I was prescribed Ritalin and later Adderall from 3 years old until I was 24, when I quit. They did the job they were prescribed for: I was focused. I found Adderall to be "cleaner" feeling, and it had less of a negative effect on my personality. That said, both of them made me much more angry and type A. There is no doubt in my mind now that my dosage was too high, but back in the 80s and 90s, I don't think anyone really understood what constant stimulant overdoses in children looked like. This stuff has irreversibly shaped who I am for better and worse. I can't really recommend either one to anyone unless they really need it.

On the topic of more accessible nootropics, I have worked with a number of the "racetam" substances, which tend to promote acetylcholine use in the brain. Because of this, all of them were taken with copious amounts of choline. I took Piracetam for about 2.5 years. It worked decently well early on at enhancing my focus, but towards the end, I questioned its benefits and quit. During that time, I also added in splashes of Oxiracetam, Aniracetam, and Pramiracetam. Oxiracetam is hands down the best of them all. It was made for hardcore analytical thinking. I used it primarily when I had exams or when I was more exhausted at work right after my daughter was born. It tends to tire the brain as it wears off and lead to some headaches though. Overall, it was a very useful tool Pramiracetam just gave me an instant headache the couple of times I tried it. Aniracetam is suggested to be more creative and anxiolytic. I felt a little calmer, but not enough to warrant consistent use.

Quitting caffiene was really helpful for me. I know that's close to heresy among developers, but I wake up feeling a lot less crappy.

Lately, I've been just taking Huperzine A, which acts as an acetylcholinesterase inhibitor. I feel like I get something similar to the performance of Piracetam, but without the need for the choline supplement to prevent headaches.