The definition of nootropics used here excludes them (too many adverse health effects), but I wonder how the drugs on this list compare to e.g. amphetamines in terms of pro-productivity effects.
In the end, most user end up with a permanent tolerance that no amount of drug vacation will lower.
I'm not even mentioning here the whole issue of amphetamine disrupting vesicle pH gradient, causing dopamine leakage. Dopamine is very prone is auto-oxidation to quinone when they float free around in the cytosol.
can you share some links to the dopamine leakage you mentioned, that sounds terrible.
Which is part of the reason why amphetamine increases extracellular dopamine. Unfortunately, instead of being nicely packaged in vesicles, now some of these dopamine are floating around in the cytosol, making them susceptible to autooxidation to quinones, nasty stuff.
Unfortunately, most of these research are behind paywall but that is the little lf what I remembered from all the reading years ago.
I've heard people complain that amphetamines increase focus at the expense of creativity.
edit: Just saw him linked below, should've read first -_-