for me, ritalin helped most with my focus, adderall xr helped most with my motivation, adderall ir helps me currently with my energy + motivation. i’d say adderall xr is the best of the three, though i prefer vvyanse — but vvyanse is prohibitively expensive, and adderall xr is 4x the price of the instant release. also, i had to take adderall xr twice a day; the “extended release” formulation only seems to add a few hours of duration over the instant release. i’ve yet to try dexedrine, but i’ve read good things about it.

overall though, i’d not rely on anecdotes about add meds. people’s experiences are vastly different in-practice, and the only things you’ll really find in common with other’s treatments are the more pronounced side effects. not to say that there’s anything wrong with asking for advice, just be sure to temper your expectations a bit based on what you read and try not to get too discouraged.

my advice is: if your doctor is willing, have them write you seven-day prescriptions for the different medications you’d like to try and see which one works best. keeping a short journal about sleep, eating/drinking, mood, energy, motivation, and productivity during this time also helps gather some perspective. when you find one that works, try it for a month, and then make a decision from there.