metformin and agression?

[moonfruit]

can I ask whether any one taking misinform have ever had any side effect relating to aggression?
recently diagnosed as type 2 my GP has been upping my metformin until I am taking 4-5 per day, over the past couple of days however I have noticed that for no or very little reason I experience what I can only describe as pure rage...there is no 'build up' to this feeling and it seems to go the same way! I have an appointment in an hour or so and I know that he will up the dose from 3 to 4 today because the upset stomach is not as ofter now! ...I am worried in case it is the medication that is causing this and wanted to ask whether that could be the case?

 

[Truffle]

sorry Moonfruit but I have never had aggressive feelings that I can put down to the metformin. When I was first diagnosed I used to get feels of rage inexplicably but I felt it was caused by the underlying stress from the diabetes diagnosis.
As I have come to grips with everything over the last year or so and reduced the metformin (less loo dashes) I don't have the same intensity of feelings and back to my normal self (character wise anyway!)

Good luck

 

[dawnmc]

Hi moonfruit, have you been given decent advice about your diet? I don't mean the usual 'eat starchy foods with every meal' ****. I mean reduce your carbs etc. As you are recently diagnosed Truffle is right about the anger you may feel about having diabetes, it does do that. Most GP's tend to think that only way to control diabetes is by medicating, to be honest it takes your control away, and this can be frustrating in itself.

 

[velcrohead]

I take the maximum daily dose of Metformin and I am probably one of the most chilled people there is.
What are you BG's like? If they are high, that can cause mood swings.

 

[abs]

I would check your levels as thats more likely to be the cause if they are high. And speak to your doctor about it next time you see them.

 

[bookman]

Hi moonfruit. I noticed that I was aggressive :evil: for no reason a couple of times before I was diagnosed with Diabetes (Type 2) and I now take 3 x 500mg Metformin per day and I am no longer aggressive . I have been on the medication for the last two years I haven't had any repeat incidents athough I do go to the gym three times a week to do weights and CV and I run at least once a week now as I am trying to reduce my weight. I wasn't doing much exercise before so it might be that I am using up some aggression on fizz (physical exercise).

 

[moonfruit]

thanks for all of your comments
I did mention the anger thing to the GP and he told me that it could possibly be a delayed shock to my original diagnosis (about six weeks ago) he went on to mention that when he told me that I had diabetes he was surprised because my reaction had been, Yes...ok...right then so what happens next? and he said that because I have been having loads of appointments and medication he thinks that it has all finally clicked! he then upped my 3 X 40 mg metformin to two 1000mg of slow release and told me to make an appointment in two weeks time.

 

[bilwardo]

Good morning,
I have been on one 500mg Metformin a day since 1996 and have never noticed or have no aggression tendencies at all.
My BG is quite stable at around 6.0.

 

[Anonymous]

Hello

I know exactly what you mean, I have these bouts of rage also. I dont know if its anything to do with the metformin, but I have been having it for about 5 years since diagnosed with type 2. I only have to think of an event in the past were I was slighted or mislead and it can turn me into a fit of rage. I mentioned it to my GP but she never said anything except it might be the alcohol because I do drink red wine every evening with dinner.

If you can find out what it is let me know. Youd better or I'll soon sort you out mate, just you come here and try on, I'm warning you :mrgreen:

 

[dventura]

Hi Moonfruit. It is more likely that you are suffering from fluctuating glucose levels. This is likely to mess around with you mood. Both low and high levels can make one irritable, but this will improve as you learn to keep your levels more stable - the right food in the right quantities, exercise and also the correct meds. Sometimes takes a while to get the meds right, both type and dosage. Hang in there it will settle - takes a bit of time though.

 

[anna29]

Hi.
Seems mood swing can vary with each individual person.
With myself too high or too low blood sugar levels make me 'cranky'
Also the weather can affect how I am feeling , too warm/hot weather get cranky!
When hold a steady level for few days in a row, am calm and chilled and more relaxed.
So with myself it is important to try and maintain steady levels consistently.
Easier said than done somedays!!!! roblem:
Anna.

 

[moonfruit]

Ooooh flyerphil I'm scared :wink:

finally got my meter today (refused by GP and so I bought my own) and yet again my incompetence is glaringly obvious! when I did a test two hours after eating food and it read 13.1mmol/L ? :? can anyone explain what this means in simple terms! ideally what should the BG be before and after food? also the diabetes nurse told me NOT to eat anything with more that 5g sugar in it per serving! the other thing that is bugging me is when low carbing just how many carbs should I ideally be eating per day? :crazy:
I'm sorry for blabbing on but I am one of these people who like to know EXACTLY what I should and shouldn't be doing etc from the onset!
I have an apartment with a dietitian later this month and a course with DESMOND in October, but until then I haven't had much advice apart from here.

