize the side effects)
So you'll run up a set of stairs, and you won't notice yourself feeling exhausted. You will be panting.
Your social graces go through the absolute floor, you say absurd things with no regard for who you're talking to or how they react, but mostly you don't notice people looking at you weird, and even if you did, you don't really remember it so clearly, you know?
IMO—it may not be the worst drug out there, but it's much more sneaky than a lot of them. You'll also, like most stims, write absolutely dogshit prose on it.