Dropping Metaformin dose

[Discopants9]

Hi All,

I recently had a review 3 month with the Doctors and he is very happy with my results, he wanted to keep me on 4 x metaformin still where I have 2 at lunch and 2 at the evening meal, I said I wanted to come off them eventually and control it via diet and exercise, so have dropped to 2 with the evening meal however last couple of days my BS has risen by about 2 compared to my previous levels will this be down to the reduced dosage also having stomach problems again similar to when you first start metaformin - are these all related do you think. Thinking about going back up to the 4 x tablets again and leaving it for a while and try again I have only been diagnosed for 4 months so maybe pushing it a bit to come off the meds so quick

 

[CherryAA]

Hi All,

I recently had a review 3 month with the Doctors and he is very happy with my results, he wanted to keep me on 4 x metaformin still where I have 2 at lunch and 2 at the evening meal, I said I wanted to come off them eventually and control it via diet and exercise, so have dropped to 2 with the evening meal however last couple of days my BS has risen by about 2 compared to my previous levels will this be down to the reduced dosage also having stomach problems again similar to when you first start metaformin - are these all related do you think. Thinking about going back up to the 4 x tablets again and leaving it for a while and try again I have only been diagnosed for 4 months so maybe pushing it a bit to come off the meds so quick

You haven't stated what has happened in terms of the changes to your diet and your hba1C. So its hard to tell what is happening.
In 4 months I managed to normalise my blood sugars by diet alone, ( as do many). Pushing to come off medication is a function of how committed you are to the changes in diet !
good luck

 

[Discopants9]

You haven't stated what has happened in terms of the changes to your diet and your hba1C. So its hard to tell what is happening.
In 4 months I managed to normalise my blood sugars by diet alone, ( as do many). Pushing to come off medication is a function of how committed you are to the changes in diet !
good luck

my Hba1C levels are now at 34 down from 50 when diagonsed 4 months ago, brought them down via diet (low carb) and weight loss of 2 and half stone, I am thinking dropping the dose may be too much to soon possibly hence why my BS levels are up or it could be something not related and have picked up a bug, maybe also be my imagination as I know my BS is up but feel like I getting tingling in my feet and arms

 

[CherryAA]

Maybe you could start testing so you know what is going on

 

[Kentoldlady1]

Agree with @CherryAA and you should start testing. Also, why take them both at the same time? Why not one with each meal?

 

[Bluetit1802]

That is an excellent reduction - very well done.

I agree with @CherryAA . You need to keep testing before and after meals, record those levels, average each one and make notes. Your increased levels may be a blip, a bug, stress, the cold weather. It happens sometimes.

 

[Discopants9]

Maybe you could start testing so you know what is going on

I do test using a Freestyle Libre and a test strip now and again to verify the Libre results, hence why I know my BS levels are up, it may not be down to the reduced metaformin dose and could be something unrelated just wanted to see if anyone else had experienced this when dropping the dosage levels

 

[Bluetit1802]

I do test using a Freestyle Libre and a test strip now and again to verify the Libre results, hence why I know my BS levels are up, it may not be down to the reduced metaformin dose and could be something unrelated just wanted to see if anyone else had experienced this when dropping the dosage levels

It isn't a new sensor by any chance is it, one that reads a bit higher?

 

[Discopants9]

It isn't a new sensor by any chance is it, one that reads a bit higher?

That was my first thought so I did a strip test and it confirmed the reading was correct, think I will go back to my original dose and if it settles down try again a later date, could be a bug I have caught or stress etc that is causing it

 

[Bluetit1802]

That was my first thought so I did a strip test and it confirmed the reading was correct, think I will go back to my original dose and if it settles down try again a later date, could be a bug I have caught or stress etc that is causing it

It is only the last couple of days you have seen this rise, which as you say could be for any number of reasons. You say you are wanting to come off them, so why not give it a bit longer, say a couple of weeks, to see what happens. A couple of days doesn't seem long enough to me. I know I get ups and downs in my levels without any changes to my routine, some of which I can explain and some I can't.

 

[Discopants9]

It is only the last couple of days you have seen this rise, which as you say could be for any number of reasons. You say you are wanting to come off them, so why not give it a bit longer, say a couple of weeks, to see what happens. A couple of days doesn't seem long enough to me. I know I get ups and downs in my levels without any changes to my routine, some of which I can explain and some I can't.

Thanks and you are right I should give it a bit longer just that I had really good levels previously for the last 3 months and probably hit the panic mode as they have risen and may not even be tied into my reduced dose

 

[jwd1]

This is interesting to me as I am also aiming to get from 3 x 500 metformin/day to zero meds over time. Started LCHF 1st September, 2017, dropped to 2 x 500 metformin 5th October, dropped to 1 x 500/day on Sunday 26th Nov., BGL today 2hrs after lunch 5.6mmol/L, the lowest yet, since Sunday, as initially BGL's went up from 5's/6's to 7's and 1 x 8 (high for me).I am seeing the DN in two weeks time, first time since January, so I have no idea what her reaction will be to my new lifestyle and drop in meds. HbA1c now 49 from 66 three years ago. So think I'm on the right path, hope to be off meds sometime in 2018.. (Net carbs from 30 to 50 per day).