ADHD Medicine and Diabetes - Diabetes Message Board

mw5252 · 04-17-2002, 09:12 AM

My son, who is eight, was on Adderall for a year then Concerta for a year. We noticed he had not grown much in the time he was on them. We took him off a month ago. He suddenly had frequent urination, thirst and weight loss. We took him to the doctor and now has diabetes. Diabetes does not run in either of our families. Is it possible, that the chemicals used in these medicines trigger the pancreas to stop making insulin in some people?

SamQKitty · 04-17-2002, 09:02 PM

Is your son a Type I diabetic (on insulin), and did he have a virus just before being diagnosed?

I don't know anything for or against the ADHD drugs as far as any relationship to diabetes, but I do know that Type I diabetes is frequently caused by the immune system's over-reaction to a virus. So, if your son happened to have had some kind of virus just before being diagnosed, the fact that he had just come off ADHD drugs may have been coincidental.

You may want to go to the American Diabetes Association's web site at [url="http://www.diabetes.org"]www.diabetes.org[/url] and ask about this.

mw5252 · 04-19-2002, 07:01 AM

Thanks for the info.. He has Type 1 and is on insulin. He did not have a virus or was sick in any way. He has always been healthy.

deedee2074 · 05-01-2002, 11:36 AM

Just a note about the growth issues...

My brother is type 1 diabetic from age 13, right during a maturing boy's growth spurt. For years prior he had complications but nobody ever identified them as leading to diabetes until after the fact. 2 doctors have told him that the development of the diabetes probably caused him to not grow to his full height. Now, I don't know how scientific a statement like that is, but perhaps your son was already exhibiting complications earlier on, such as growth problems, and nobody knew what the real cause was. Some doctors are very quick to throw their patients on medications to correct conditions without finding the root cause of the problem. (Just a theory) I've been through quite a few doctors and dangerous medications myself before finding out that my problems were insulin related. I don't know much about these medications though. No doctor will ever admit that a prescribed medication might trigger an insulin problem for liability reasons, so its one of those things that you may never know. Its also hard to tell with children if there are any signs of diabetes early on. In my brother's case, he had all kinds of hypoglycemic reactions, but he didn't know what they were and neither did we. We just thought he was one of those kids that acted up alot. Does diabetes run in your family?