Adderall

For years, Jonathan Reilly, a 41-year-old biomedical engineer based in Los Angeles, would start his workday in a fog. "I'd come into my office feeling like I had woken up at four to take someone to the airport," he says. "It took me twice as long to accomplish anything important." But now he walks into his regular 8 a.m. meetings with crystal-clear focus and enough energy to drive through an intense 12-hour day at the office. Plus, he's always in a good mood.Reilly isn't high or wired on caffeine—he's taking a pill called Nuvigil. Top 15 Health Myths[sidebar]"It's made me feel awake for the first time," he says. "I'm much more creative and much more productive. If I'm project- managing, it's like seeing the matrix. It makes it easier to put the pieces together to come up with a complete picture."In lieu of Adderall and eight-balls, hard-charging professionals are turning to a new class of nootropics (a type of smart drug) to score an edge at work. It's a category of substances that inc...

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