7 year old boy with ADHD and Graves Disease

Our 7 year old was diagnosied with Graves Disease Oct 2006.  He is taking 50mg/day of PTU and it is under control.

His hyperactivity continued, inspite of other symptoms normalizing.  He became agressive while doing homework, and with his siblings but especially with me.  The endocrinologist suggested he be tested.  He was tested by a child pychologist and her dianosis is ADHD with 3 different language processing learning difficulties.

I have never heard of a child with both Graves disease and ADHD.  Any advice you can give about this, how to explain it to him as he will have to take even more medication than currently.  We have also been recommended to put him in a special school for learning difficulties so that he can regain his self-esteem and not feel "different".  At the moment he says he is "stupid"!

He currently goes to a bilingual school and the dual curriculum is hard going.  All the more reason to transfer him to a monolingual system.

Any advice you can give is much appreciated.  We are a little in the dark here....

[Kevin Kennedy, Ph.D.]

Fortunately, the treatment of the ADHD should be pretty straightforward and should not be bothered by the fact that your son is already prescribed PTU. As you perhaps already know, the restlessness/agitation that can result from Graves Disease can look very much like the hyperactivity associated with Hyperactive/Impulsive ADHD. Now that the Graves Disease has been treated, you're more able to see the impact of the ADHD.  As far as I am aware, there are no drug interaction implications between propylthiouracil and either of the active ingredients in the psychostimulant medications (methylphenidate and dextroamphetamine), or between propylthiouracil and the non-stimulant medication atomoxetine. But be sure to ask this question of your prescribers as well.