Experience Sluggish Cognitive Tempo(SCT)?

I have inattentive ADD but I suspect I also have Sluggish Cognitive Tempo. I'm having extreme difficulty accepting this because of the negative impact this condition has on my life. Can anyone relate?

Very much so! Processing information for me is a real challenge. Simple adding and subtracting, multiplying and dividing, reciting Latin conjugations... all require me to go through each step one by one, and I often pause in the middle and just blank.

My mind is often clouded, and wanders constantly. I also have been diagnosed with ADD inattentive, and I've been on a number of medications. I'm currently taking 60 mg of Vyvanse, but I tried Concerta, Nuvigil, Wellbutrin, and Strattera in the past, with no help. Vyvanse has been the most help by far, but I still always have a bit of brain fog that just won't go away. I'll be trying Adderall later this month.

One thing that I did find was that, while I was taking Concerta, it exacerbated my mental fog so much. I could hardly even think, and it felt like my mind was stuck in mud. This happened mostly on the few days that I drank coffee in the morning. Caffeine can interact with many meds for ADHD and cause these same problems, and for me, it was a big problem. I can drink caffeine with Vyvanse without exacerbating my normal SCT, but many experience the same thing.

Are you taking any medication for ADHD, and have you found them to help?

I've always felt like I'm in a fog! I went through my entire childhood with ADD Inattentive type and was never diagnosed until 5 years ago (at 38) I often wonder how differerent my life would have been had I been treated for this years ago. But I've never heard the term Sluggish Cognitive Tempo. Is used to describe the processing difficulties associated with ADD? While I was always considered bright, on many things I was (and still am) one step behind everyone. I see it now with my son, and the reactions of his teachers are so frustrating. Things just don't occur to him like they do other kids, and he needs to be prompted for a lot of things. He tends to be accused of laziness much of the time and I will admit, that is how it appears on the surface. I find Adderall to be immensely helpful, but don't want to become dependent. I've never heard of Vyvanese. Is it also a stimulant?

This is true for me as well. Vyvanse is Shire Pharmaceutical's newer stimulant medication that is very similar to Adderall. It's a pure mixture of dextroamphetamine, whereas Adderall contains ~75% dextro and ~25% levoamphetamine.

SCT isn't really a diagnosis because most of the symptoms fall under inattentive ADD, and treatment would be similar. "Laziness" is seen in both kinds of ADHD, whether it's hyperactive or just inattentive, but it's manifested differently. Inattentive ADD manifests its "laziness" by a wandering mind, lethargy, procrastination, lack of order, and I'm sure you could name some more. But the hyperactive subtype wouldn't as often be called "lazy" because his "laziness" is manifested through physical stimulation, accomplishing the same ends: distraction, wandering mind, procrastination...

One thing to remember is that AD/HD has no correlation to intelligence. It can impair a person's ability to succeed in a standardized system that is tailored to the non-ADHD mind, but this does not make him or her less intelligent. Thus, we must rely on medication and therapy in order to help us adapt to a system that is fundamentally working against us.

Many people have concerns with dependence, but the way I see it, someone who wears glasses is dependent on those in order to function the way they should, so what is the problem with being dependent on medication in order to function the way we need to? If it improves our quality of life, then I see no problem in becoming dependent on medication.

I recently came across SCT and have to admit that it describes me pretty well (I've been diagnosed with inattentive ADHD). I'm having a hard time accepting it though, because I don't want to be known as "sluggish". That term just seems really offensive to me.

Oh man, I had no clue this was an official condition. I think sluggish cognitive processing describes what I'm experience much more accurately than attention deficiency. I am going to have to research this tomorrow after class.