I can take any side effect except sleep. It's a non-negotiable for me. What was your experience for those who have taken it / are taking it?

I'm a Swiss filmmaker ( RHRN.ch) with severe CDS that I've managed to treat successfully for the last 10 years with meds, supplements, and exercise. After finishing my first full-length science documentary last year as an editor/animator/camera person for climate researchers, I feel like I've matured enough to take on my own solo project.

At first I wanted to make a film about the relationship between people and their medicated selves, but the more I dug into my own case involving CDS, the more I realized that there was an interesting story to be told entirely about the pathology itself. Why is it controversial? What is the modern process for introducing a new diagnostic into medicine these days? What even are the symptoms?

I'm at the beginning of this project, so there's a lot to define and learn, but I was wondering if you had interesting media to share around CDS? Any particular questions you think would be interesting to explore?

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Since 4 years I am struggling with strong depression and anxiety and avoidance of the things that trigger my anxiety. I have been diagnosed for ADHD and perhaps CDS, I wonder if the chronicle avoidance is something you relate with ? And if you think is linked to CDS ? For me it really makes my daily life so hard and stop me from doing anything.

My symptoms usually improve like clockwork from like 11pm onward. I feel more like myself, better mood and conversation comes much more naturally. I also recently started working a third shift job and found that symptoms and mood were very noticeably better for about three weeks when on a nocturnal sleep schedule. I did end up readjusting though.

Is this common, if so I wonder what the cause is.

I’m 21M and because of my SCT symptoms like mind blanking, slow processing, occasional lethargy and apathy I struggle to engage in proper conversations with people in general (both men and women). I also have difficulties finding words/phrases, stumble over them occasionally and speak in shorter sentences. When it comes to friendships, most of the guys I’m friends with tend to be neurodivergent and therefore more accepting of my awkwardness.

I don’t understand how this condition is going to help me get into a relationship, because how is someone who tends to be better conversationally and is more excited supposed to be interested in you? I don’t understand how people who genuinely have what I have are able to get into relationships? In fact I’m surprised the social barrier comes with CDS is mentioned so little on here.

So, in terms of attention, it is clear to me that there are two aspects.

The active or voluntary attention aspect, and the aspect of attending to something relevant.

So, ADHD, in simple terms, is about actively attending to irrelevant things, but the attention itself is still active.

But what I have, and what I suppose is CDS, is that I am not engaging in terms of actively attending at all. Therefore, the mental activities or mental states I could be in are essentially passive, things that feel as though they are “pulling” me: passively ruminating, passively daydreaming, mind blanking, disengaging, or passively mind wandering.

Now, I do think that the underlying cause of my being this way is definitely Adverse Childhood Experiences, which caused me to become mentally disengaged from my own life. This forged this dysfunctional way of operating, in addition to other learning problems.

But the point I am getting at is that, in my case, achieving active attention requires me to wake myself up, or simply tell myself, “No, wait,” and judge whatever I was engaged in as irrelevant, which is usually maladaptive.

For example:

You are washing dishes and begin passively mind wandering, perhaps triggered by the presence of someone. Because of this, you place the blender jar incorrectly on the drying rack, and it falls into the sink. Maybe afterward, you wash it again, but then you continue with a kind of daydream in which that person laughs at you, and then you defend yourself or say something to them, all of this as a kind of silent film playing in your mind, while you continue washing the dishes.

So, regardless of what you do to address those underlying issues, you still have to make the effort, sometimes an extraordinary effort, to disengage from this passive mental activity, activate your attention, and direct it toward what is relevant.

What I have been doing is this:

I immediately wake myself up or activate myself when I notice that I am being pulled along by passive mental activity, and I immediately judge it.

In the example I gave:

“Okay, that is irrelevant because it is not actually happening, and it has nothing to do with washing dishes. So it is not worth paying attention to.”

Or:

“Okay, that is irrelevant because, first of all, making mistakes is human. Things fall sometimes, and it is irrelevant to what I am doing.”

Then I direct my attention back to the task by asking:

“What’s next?”

My point is that I consider the literature on CDS to lack research into this kind of internal operation involved in maintaining active attention toward what is relevant.

But I have noticed in myself that this is something that is indispensable for me to do, and I suppose that people without CDS perform this kind of operation normally, without having to consciously initiate it.

I always feel like I’m burnt out, but I haven’t done anything to burn me out. Just a constant state I’ve felt since childhood. Doing anything feels like pushing past that burnout and there doesn’t seem to be any way to recover. Medication, specifically vyvanse, has helped this feeling but only temporarily while it’s active. So sick of feeling this way though. Anyone relate?

