PlainPill

Amphetamine vs Caffeine for focus

Short answer: For focus, users rate them about the same: 85% report improvement with Amphetamine (428 reports) and 83% with Caffeine (568 reports).

Amphetamine has 258 meta-analyses and 521 randomized trials on PubMed; Caffeine has 680 and 2,072.

Based on 878 reports about Amphetamine and 2,414 about Caffeine. Not medical advice.

Amphetamine
Medication
Caffeine
Substance
Users say it helped35%helped606 reports · high confidence47%helped1,448 reports · high confidence
Verdict
Mixed
Mixed
ResearchAResearch: StrongAResearch: Strong
Meta-analyses / RCTs258 / 521680 / 2,072
Mainly used for
Energy
% reporting improvement
75% (146)83% (908)
Focus
% reporting improvement
85% (428)83% (568)
Anxiety
% reporting improvement
38% (56)16% (240)
Mood
% reporting improvement
48% (132)74% (137)
Sleep
% reporting improvement
9% (35)15% (131)
Common side effectstolerance, anxiety, insomnia, jitterinessjitteriness, anxiety, insomnia, headache
Typical dose reportedNot listed100-150 mg / daily
Amphetamine
Latest review conclusion

Overall, despite a class effect of improving clinical response relative to placebo, there were few differences among the individual ADHD pharmacotherapies, and most studies were at risk of at least one important source of bias. Furthermore, the certainty of the evidence was very low to low for all outcomes, and there was limited reporting of long-term adverse events. As such, the choice between ADHD pharmacotherapies may depend on individual patient considerations, and future studies should assess the long-term effects of individual pharmacotherapies on patient-important outcomes, including qu

PLoS One, 2020 ↗
What a user said
“Unfortunately the only thing that's ever works for me was using adderall. I didn't feel hungry until 3 pm and it was perfect.”
Full Amphetamine profile →
Caffeine
Latest review conclusion

To avoid reductions in total sleep time, coffee (107 mg per 250 mL) should be consumed at least 8.8 h prior to bedtime and a standard serve of pre-workout supplement (217.5 mg) should be consumed at least 13.2 h prior to bedtime. The results of the present study provide evidence-based guidance for the appropriate consumption of caffeine to mitigate the deleterious effects on sleep.

Sleep Med Rev, 2023 ↗
What a user said
“Personally, I feel and function much better if I keep my caffeine intake very low to zero.”
Full Caffeine profile →

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Percentages come from first-hand user reports and are not clinical outcomes. Talk to a doctor before starting, stopping or combining anything. How we rate