To the poster above claiming Modafinil is “off-market,” it’s not. In the US it’s sold as prescription Provigil. Importing it with a prescription is technically illegal, although not often enforced. Importing it without a prescription is highly illegal, and if you get caught you will be arrested.

The closest legal chemical in the states to Provigil or Nuvigil(Armodafinil) is Adrafinil. Adrafinil is legal, and is a chemical precursor that gets converted in the body to Modafinil. The only problem with Adrafinil is that long term use can lead to significant liver damage. All three of these chemicals aren’t technically classified as stimulants (although they are often called such), because their biochemical mode of action is significantly different than the “classic” stimulants. They’re often promoted as “wakefulness promoting agents.” But whatever, they help keep you awake.

Back to WC’s topic - stimulants, I’ve been on them all. Seriously - even back when they made a patch; but I don’t think that’s on the market anymore.

Ritalin - methylphenidate is a decent stimulant, with a quick and short-acting duration. Often gives the jitters, did for me. I used to take it four times a day, and it was OK. There are about a dozen different XR formulations, none of which are a magic bullet.

Concerta - methylphenidate in a time-release capsule. Little slower take-off than straight-up Ritalin, and quite a bit longer acting. For some reason however, about halfway through the day it would make me irritable/angry, something that never happened with normal Ritalin. I guess it’s a side effect my doctor had seen before. Never figured out why it was, but it was real.

Focalin and Focalin XR - dexmethylphenidate - it’s a more pure form of Ritalin, since it is the D isomer which is psychoactive, while normal Ritalin is a racemic mixture of the D and (inactive) L isomer. It’s a bit cleaner, with a quicker onset and more clear (in my estimation) stimulant. The XR version is one of my favorite stimulants; it has an immediate release of some of the Focalin, then a part of the pill that is time release for longer action. Also you can crush and snort it for a high better than coke. Or so I’ve been told.

Up next is Adderall, a mixture of amphetamine salts in all its various forms. For me, Adderall is a better stimulant than Ritalin; it’s a bit smoother onset and less of a crash afterwards than Ritalin. The various time release versions all have some benefits and some detractors. I’ve been prescribed Adderall at 30mg up to 4 times a day, which is a crazy high dose; but overall my body metabolizes all medications very quickly, so I even need to take “12-14 hour” pills twice a day. Adderall does better at controlling my ADHD, and also does a better job of keeping me awake and clearing my med fog than Ritalin does.

Provigil/Nuvigil - Decent ways to stay awake. For me they were OK to use for helping me with fatigue, but didn’t really do anything for my ADHD so eventually I dumped them.

Vyvanse - lisdexamfetamine. This is my current stimulant of choice. It’s a proform of amphetamine with a molecular grouping that is cleaved in the body to release the psychoactive amphetamine group. Due to the time it takes for that chemical conversion to happen, it works as a time-release med. it’s supposed to last all day, but like all other “all-day” stimulants for me, I take it twice a day. Its effects are very similar to Adderall, but it comes on very slowly and tapers off very slowly so you don’t get the soaring highs and crashing lows of the immediate release drugs.

This isn’t an exhaustive list of all the stimulants I’ve tried, but it hits on the major players. Feel free to ask for more info if you have any questions. I’m a bit of a stimulant connoisseur.