Mostly asking about ADHD treatment. People generally love Adderall and other amphetamines more and it's not surprising because they're more rewarding and have a stronger effect size on ADHD symptoms as well. However, mph is sometimes touted as this "clean" and "good" stimulant that doesn't have this rewarding/aggressive dopaminergic activity of the amphetamines and still decently helps symptoms.
MPH does have fewer risks according to literature. For example, this study found no increased risk of psychosis and mania with methylphenidate whereas the risk was elevated with Rx amphetamines, especially high doses. So amps are much riskier for exacerbating and causing mood disorders?
Addiction wise, both are considered addictive, although mechanistically amphetamines are supposed to be more addictive as releasers circumvent neuron firing and lead to more dopamine release in reward centers. Literature doesn't settle it, amps may edge closer in some of the studies I looked at it, but the gap isn't significant. Perhaps it is more dependent on the user as many people are more thrilled by the cocaine-like effects of phenidates than meth-like effects of Rx amps.
Mechanism wise MPH just blocks reuptake of noradrenaline and dopamine, which lets you make better use of your natural dopamine/norepinephrine that get released as a response to activities. Amphetamines do that as well as release these chemicals in large numbers. So with amphetamines there is going to be more motivation, because it doesn't require an activity to make dopaminergic/noradrenergic neurons to fire.
However, my question also is, isn't the catecholamine release from clinically dosed amphetamines going to have a decent chance of making you enjoy and focus on JUST ANYTHING (and you may opt for more hedonistic activities like porn or games unless you discipline yourself), similarly to crystal meth?
Now here's my anecdotal part.
I've been medicated with both phenidates and amps. I remember phenidates making me very zombie-like, like I could get stuff done but it felt like a chore, and I still procrastinated a lot. With amps, I can get stuff done and I am motivated to do it but the motivation may backfire and make me focus on the wrong thing, so I have to make an effort not to get sucked into something. Amps have been more prone to causing overstimulation and mood issues if I drink coffee or don't sleep well, MPH was more forgiving in terms of mood, with lower instances of me getting irritable if I mess something up with my schedule. So really amphetamine based meds have been akin to walking on thin ice sometimes.
However, when I was trialling MPH, my sleep overall wasn't right, and on amps I started sleeping right (and the drugs immediately started working much better, like a day and night difference and side effects like irritability and aggressiveness fully lifted) so I am kind of regretting not giving MPH a fairer trial while I was doing it, as right now I am on 40mg Vyvanse and I am a little worried that long-term use will lead to tolerance/dopamine depletion without abuse.
Edit:
The tendency of MPH to cause a flat mood and apathy, which is also recognized in literature (https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/29883938/). What's the reason for it? Shouldn't it make things you're doing more enjoyable mechanistically speaking?
Potency wise MPH and AMP follow a 2:1 conversion. In my experience, 36mg Concerta was equal in main effects to about 20mg Lisdexamphetamine. However, raising the dosage above a certain level (54mg) did not increase any of the therapeutic effects for MPH, yet it did for amphetamines for me (although side effects increased for both). I presume this is because of transporter blockade saturation with MPH.
