Orexin-A dosage and evidence
Written by Aaron CuhaReviewed Sep 2026
The short answer
Orexin-A is the brain chemical that keeps you awake. It is sold as a nose spray for alertness, after a monkey study found a nose spray reversed the effects of lost sleep. The only human data are small studies in narcolepsy. Approved narcolepsy drugs are small-molecule pills, not this peptide.
Evidence grade for Orexin-A: Limited. The rule: people have taken it in a published study, but fewer than 100 of them. The sum on this page: 1 completed trial, 14 people given it. A grade counts how much has been done to people, not whether it works.
- People given it
- 14
- Human studies
- 1
- Found nothing
- 0
Dose
No human dose established
Amounts that were given in studies sit in Human evidence on this page. None of them is a personal dose.
1 completed trial, 14 people given it
2 effects reported, 2 unwanted, by people using it, not a trial
In plain English
In plain English, from Aaron
This is how I would explain it to a friend. The evidence, with the numbers, is further down the page.
Orexin-A is the brain chemical that keeps you awake. People with narcolepsy do not make enough of it. It is sold as a nose spray for alertness. The only human data are in people with narcolepsy.
What people take it for
- Staying alert on little sleep.
- Focus.
What studies in people showed
In 14 people with narcolepsy, one spray steadied their dream sleep compared with a dummy spray. They also made fewer mistakes on an attention test. These people lack orexin, so that is not a test for healthy people. In sleep-deprived monkeys, a nose spray restored thinking skills. No trial has tested alertness in healthy people.
What people report
Reports, not study results
The good
- We have not collected user reports on this one yet.
The bad
- No data on whether it stops working with repeat use.
- Nobody has measured how much reaches the human brain.
Where these come from: The findings come from the narcolepsy study and the monkey study on this page. We have no user reports.
My bottom line
It helped people who lack it. If you are tired, the fix is sleep. Get your sleep checked before you spray anything up your nose.
An opinion, not a finding. I am a coach, not a doctor.
What it has been measured to do
Nothing indexed yet
The 2 citations on this page do not report a result for any of the 36 goals indexed here. Most of what sits here is something else: a listing of a planned study, a study of how the body handles the drug, a safety report or a government record. None of those tests whether it works.
Show full evidence
What is Orexin-A?
Orexin-A is the brain chemical that keeps you awake. It is sold as a nose spray for alertness, after a monkey study found a nose spray reversed the effects of lost sleep. The only human data are small studies in narcolepsy. Approved narcolepsy drugs are small-molecule pills, not this peptide.
Orexin-A controls how awake you are, through two receptors in the brain. Losing it causes narcolepsy. The human work is only small studies in narcolepsy with cataplexy, against a dummy spray. In 14 patients, one nasal dose steadied their dream sleep and cut mistakes on an attention test. In a well-run 2007 study, orexin-A sprayed up the nose restored thinking skills in sleep-deprived monkeys. It worked better than a shot into the vein. Drug makers moved to small pills that switch on one orexin receptor, now in late-stage narcolepsy trials. No trial has tested the peptide for alertness in healthy people. There is no data on whether it stops working with repeat use.
How does Orexin-A work?
It switches on two orexin receptors in the brain, which keep you awake and alert.
The evidence, in charts
Fig. 1a · how many people
14people, across 1 study in people cited here
| Study | People | Share |
|---|---|---|
| Behavioural Brain Research 2014 | 14 | 100% |
The whole total is one study of 14. Counts are the number of people each study on this page says it signed up. That includes studies that only watched people and gave nobody the compound. Studies still signing people up are left out, and only studies cited on this page are counted.
Fig. 1b · evidence mix
1 of 2 sources here is a study in people. The rest is not.
- Study in people · done in people150%
- Animal study · done in animals150%
Counted from the list of sources on this page. It counts only what we cite, so there may be more studies out there. A review counts once, however many studies it sums up.
Fig. 2 · evidence over time
Sources here come from just two years, 2007 and 2014.
Too few different years on this page to draw a timeline. The newest source on file is from 2014, more than five years ago. Research on it may have gone quiet.
Fig. 3 · legal status at a glance
US
Not approved
UK
Not approved
AU
Not approved
CA
Not approved
Not approved in any of the four countries shown. This is what the law says, not a verdict on the science. See Legal status below for the full text and any notes.
