I believe that one of the most "abused" drugs for "productivity" is currently Modafinil, far more powerful than Adderall and without all those side effects.
Of course, long term side effects are unknown.
Adderall - I seem to focus on anything I needed to without resistance, similar to how I would focus on something I enjoy. The side effects on me were (to me) extreme emotional instability, which was too off putting to use regularly - could not play well with others.
Modafinil (and Adrafinil before that) - The concentration assistance is there for when I'm focused, but it doesn't seem to help me stay on topic - I'm still easily distracted. The upside is I can still play well with others, and if anything seem more energetic (I hit the gym every morning I use it). The reduced sleep effect is real, I went from an average of 6 hours a night to <4, and it feels like the regained time is still productive. I have no hard numbers around this, and not really sure how to build a baseline to compare to.
I'd like to see how I react to both together, but hesitant given my poor reaction to Adderall. When I was younger I remember preferring Ritalin over Adderall.
EDIT: Adding to the throwaway comment below, the long halflife of Modafinil is true, especially when trying to sleep. For me, after months of 3-4 days on a week, there seemed to be no long term issues with this, where days I had taken Modafinil I only slept 3-4 hours.
I definitely had issues with alcohol and Modafinil, where at my weight (220lbs) I could normally drink 3-4 pints to reach 'buzzed' status, this seemed to happen at 1-2 pints. This trend stayed consistent - and proper 'drunk' came much quicker. This had the effect of limiting my drinking, to the point where I would switch to light beers and stop drinking after 1-2. This has been positive to me, but a bit concerning as I hadn't read of that effect before.
I always advise against poly-pharmacy if possible. Particularly when dealing with powerful stimulants for which the mechanism of action isn't fully understood (Modafinil).
Interestingly, Modafinil might somewhat antagonize the Adderall due to an interaction between their mechanisms of action. Modafinil's MOA is partially due to dopamine reuptake inhibition (similar to Ritalin), but Adderall relies largely on being taken in to the presynaptic terminals and forcing dopamine out. By inhibiting dopamine uptake, Modafinil can (theoretically) decrease the amount of Adderall taken in to the terminal as well as the amount of dopamine available in the terminal for release. We've seen this in a few studies where Modafinil can actually reduce the neurotoxic effects of Adderall, likely due to this antagonizing of Adderall's core MOA.
The magnitude of this effect at therapeutic dosages is unknown, but it's possible and even likely that the combination would be distinctly different than what you might expect a combination of the two drugs to feel like.
> EDIT: Adding to the throwaway comment below, the long halflife of Modafinil is true, especially when trying to sleep. For me, after months of 3-4 days on a week, there seemed to be no long term issues with this, where days I had taken Modafinil I only slept 3-4 hours.
It's expected that your body would adapt somewhat to sleeping on the medication, but that doesn't mean that you were getting quality sleep. Humans are notoriously bad at judging sleep quality, for one, but more importantly here: You were taking a wakefulness-promoting agent, which would have covered any subjective feelings of poor sleep. My concerns with Modafinil stem more from potential long-term implications of interrupting sleep, particularly when the traditional signs of poor sleep (daily fatigue and sleepiness) are then obscured by the drug itself, leading to a false sense of restedness.
However, we can begin to infer poor sleep quality by other, indirect markets, such as:
> I definitely had issues with alcohol and Modafinil, where at my weight (220lbs) I could normally drink 3-4 pints to reach 'buzzed' status, this seemed to happen at 1-2 pints. This trend stayed consistent - and proper 'drunk' came much quicker. This had the effect of limiting my drinking, to the point where I would switch to light beers and stop drinking after 1-2.
Getting subjectively incapacitated from a lower number of beers could, theoretically, be indicative of a subtle sleep-deprived state, for example.
Again, much of this is just semi-educated conjecture, but given the importance of sleep to long-term health I'm wary of these stimulants with long half-lives.
I've been taking Adderall XR and Vyvanse for eight years. Now that I live in Mexico where amphetamine isn't prescribed but you can buy Modafinil over the counter, I gave Modafinil a shot.
It's pretty forgettable. That it only comes in instant tablets is also a deal-breaker.
While I continue to experiment with Modafinil, it's worth the $500 round-trip back to Austin just to re-up my 3-month supply of Vyvanse.
Also, amphetamine is used on every American college campus, not Modafinil. Almost everyone has heard of Adderall even if they've never taken it.
Modafinil is easier to acquire than Adderall, but it certainly isn't "far more powerful" than Adderall. Just the opposite, in fact, which is also why Adderall is a more tightly controlled substance than Modafinil.
Modafinil is a poorly-understood medication, but we do know that it has a moderate affinity for the dopamine reuptake transporter, which is a mode of action that overlaps slightly with other stimulants such as Methylphenidate. The remaining, additional modes of Modafinil's action are still a matter of active research.
Adderall, meanwhile, not only inhibits dopamine reuptake like Methylphenidate and Modafinil, but also enters the presynaptic terminals to exert effects within the cell. Through a series of actions, it forces more dopamine into synapses than would normally be released. This essentially makes it more powerful, and thus more prone to abuse, than Modafinil.
Those same intra-neuron actions also make Adderall potentially more neurotoxic than Modafinil. By upsetting the natural dopamine balance within a cell, Adderall can theoretically overwhelm certain systems that keep the cells working properly. Dopamine metabolism can unfortunately produce toxic metabolites, which are difficult for cells to cope with when produced in excess. Adderall can indirectly produce enough of these toxic metabolites to cause cell death. There is much debate over the exact dosage level at which this damage happens, but there is already one controversial study showing damage in non-human primates at typical therapeutic doses.
Modafinil is not the safest medication either, given the number of potential sensitivity reactions that some people have. Taking Modafinil without a doctors supervision, as many here seem to do, is thus not a good idea. Fortunately Modafinil seems to be more self-limiting due to the unpleasant side effects many experience at higher doses, such as decreased verbal fluency.
Long-term, the largest problem with Modafinil might just be its long half-life. Although the marketing material would lead you to believe it doesn't affect sleep, it's virtually impossible for a wake-promoting agent with an incredible 15-hour half-life would not negatively impact sleep. The 15-hour half-life means that by the time you're ready for bed, your body has only eliminated roughly half of your Modafinil does from the morning. Long-term sleep impairment is not conducive to long-term health.
Beyond all of this, there is a conversation about how the "productivity" aspect of these stimulants is largely limited to acute dosing, and is heavily prone to tolerance and withdrawal effects, but I've gone on long enough already.
It's recommended you check your liver function when taking modafinil.