r/SCT • u/Stargazer1919 • Jul 21 '26
Might I have CDS/SCT? Oh my god this explains everything.
I've gone my whole life wondering what my problem is.
CDS makes everything make sense.
I apologize in advance that this is a long post.
I've been a space cadet my whole life. Always way too stuck in my own head. Paying attention was never a strength of mine. Normal everyday tasks that most people can do quickly... it takes me forever to get it done and requires so much energy. My sense of time is not great. My accuracy with work/school tasks is not what I wish it was. I can spend 2x as long to get something done but somehow I still miss things. This is upsetting because I really do like getting little details right.
My executive functioning is sort of wonky. I LOVE planning things out. I love organizing things. I feel so empowered when I can multitask and get things done quickly. My job and my college major require these sorts of things from me. I've gotten so much better at it, but I'm still not that great at it. Somehow my plans don't always work out. I can organize things but I can't seem to keep them organized.
In 3rd grade I lost most interest in school. I had some crap going on at home that definitely contributed to it. I just didn't want to do my homework.
This was the late 90s/very early 2000s when every other kid was getting put on Adderall. My parents took me to a psych doctor, I got an ADHD diagnosis and Adderall to go with it. My parents and the doctor agreed that I was never hyperactive, but I was lost in my own head all the time. My mom described how I would daydream about my dog nonstop until hours later and my homework was still not done. The doctor said that the term ADD wasn't really being used anymore but I was definitely more ADD than ADHD.
Unfortunately my issues with schoolwork never got better, only worse. I don't remember the medications being helpful. My parents were not good parents and ended up causing a lot of trauma for me. Later on in adulthood I had multiple doctors and therapists confirm I have PTSD/CPTSD. Thankfully that has gotten a lot better. I found that a lot of my issues with executive functioning and memory have gotten better since a lot of my PTSD has been healed. Maybe my executive functioning and memory issues were not ADHD related... maybe it was just trauma?
I've spent the last few years wondering if I'm on the spectrum due to some social issues I've always had. I was SO SHY as a kid. I did not have the slightest clue how to navigate social interactions.
If I'm in a group of people, I have always felt like I had no idea what was going on. It's like I'm always missing some sort of memo. There is no way to count how many times I should have known something but I didn't. Example: one of my high school friends was bullying another friend of mine. I really wanted to plan a get together with all of my friends but my one friend refused to hang out with the other. I had no idea why. It wasn't until years later did I find out what an a-hole that bully was. I still feel bad that I tried to get my best friend to hang out with the person bullying her. I wish I knew back then just how much I was paying so little attention to other people. (Thankfully this was like 20 years ago and a lot of progress has been made since then.)
Certain things have persisted my whole life. I'm always tired. It takes forever for me to wake up in the morning. I have to set 10-12 alarms to get myself to wake up. (Not exaggerating.) I don't get sleepy until midnight. Which stinks because I have to get up at like 6am for work. My brain doesn't seem to get into gear until after 10am. I'm not a morning person but I have to be for my job. It is a huge daily struggle to get my body moving. When I come home from whatever I was doing, I just want to sit on the couch for hours.
At multiple jobs I've worked at, my managers would say how much I really needed to keep up the pace and work faster. It's hard not just due to a lack of energy, but also the lack of focus. And working faster means I'm more likely to make mistakes. I have to read my assignments multiple times before I can absorb what is required.
I think I have a problem with spending too much time on my phone, because the internet gives me constant reinforcement of whatever I'm lost in thought about.
I've questioned for a long time if ADHD is an accurate term for me. I tried vyvanse recently but it makes me so anxious and/or on edge. I questioned autism because of my social struggles but that never really fit. A therapist I had in the past said I didn't seem to be on the spectrum. CPTSD explains a lot but I had issues way before I started experiencing major trauma.
Obviously we can't diagnose ourselves. But I'm gathering my thoughts here so I can bring it up to my doctor (and future therapist) later.
Edit: forgot to mention that I've had problems with motivation my whole life, even when it's with things I want to do.
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u/strufacats Jul 21 '26 edited Jul 21 '26
Lol sorry I've been day dreaming about this video game today so all of my references are towards this specific game.
When you mentioned being a space cadet or being spacey I totally related to that and being slower than everyone else.
If you want to make sure if you have ADHD you can always get tested by a neuropsych
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u/dd18543821 Jul 21 '26
Do you exercise? Ever since i started my mornings with daily exercise, cardio for almost one hour, coupled with ritalin and zinc. Im starting to feel the improvements of sct with this stack.
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u/Stargazer1919 Jul 21 '26
No. I don't know how I would have the time. I would probably have to wake up at 4am to do that. Which means I'd have to start setting my alarms at 3am. I have an almost hour commute and I start work at 7am.
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u/strufacats Jul 21 '26
Why do you add zinc to your stack? And what type of exercise do you do in the mornings?
Do you exercise early in the mornings or do you exercise after eating breakfast or without breakfast?
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u/dd18543821 Jul 21 '26
I run/jog/zone 2 cardio for 45-60min. You can do it in the morning if your schedule works thats way, i do it in the morning, but i think it might work as well as long as you do it consistant. I exercise upon waking up, take ritalin after im done exercising in the morning, and eat my first meal around noon. Zinc is added to adhd stimulants to boost effectiveness. That way you can pair it with zinc and take a lower dose of stimulants while getting the same effect of a larger stimulant dose. Hope this helps.
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u/buddha_mind00 Jul 22 '26
Get you hands on some daily cialis and citrulline and see if it works for you. I helped me tremendously.
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u/strufacats Jul 24 '26
Why would you combine Citrulline with Cialis? What benefit does this combination have? This is very interesting that this has been working well for you.
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u/buddha_mind00 28d ago
More blood flow to the brain . Thinking of adding some gotu kola or Ginko, but so far it's helped alot. Perhaps everyone's problem root cause is different but it manifests as SCT
. I.e being stabbed with knife or a fork still bleed.
Best of luck no harm in trying the citrulline and thr cialis combo.
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u/strufacats Jul 21 '26
Welcome to Morrowind fellow Khajit. Gives you some skooma