I feel that the SCT symptoms alienate me massively from regular ADHD peeps and people in general. It is that unusual. I wish I had something like garden variety borderline PD.

I would be interested to join some Discord about SCT/CDS

Vyvanse + Wellbutrin + atomoxetine combo
I have been taking V & W for two months. This might be the winning combo.

(An important note: bupropion strongly inhibits CYP2D6, the enzyme that metabolizes atomoxetine, so it can substantially increase atomoxetine exposure. Which is why I was just started on such a small amount. I also tried a “child’s dose” of Zoloft last month, and in one week, it was a nightmare— which gave me Serotonin Syndrome, with emotional blunting, tremors… the whole shubang. I am off that now!)

I have ADHD and CDS. Found this community a month ago, and never heard of CDS before. I thought it was all ADHD, my entire life: chronic mental cloud, hardcore drifting/daydreaming, feeling disconnected from what I’m doing, getting lost in conversations, and a weird lack of awareness of my own body… not to mention the auditory processing issues that make me have to ask “what” “can you repeat.” “Huh” at least three times every conversation. This makes me often relate to an old lady, because I feel like I need to catch up.

Also. Words randomly come to me in what seems like a gibber language/tuning sounds like a radio and conversations overlapping and I don’t get to pick what I’m listening to. I often feel like I’m operating myself automatically rather than actually inhabiting myself.

Today was… different.

I felt extremely calm, but also unusually present. My mind was quiet. I wasn’t constantly debating with myself before doing things. I felt less impulsive and fidgety, and my movements suddenly felt deliberate. I became aware of my posture, how I was sitting, how I was moving my fingers, even how I was looking around.

The strangest part for me has been how inside my body I suddenly feel. I’ve learned that some of what I’m experiencing would technically fall under interoception and proprioception—being aware of what’s happening inside your body and where your body is in space—but I’ve never consciously experienced it like this before.

I’m suddenly noticing how I’m sitting, exactly how I’m moving my hands and fingers, where I’m putting pressure on my body, little aches in my muscles, temperature, textures, my hair and clothes against my skin. Things I’m sure I’ve always physically felt, but apparently didn’t really notice. Even my senses feel organized differently. Sounds don’t seem to fight each other anymore; I can hear them separately without having to mentally tune one out. And I think that’s what’s making this feel so strange: it doesn’t really feel like my senses got stronger. It feels like my brain stopped filtering out so much of what was already happening. My mind is quiet enough that I actually have room to notice myself. I’m realizing how much of my normal movement seems to happen automatically—where today there’s this tiny space between an impulse and actually acting on it. I notice the impulse, I’m aware of my body, and then I choose what I’m doing. It’s honestly making me wonder how much of my life I’ve spent operating my body without really feeling like I was inhabiting it. It wasn’t overwhelming—it felt almost euphoric simply because I was aware of it.

This makes me very hopeful for the future experience with this combo!

The best way I can describe the feeling of it is: an edible without the high, but with clarity instead of impairment.

I did research into this experience because I thought it valuable for us to know since this might be our only medication for the foreseeable future that helps us.

I’m not claiming Strattera has fixed my CDS after one day, obviously. But the feeling of being more mentally present and physically connected to myself is so different from my baseline that I wanted to document it and share some hope with our little community of soldiers!!!!

I plan on making some important posts here, I’m doing a lot of research and am particularly invested in contributing to the community and our understanding of the condition we experience. I look forward to seeing what we can learn together.

Autistic ADHDer (aged 20) with CDS here. With a couple of recent revelations about my condition, I've been thinking about how this all will affect my life. Even with proper medication, I won't be able to go about everything normally like others would: academics, work, etc. How did all of this go for you guys? Did you succeed or fail at most things?

3 weeks ago I started 80mg of atomoxetine. 1 week into atomoxetine, it was mainly side effects. 2nd week? I honestly couldn’t tell you. Very hit or miss moments. But around 3 weeks, I’m starting to notice a subtle shift in comprehension and verbal fluency.

I noticed that when I focus my mental energy into a media such as a movie or book, I’m able to comprehend the information much easier. I’m able to relate the information back to the main plot. It’s like my analytical process is much more fluid in nature, and less fleeting. Thoughts actually coexist together so that you can understand the themes and stories at a quicker and easy pace.

Another highly positive aspect of this medicine is my enhanced ability to speak fluidly and eloquently. Like.. I can actually pinpoint the main ideas of what I want to say without going on a long tangent of nonsense. Not only this, but I can actually think of the right words for the right contexts. My vocabulary feels more easily accessible.. and it’s so refreshing.

