All the people in my family who have ADD also have hypoglucemia (blood sugar crashes) and sensitivity to the insulin produced by their body. Is this normal for ADD'ers?

To my knowledge there is no known connection between diabetes or hyppglycemia in ADDers.

I have a few personal thoughts though. My own personal feeling, totally antecdotal, is that when my ADD symptoms are not being treated, my body is much more sensitive to allergies, blood sugar drops, etc. My only theoretical explaination would be that the part of the brain that regulates organzition has some function in our total immune system functions. But there isn't anything but a thought behind that, so don't take that as an answer, because it is only a personal observation of myself.

There is another possibility, but again, only a thought. There has been some connection made between diabetes and obstructive sleep apnea. There has also been some connection made between sleep apnea and ADD. So the connection, if there is one, might be between sleep apnea and ADD, and sleep apnea and blood sugar regulation. Sleep apnea could be the common factor, and is hereditary in nature. If you listen to each member of your family sleep at night, and discover some aberrations in their breathing patterns, that might be a clue worth following up on. Read about and then observe for sleep apnea and see if there is a possible common factor there. Sleep apnea will make ADD considerably worse.

It may be connected to why Dr Daniel Amen suggests a high protein lower carb diet for 5 of the 6 ADD Subtypes

I would like to respond to this....as a professional, it is known that people tend to misdiagnose themselves all too often as hypoglycemic....the normal fasting blood sugar is 60-100 gm/dl and if a person who claimed himself as hypoglycemic were to have a blood sugar level checked, chances are it would come out normal. People often mistake intense hunger or extreme lethary for hypoglycemia. Truth be told, the body has incredible mechanims for normalizing blood sugar levels even when little food is eaten for hours. Having said that, there may be actual hypoglycemia going on, and visit to a physician is recommended. The best way to combat seeming bouts of low blood sugar is 5 to 6 moderate meals per day....Now if a person has outright diabetes, that is another story...but true hypoglycemia in and of itself, is very rare. Insulin sensitivity is also very rare. That would be too much insulin action and hence the cells allowing too much glucose to be taken into them....the result actually would be an abundance of energy....not likely with hypoglycemia. Generally with hypoglycemia we see too little energy. There is something however, which is common in overweight people, not necessarily in hypoglycemic patients called insulin resistance....the RESULT is the same however as hypoglyemica: sluggishness, fatigue, etc. where the insulin produced by the pancreas is not able to carry the glucose into the cells....the result is that the cells get too little glucose and the result is very high blood sugar levels...not too low...as the sugar has not made it into the cells...BUT the person feels tired because of this...no energy (glucose) for those cells....so this insulin resistance may feel like hypoglycemia....

I think the untreated ADD person quite frankly is exhausted....and is under quite a bit of stress indeed. I remember personally what that was like....and in times of stress, guess what happens? Insulin resistance....the inability of the insulin to carry glucose into the cells....and so the exhaustion is exacerbated...and so the exhaustion of the ADD plus the exhaustion from the possible insulin resistance -- may actually seem like the person has hypoglycemia...he probably does not...best to just eat small frequent meals (5-6) of carbs and protein.....(whole grains, fruits, veggies and lean meats).

Hmmm....I just did a post about this.

Here it is:

Hello. I was wondering if anyone else has a sugar intolerance...especially refined/concentrated sugars. If I eat sugar, I feel drugged and tired within 10 minutes. If I check my blood sugar (I'm a nurse), it will be on the low side, even though I've eaten something with very high sugar content. Anyone know anything about this? I did see an article somewhere that said there MAY be a correlation between ADD and hypoglycemia, but I'd like more specific info.

thanks!

Also, I did actually see a correlation between lower than normal blood sugars and ADD. This is not diabetes though...diabetes is insulin resistance or lack of insulin. I think my body just uses glucose too quickly, leaving me hypoglycemic and TIRED.

amen sister

I've wondered about this myself but I put it down to just being ADD and the all or nothing physical effects that come with that - one minute you're flying, the next you're crashing.

Have you checked out whether it is a thyroid problem? I know so many people that have it (my sister has it so badly she can't work).

What I find is that the energy lasts longer for me if I have protein with every meal or maybe something easier - have a drink of milk.

I suffer from hyoglycemia [tested as such], so this is interesting. I seem to feel more clear if I eat regulary, but I don't have much of an appetite.

I think the untreated ADD person quite frankly is exhausted....and is under quite a bit of stress indeed. I remember personally what that was like....and in times of stress, guess what happens? Insulin resistance....the inability of the insulin to carry glucose into the cells....and so the exhaustion is exacerbated...and so the exhaustion of the ADD plus the exhaustion from the possible insulin resistance -- may actually seem like the person has hypoglycemia...he probably does not...best to just eat small frequent meals (5-6) of carbs and protein.....(whole grains, fruits, veggies and lean meats).
Extremely Interesting and insightful!

I was given a glucose tolerance test as a teenager, and was hypoglycemic. It caused me a lot of problems until 6-8 years ago. Since then, its not a problem, but I don't know what changed.
I don't know if sugar effects my ADHD, but I can tell you that one of the worst things I can do in terms of my general mental health is to eat large quantities of sugar. I tolerate an occasional candy bar or soda (like one a week), but 2 or 3 a day for a few days screws up my mind. My thinking becomes scrambled, emotions uncontrollable, physical coordination suffers, etc.