ADHD and Diabetes

Type 1 and LADA
1

I'm sure this type of question has been around before but this is from an adult perspective.

I was diagnosed Type 1 in May 2014. I've had ADHD most of my life being diagnosed in 4th grade. I've been on Ritalin and Concerta (just a longer acting Ritalin) for almost all of that time. School has just started back up and I have started taking my regular doses of Concerta again. I broke my leg at the beginning of June so didn't take any for the summer because it would be pointless to take it with pain meds, and I didn't want to focus on anything, just wanted to be in happy land.

My psychiatrist and I are working on adjusting my dosage because I have recently felt like it's over working. With that I have noticed that when I take my higher dose, my sugar is always low (<110) I start feeling hypo at around 85 so my Endo has my target set at 140. When I take the lower dose of Concerta I don't seem to drop down as much. I don't have enough data points yet to actually analyze and come to a conclusion (it's only been 2 weeks), but was wondering if anyone has seen this before, either in yourself or possibly your child.

In case anyone is wondering I'm a Quantative Economics major, which is why I have already started looking at data points. I'm what you could call a numbers geek.

Jeff

2

Propose asking your pharmacist this one directly? If they cant have a detailed discussion with you then press them, so they CAN get the answers you need. This is their thing.

3

I for one did not like what the medication did not only to my sugars, but what it did to me. I took myself off my meds at 15, started at 9. I found other ways to control my attention and hyperactivity. Some of which were not very good options, and have thus been eliminated from my plan of correction. I hope you can find something that works for you. :D

4

The fact that it’s a stimulant probably has a lot to do with your lows… your heart beats a little faster, kind of like when you get into a hot tub, but less severe. My best advice would be to streamline the dose as much as possible and keep in mind the times you take it and adjust accordingly.



Hope this helps!

5

If the stimulant type ADD drugs cause lows you might want to consider trialing Stratera. It is a non stimulant ADD medication.
Has worked for my son. Don't know how it would work with BG readings, or whether it would be effective for your ADD. Other ideas would be to look into CBT - cognitive behavior therapy - it can be useful for some in handling ADD.