Hello, I have a 6 year old son who was diagnosed with ADHD about 3 months ago and was started on treatment 5 weeks ago, he is on Methylphenidate twice a day. This week he was diagnosed with Diabetes Type 1 (Insulin Dependant) it has been caught in the very early stages so it has only just happened while taking the meds.

What I want to know is if anyone else has had this happen to their child since taking meds, The Diabetic team are convinced that there is no link what so ever, but it seems to be an awfully BIG coincidence to me.

What does anyone else think?

Hi Caroline, this is my first time on this site and i find it brill, my 8yrs old son has just been DX 2 weeks ago but the waiting list here is long so dont no how long we will have to wait. I hope your son will be ok with both treatments i have read loads about adhd and have never heard of this happining i may be a big coincidence like you said,....i wish you well take care. jackki

I have never heard of a ADHD medication causing diabetes, and with what I know of diabetes I can't see how it could. Then again, I don't know everything so I suppose there's always a chance.

How is it that this was discovered? Was it a routine thing, did you have concerns, or was there testing in regards to the ADHD/Methylphenidate use?

There is no link between ADHD and diabetes.

ADHD appears to be caused solely by neurotransmitter imbalance (dopamine and norepinephrine). ADHD medicines are actually drugs widely used both clinically and recreationally (e.g. speed is amphetamine/Adderall, and Ritalin/methylphenidate is extremely similar to cocaine, which if it weren't so addictive would probably be used as an ADHD drug also). Stimulants are used to treat ADHD because instead of giving a 'high' as in normal people, they produce normalisation - the bring brain neurotransmitter levels to normal - to a level the average person has normally (hence why addiction is not a problem with ADHD meds - addiction requires a high). My point is, I've never heard of reports of diabetes caused by stimulant use (stimulants have been in widespread use for at least 100 years e.g. coffee).

The type of diabetes a child of age 6 would get is probably type 1, caused by the pancreas because it stops producing insulin, which is responsible for breaking down sugar. Sugar levels are completely unrelated to ADHD.

The likely cause of diabetes is a virus. It could be genetic, but in young kids, a virus causing damage to the pancreas is not uncommon.

Looks like it's just coincidence.

http://www.diabetes123.com/clinic/adhd.htm
http://www.childrenwithdiabetes.com/dteam/index_adhd.htm

I don't know where you live, but in the USA for example, more than 7% of people have some form of diabetes. Consider that at least 5% of people have ADHD, the chances a person will have both ADHD and diabetes are: 0.35%. It's not much, but it is a little more than 1 million people in the USA alone.

Well I can not see the connection, but adhd and diabetes runs rampantly in my father's side of the family. The only thing I can think of at all is that I once read long ago, how the adhd brain absorbs glucose differently, but I can not recall where I read this.