My son already had diabetes, and we were just beginning to feel comfortable with two shots a day and the multitude of blood tests. He couldn't possibly have any other problems. But he did. The diagnosis shattered me. I honestly didn't know how on earth we could cope with ADD medication on top of insulin and the diabetes schedule.
Medications can affect blood sugars and cause the diabetes to zoom out of control.
Plus Ritalin and Dexedrine, the most common ADD medications, are also appetite suppressants. My son had to eat in order to offset the insulin. Not only that, but my experience with ADD kids on medications wasn't a pleasant one. From a medical standpoint, Ryan had to be able to tell if he was having a low blood sugar reaction, so he couldn't be on too high a dose. The doctor's office told us that Ryan needed language therapy at the school twice a week plus a certified speech pathologist as a tutor after school.