Sluggish Cognitive Tempo

[Anonymous]

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sluggish_cognitive_tempo

anyone? thoughts? answers? experiences?

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[ashockley55]

What if I have this instead of ADD and no medicine will help me? 😥

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[kc5jck]

I looked up SCT after hearing Barkley talk about it. Sometimes I think I may have SCT and at other times ADD. Or perhaps the SCT times may just be when I am “hyperfocussing” on daydreaming. Or trying to tune out some extremely boring conversation.

Think not only about the last few years, but also about how you were growing up when you are making your self assessment.

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[ashockley55]

Bringing this back up, picking up where we left off.

When I look back on growing up, as Kc5jck suggested, I was a very shy, withdrawn child.  I’ve spent time watching a couple of the Russell Barkley videos, and it really seems to be an either/or:

Either you were a active, hyper, maybe even violent, certainly an ornery kid who nobody wanted to be around because they were a pain in the ass, even the teachers, with tendencies toward defiance, or you were a space-cadet, dreamy-eyed, loner of a shy kid who had a few close friends, was smart, but struggled in school.

I completely and totally fit that later category.

Except…..

There are a few things that fit more in the wild/rambunctious/eager to be stimulated more typical ADHD category.

I was certainly, and continue to be, eager for attention as a child.  This often manifested in me doing highly unusual, weird, odd things like mix ketchup and pepper in my vanilla milkshake on my girlscouts trip to McDonald’s.  Then drink it.  This was a big incident.

Now, as an adult, I continue to seek Attention (to myself) and Stimulation.  I’m still shy, I’m still awkward, I still become very quiet and silent in groups, not knowing how or when to get a word in edgewise……….but I’m a burlesque dancer on the weekends.  I love it because the attention is on me and I don’t have to worry about figuring out how to stand out and be polite at the same time, how to not interrupt, but still get attention.  I’m given the stage!

I often feel like a walking oxymoron.  I’m incredibly shy, to the point of selective mutism in certain situations, but in others, I’m……well, wild.

I read this snippet in the wikipedia entry on Sluggish Cognitive Tempo, it was in parenthesis, about how people with SCT behave much like people with traditional ADHD if the person with SCT is in “an excited state.”

Maybe that’s what’s going on?

I don’t know.  I always feel both exhausted, yet bored to death.  Like something bigger than what is happening should be happening.  But I’m so anxiety-ridden by what IS happening (trying to maintain interest in boring conversations, trying not to say the wrong thing, trying to be polite, trying to act like I haven’t just blanked out and have no idea what they were saying because, Lord help me, they are going on and on and on about something so completely uninteresting, why can’t someone say something interesting???????)

Anyway, also I’m tired a lot and nap mid-day for hours at a time.

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[Patte Rosebank]

@Ashockley55, I’ve often wondered about the same issues in myself.

It’s as if I have 2 separate personalities.

In the right situation, I’m dazzlingly extroverted, basking in all the attention, and always with a quick quip at the ready.

But otherwise, I’m very introverted, preferring to stay at home, or to sit in a quiet corner with a friendly cat or dog who happens to be there.  Especially at parties…which I generally avoid completely.

I took a Myers Briggs Type Indicator test, and I was the rarest type of all:  INFJ (Introverted, Intuitive, Feeling, Judging).

My brother was the second-rarest type:  INTJ (Introverted, Intuitive, Thinking, Judging), but he’s more of a social animal than I am, probably because he doesn’t have ADHD.

The combination of boredom and anxiety you describe is pretty common with ADHD.  We’re so wound-up, struggling to stay focussed on the humdrum conversation & events in front of us, while fighting our brain’s natural inclination to go madly off in all directions at once.

There’s so much overlap between symptoms of various disorders, that it’s impossible to definitively say whether you have one or the other, or both.  All your doctor can do is say, “Based on the preponderance of the evidence, it’s most likely that you have ________. ”

And remember, ADHD and SCT are both cognitive dysfunctions, so there’s bound to be overlapping symptoms there!

For me, which disorder is causing my symptoms isn’t nearly as important as whether or not what I’m taking or doing is reducing them.

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[Robbo]

Yep…

Or trying to tune out some extremely boring conversation.

I wrote more, but it was pretty rude stuff and I ran out of time. I’m not all that crazy about Barkley. I like what Dr. Edward Hallowell says in his book “Delivered from Distraction” and I also like the stuff in the “ADD And Loving It?!” video. It’s just better.

Mostly I like what the successful people in this camp say. There’s a lot too.

We’ve had some good threads about defining success here. That sound like more fun to talk about than what I think about Russel Barkley. I’m sure he’s a decent dude. I bet if he had ADHD he might sing a much different tune.