Fig. 4 · how much does what
Nobody has tested different amounts in people
This chart would show how the effect changes as the amount goes up. For this compound, nobody has measured that in people. So we leave it empty. We will not borrow an animal chart and pretend it works the same in people.
Fig. 5 · what the molecule is
- Kind of compound
- Peptide
- Molecule weight
- 3,561.1 Da
- Half-life
- Stated in words, not a numbersee the exact wording below
- Chain length
- None on file
No amino acid sequence is on file for Orexin-A, so none is drawn rather than guessed from a name.
The studies we cite
- Study in people2014The effect of intranasal orexin-A (hypocretin-1) on sleep, wakefulness and attention in narcolepsy with cataplexy
Orexin-A up the nose helped people whose bodies do not make enough of it. Fourteen patients with narcolepsy each tried the spray and a dummy spray on separate mornings. On orexin-A they slipped into dream sleep less often, dreamed for shorter spells, and made fewer mistakes on an attention test. Note who was studied. These people lack orexin. This is not evidence for a healthy person chasing alertness.
Fourteen patients with narcolepsy and cataplexy, randomised crossover against placebo, given 435 nmol intranasally in the morning. Orexin-A produced fewer wake-to-REM transitions, shorter REM duration and fewer false reactions on a divided-attention test. This is the closest thing to human data, and it is in a disease of orexin deficiency, not in healthy people seeking alertness.
- Animal study2007Systemic and nasal delivery of orexin-A reduces the effects of sleep deprivation on cognitive performance in nonhuman primates
In monkeys. A nose spray worked better than a shot into the vein at undoing the effects of lost sleep.
Nasal delivery outperformed intravenous in monkeys.
Where to buy Orexin-A
3 sellers list Orexin-A in our latest read. They are ranked by trust score, then by archive rating, then by certificate tier, then by the lowest price per milligram. Archive evidence is counted before source-backed. Each path is out of 4, and the two are not added. A higher price does not raise the score. The letter is the certificate chip. 0 of them have a published certificate that names Orexin-A.
Some seller links may pay this site when you buy through them. A payment never changes a seller's tier or rank, and no seller has a say in any page.
| Seller | Trust score | Vial sizes | From, per mg | Certificate for Orexin-A | Seller link |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Limitless Bio-Tech | 52 FairSource-backed 1 of 4. Archive evidence 1 of 4.C | 7 mg | $85.7 | None found for Orexin-A | View |
| Behemoth Labz | 49 WeakSource-backed 3 of 4. Archive evidence 1 of 4.B | 5 mg | $19.3 | None found for Orexin-A | View |
| Direct SARMS | 40 WeakSource-backed 1 of 4. Archive evidence 1 of 4.C | 5 mg | $24.7 | None found for Orexin-A | View |
- LC Lab-confirmed: the issuing laboratory echoed this certificate back
- A Current certificate, independent laboratory named, laboratory not yet checked
- B Certificate published, but no laboratory link, older than a year, or the laboratory did not recognise the published lookup
- C No certificate could be read
Every listing and vial size for Orexin-A · How the trust score is counted
Sellers named on the price pages are ranked by certificate tier, then price, and any affiliate income is disclosed there. Naming a seller is not a recommendation to buy or use anything.
Common questions
Has Orexin-A been tested in people?
Yes. 14 people given it across 1 completed trial cited here, 0 of which found nothing. Orexin-A is the brain chemical that keeps you awake. It is sold as a nose spray for alertness, after a monkey study found a nose spray reversed the effects of lost sleep. The only human data are small studies in narcolepsy. Approved narcolepsy drugs are small-molecule pills, not this peptide.
What is the Orexin-A dosage?
No human dose established. Amounts that were given in studies sit in Human evidence on this page. None of them is a personal dose. 1 completed trial, 14 people given it
Is Orexin-A FDA-approved?
Not approved
Does nasal orexin-A reach the human brain?
Nobody has measured it directly. The monkey data look good. A small study in narcolepsy found changes in dream sleep and attention after a nasal dose, which suggests it reached the brain. But no human study has measured how much gets to the brain, and none has tested alertness in healthy people.