I have an alarm that goes off an hour before I need to get up to take my stimulants. I find modafinil increases my dopamine levels. helps me focus, reduces drowsiness. I’ve used it for 24+ hour drives as well, and if i use it to stay awake that long on purpose, i am definitely wired.
I technically have a diagnosis of “sleep work shift disorder”, which is one of the only things that’s approved for, and there’s no test for it other than, “are you working when you’d rather be sleeping? and are you sleeping when you’d rather be awake? okay you have it.” I don’t like Adderall or Ritalin or Strattera
I definitely can’t get high on it, they only made it controlled because college students were trading around like you said, but honestly you could make this stuff available over the counter, you can already get ephedrine that way and I’d say that’s considerably more dangerous
I think it’s got something to do with dopamine, but I really couldn’t tell you anything beyond that.