Ya think?

I won’t go on and on about how he sounds like he’s out to warn the dang world about us…

Nope, not today…

R-

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[Robbo]

whups, meant to say:

That sounds like more fun than talking about what I think about Russel Barkley

He looks too much like my dad when he’s pissed off. I bet the real problem is that I need to just forgive my dad. Might as well be honest while I’m fishing another typo.

My therapist says I’m a perfectionist. When there’s more time. I’ll share the results of some homework she gave me about a month and a half ago. After I read the book she asked me to read. (Idid finish thebook. )

I’m really frustrated with how fast my clock moves when I’m running late.

hmph!

ugh

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[MarieAngell]

I most definitely fall into ADHD Inattentive Type and I feel this kind of  conflict all the time.  I simply can’t take Dr. Barkley seriously in regard to this issue. I’m with Robbo (Man of a Thousand Monikers)–I prefer Dr. Hallowell and Dr. Jain, among a few others.

@Ashockley55,  my experience is very much like yours. I’m quite uninhibited on stage (though I’m a musician, not in burlesque), although I’m fine with being that “other self” on stage. My son (also Inattentive ADHD) has expressed these same feelings of being of 2 minds , describing it as his “front brain” and his “back brain” (as a colorful description, not actual physiology).

In any case, medication has helped me significantly with many of the symptoms of tiredness and anxiety. In fact, for me, relief from the tiredness alone is worth what it takes to get meds.

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[Robbo]

Thanks Marie, your son sounds like an interesting dude. I like the front brain n back brain thing. Of course I don’t take what ya said all that seriously. I sometimes crack up when people take a statement like yours about your son as an invitation to diagnose his mental health!. These people are indeed idiots!.

But I have to admit, I have a strong tendency to pass judgement myself. It’s been on my mind a lot lately. Passing judgement was the main lesson in the book my lady friend who’s a therapist suggested I read.

The book is “The Shack” by oh, crap!. I gave the book away only a few days after reading/thoroughly enjoying it. When I remember the Author. I’ll let ya’all know his name. Sound good? It was a great book because it really drilled in the idea of what a waste of time it can usually be to pass judgement; on each-other, our selves of course, and most of all, on God. I’ve spent a lot of years trying to understand God. It’s easier to just work on learning how to love my neighbors in the world. My mind will naturally go back to it’s tendency to want to understand Jesus Christ. And fortunately I’ve got plenty of Bibles to study.

The thing about Russel Barkley is that he always looks so dang, ummm… pensive!.  Only instead of sad, he’s pissed off. Or is he just really strict with himself? I won’t say “hard on himself” because that could be taken wrong, apparently. 🙂

That’s a new word for me. I actually wrote down on my planner some goals yesterday. One is to take at least one English or writing class. Soon. In the meantime, I’ll start to give myself some new vocabulary words to goof around with.

Feel free to correct me if I use any fancy words incorrectly. I wonder if Russel Barkley has any struggles of his own? Silly question, I know. He’s a human being, so of course he’s got some struggles. Maybe his struggle is to become a professional sourpuss. (Sorry, I couldn’t resist…)(I have restrained myself until I could not restrain me no more…)

I am joking. Of course!.

Remember, I’m only writing the mean stuff cuz it sounded funny in my brain before I wrote it. Dr. Barkley does indeed have a place in the profession. I even think he does a lot to help us, in the long run. He’s an educator, yeah… A teacher. I like teachers.

Everyone should have plenty of teachers.

N students too.

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[ashockley55]

I’m thinking Sluggish Cognitive Tempo because of how tired I am, plus the anxiety stuff, plus the excessive procrasination.

And YES! @MarieAngell when I took the medication, the thing I valued most about it was how it allowed me to not be so devastatingly tired all the time.  Stimulant meds are used in some Chronic Fatigue Syndrome (which I’ve wondered if I have) patients, and I can see why.

My thing though, and the reason I was SO disappointed in the meds, is that they gave me energy, they gave me the get up and go to get CERTAIN things done, and helped me a bit with following through with getting things done, selecting which things to do, doing them quickly, instead of doing them in a sort of distractable dream-like fog, but they did NOT help me do things like writing or school work.

I was able to have the energy and motivation to do housework, but not the calmness and focus to sit down and write.  Very disappointed about that.

So when I saw that stimulants aren’t often effective for SCT, I’m wondering if that wasn’t why – they give you energy, some focus, but not the calm, not the slowing down to allow you to do things that require a significant amount of brain work, things that you really want to do, but somehow can’t will yourself to do, because of that anxiety/procrastination thing that seems to be so high particularly with Primarily Inattentive/SCT.