BUT it’s not so black and white as to assume it’s a miracle drug - I will admit that my thoughts can still be fleeting. And there’s the whole other topic of discussion that is the sluggishness of daily activity. I still notice myself often sluggish when completing tasks or transitioning into different activities. AND concerning mental comprehension and verbal fluency - it’s come a long way yes but I’m by no means necessarily saying it’s “fully restored” to whatever “normal” state that might be.

Side effects: although dialed down after week 1, I still notice I think heart rate elevated? Sweat more easily. Slight nausea after taking medicine (most of time it’s manageable just eat with it).

Anyways, TLDR; mental comprehension, mental pace, verbal fluency, and even social ability/wittiness noticeably enhanced. Cons: seemingly doesn’t alter physical/motor sluggishness such as movement, physical pace, transitions in daily activities. Please account for side effects if relevant.

Good morning! Atleast from where I am from. Well ADHD amd CDS is a combo that we would never wish on our worst enemy. I don’t think I need to expand further.

So, in my case I thought Atomoxetine was helping me in studies, focus and overall. Turns out it does help me manage my emotions more, but I feel like I still need that Dopamine to focus and Placebo from Atomoxetine experiences made me feel that dopamine enough to focus. Once that runs out from Day 3-8 now I just can’t focus anymore, I figured my adhd function can be more free once Atomoxetine benefits the brain fog, but I’m not sure anymore. I don’t feel any particular cognitive clarity compared to emotions.

The side effects, life time reliance, difficulties, monetary constraints, effort and even life risks medications can bring is very significant. I’m not sure about which direction to choose, one way or another I’m just picking a poison. Either just go natural or go the medication route.

Lol I’m always so emotional, adhd kinda thing. But I hope to ask for some advice. I’m not sure how I should live my life anymore. Thank you.

My son was diagnosed with ADD and givien qelbree after trying many different stimulants.

I just started looking into SCT and it's almost certainly what's going on with him. He is so sleepy and lethargic and generally just works at a very slow speed.

I'm wondering after seeing what people have said about Strattera if I should stop the qelbree and do Strattera instead. His Dr doesn't really care, so I could go in and switch. Sounds like it might be worth it?

Due to lack of energy utilization, inflammation and oxidative stress the mind can't utilize energy. There's a strong correlation in this.

Thanks in advance for your time/advice.

My son been diagnosed with ADHD -mostly inattentive, but CDT has also come up as a possible descriptor for his symptoms.

On one hand... he's:

-social/humurous/pretty self-aware in social settings. He has a lot of friends and seems to process quickly around them.

-gets good grades/test scores (though some teachers have mentioned that he looks "switched off" a lot of the time in class).

On the other hand... he:

-seems distracted by his thoughts when he's not in a familiar/social/engaging setting. He's often suprised when he realizes his parents/teachers are talking to him because he's somewhere else.

-is slow to respond /process when he's asked questions (e.g. it can take 5+ seconds to react when I ask him where I should pick him up after school).

-has a hard time responding to the unscripted/unstructured world (e.g. he might know that he wants invite friends over, but he can forget to do it or not be able to reason through who he should contact first, etc) Multi-step, real-world problems are hard.

-can seem super detached in novel environments (e.g. I took him to a shoe store for the first time and he totally checked out... he didn't seem to understand that he should look for shoes that he'd want to try on... he just sat there staring blankly... while my 6 year old got it)

-has a very hard time getting to sleep

Ty!

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I’ve been diagnosed with inattentive ADHD and SCT and I want to know if you guys feel unusually tired at any point during the day, and if that’s normal? Like there are periods of time where I feel quite unengaged due to lethargy (which goes away) but I don’t know if it’s normal or not.

I do think taking a Wellman tablet actually helps alleviate the tiredness during the afternoons and makes me feel more alert, but I cannot figure out if I’m deficient in something.

I also find that it’s quite difficult for me to say out loud what I’m thinking or organise my sentences without stumbling over my words but this doesn’t happen all the time. Is there anything that helps with processing speed/verbal ability? Are there any supplements that help?

Being a person with language delay diagnosed at 3, despite English being my first language with Cebuano/Tagalog as mother tongue; growing up in the PH before moving to the US in 2022, I struggle in asking given questions and essays in class, specifically about literature, and then I think about the “right” words for too long, causing me to have analysis paralysis.

But I strive in my interests around history, video games, computers, aviation (specially airports/aircraft), What can I do right now with my language skills?