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[MarieAngell]

Well, @Ashockley55, as much as I love to diagnose in my armchair, I can’t say whether you have ADHD or SCT, but I have experienced exactly what you’re talking about and I would be shocked to discover I didn’t have ADHD. I feel fortunate in that I think my meds are doing pretty much all they can do, but meds only go so far. I still struggle with procrastination and focus.

When you took meds, did you experiment with more than one med? I take Focalin, but I tried Vyvanse and hated it. Has a doctor ever talked to you about anxiety meds or serotonin reuptake inhibitors?

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[ashockley55]

Oh yes, @MarieAngell, I don’t know if it’s even possible to get the One True Diagnosis for me, ha ha, I think I’ve got a cluster of so much going on, but hearing about this SCT thing, I was like, hmmmmm….

To answer your question, I’ve tried Strattera, which gave me horrible heart burn, which sounds so lame, like, really?  horrible?  How can heart burn be THAT bad, take some Pepto and get over it, but, really, it really was that. bad.  And I’ve tried different varieties of methylphenidate – the quick release, the not-so-quick release, the even-less-quick release, and various strengths, ranging from 10 – 30 mg, and they all had basically the same effect – lots of energy, lots of follow-through, lots of pep, lots of confidence, even!, but no focus, no calm, no peaceful brain, then, when it wore off…..sad times.  Especially with the 30 mg of the extra-duper-super extended release supposed to last a long time stuff.  I felt energized, talkative, confident (sounds like manic, but it wasn’t, just normal levels of all that stuff), but when it wore off?  I remember exactly when and where I was when it wore off.  I was sitting on the toilet in the bathroom in a building on campus during my week-long residency for grad school.  I was stareing at the crotch of my underwear, and suddenly I thought, “If I didn’t have people around me right now, I would be afraid for myself, that I might do something stupid and take my own life, because I feel really, really extremely depressed right now, suddenly.”

That was my last experience with trying to get any medication or any form of formal treatment.  I haven’t been back to the psychiatrist I was seeing because it cost too much, both the copay and the gas to get to the appointment, and I haven’t been back to the closer to home, less expensive family doctor because she acted like a word I can’t say here when I wouldn’t take the antidepressants she was trying to feed me.

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[MarieAngell]

@Ashockley, it’s a terrible shame that no meds have worked for you. Now I understand why you’d be reluctant to keep experimenting.

The only thing I can add, for what it’s worth, sleep makes a huge difference for me. Although I resisted it for a long time, I now take meds and it really helps. When I don’t get enough sleep, especially if it’s a couple of days in a row, I’m impaired.

I hope you can find a way to get effective medical help soon.

 

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[Robbo]

I’ve been reading your posts for a very long time @ashockley55 and you’re one of the more solid and reliable characters in this camp. I’m sure it’s not just me thinking this.  I hope you don’t give up on finding the right doctors(s). I didn’t read you saying you are giving up. I just know how my brain works. I have given up at least a few times since I’ve been coming here. No crap.

I also know I’ve had sooo very many friends go through that awful, nasty, time consuming process of finding not just the right medication, or combination of therapists and doctors and support groups. Or community to surround yourself in. But to find all of this, and still manage to feed ourselves and also manage to get an education. I’ve been doing a lot of studying myself lately. For me it’s books, books, and more books.

I still get bummed out… It’s still painful. It’s less though. Much less.

I think I’ve gotten much more enthusiastic about reading since I’ve been coming to this site. I wonder if it’s just a coincidence?. Heck no!.

You are kicking ASS girl!.

People don’t necessarily tell us when we help them in this camp. But trust me, there are tons of folks who don’t have the guts to write so much about their life. Like you do. We’re helping much more people all across the planet. I wonder how many countries and languages what we say goes out to.

@Rick, hey Rick!, can you give us a few statistics on the traffic coming through here?.

So this is encouragement.

Please feel very strongly encouraged. And trust me, you’re helping many more pholks with a ton more problems that I’ll ever be able to figure out. I bet it’s a lot though.

Tons!.

Totally!

R-

PS, I too have had that “heartburn from hell” It’s always a bad idea to compare anyone else’s suffering to my own. One person get’s their problem minimized, and the other gets too dang much attention. It’s just plain never fair. Life is not ever gonna be fair. But if we can treat each-other like the way people treat each-other on this web site?.

We will win!.

Don’t ask me what we will win. We all want to win different stuff. For me, I just like to be “the winner”. But what do people do with old trophies?.

Collect dust. And good memories…

We can have the stuff we want.

 

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[ashockley55]

Solid?  And reliable?  Me?  Really?

Now, character….character I believe.  I’m definitely a character.

Ha ha! 🙂

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