 

[Fides]

Diagnosed diabetic 5 years ago, now on 4 metaformin, 4 glycozide and 1 sitagliptin.

Never had an issue with rage from metaformin, however I have noticed when my blood sugar levels are high I am more susceptible to irritation, possible anger at inconsiderate ppl .

 

[moonfruit]

No! :shock: I don't have an apartment with the dietician .....I haven't moved in with him/her just out of laziness just so they can sort out my grub or anything!!! it's just a normal innocent APPOINTMENT honestly :wink: :lolno:

 

[Fides]

Ooooh flyerphil I'm scared :wink:

finally got my meter today (refused by GP and so I bought my own) and yet again my incompetence is glaringly obvious! when I did a test two hours after eating food and it read 13.1mmol/L ? :? can anyone explain what this means in simple terms! ideally what should the BG be before and after food? also the diabetes nurse told me NOT to eat anything with more that 5g sugar in it per serving! the other thing that is bugging me is when low carbing just how many carbs should I ideally be eating per day? :crazy:
I'm sorry for blabbing on but I am one of these people who like to know EXACTLY what I should and shouldn't be doing etc from the onset!
I have an apartment with a dietitian later this month and a course with DESMOND in October, but until then I haven't had much advice apart from here.

Firstly I am type 2 diabetic.

1. 13 is high but not really bad if you have just eaten.

Ideally the range you should be looking for is somewhere between 5.4 and 6.3 (some ppl say 6.6), that is before eating and an hour or two after eating,

It can be useful to do readings directly after eating but then only to gauge what the effect of the food does to you.

I presently follow Cambridge diet 450 calories with a Ceasar salad in the evening with chicken or tuna this brings my calories up to 650-700 calories. I find this works for me because I can spread the 4 shakes out during the day.

Note - I would say that in starting one of these low calorie diets you have to gradually ease into it, some of the food packs are too sweet for me or too much instant sugar/substitute that causes my blood sugar to rocket, so for me I take banana/vanilla/mango flavour as these are less sweet.

2. I wasn't very positive about my various dietician appointments in the past, as I have read up pretty extensively about diabetes, tried different foods and I know what works for me. In my case I was referred to a dietician round the same time when I was having an issue with the heating system at work which was pushing my blood sugars sky high.

Dietician will give you a list of high and low glycaemic foods and tell you to balance what you eat so that it keeps you on long burn foods throughout the day. They usually recommend things like beans, rice, potatoes, pasta etc.

For myself that just leaves me exhausted.

 

[Truffle]

I agree with Fides - I can't eat many carbs as they push my bs levels right up. I eat about 30g of carbs a day, mainly from veg but you may be able to eat more.
It will feel strange to start with and some people feel tired to begin with but try and perserve for a while just to monitor your levels. If you then decide it is not for you or you decide to add in extra carbs at least you will have a better understanding of your levels.

 

[TokSik]

I'm on 3 x 850mg per day (been on that for about 5 years now), and don't get any more aggressive than I was prior to being diagnosed type 2.

My blood sugar levels are usually in the 9 - 12 range first thing in the morning, but come down to about 6 if I exercise strenuously (bike riding fast, and/or digging a friends allotment).

I've already tried the other drugs (daily Pioglitazone 15mg x 1, Gliclazide 80mg x 4, Sitagliptin 100mg x 1, Simvastatin 10mg x 1, but none of these have made a single iota of difference to my levels so I ditched them, the Simvastatins I stopped because of the bad memory side effects).

What I have found is that after a 4-5 mile fast bike ride (long walks didn't do much for my levels), not only do my levels come down fairly well, but I also get feelings of being quite well (i.e. lack of aggression), so that might be something for you to try. If you don't have a bike, they can be found fairly cheaply on Gumtree.com for your area.

 

[Bob67]

Realized that I was feeling more aggressive/irritable prior to diagnoses as this can be one of the multiple signs of uncontrolled BG. Once my levels were brought back down to more normal levels these feelings were reduced to next to zero (other than those caused by life's normal irritates)

 

[TokSik]

You've opened up a can of worms for me here. I've had a Victor Meldrew type character for the last few years, so just thought it was part of getting older (I'm 58 and have been type 2 for about 7 years now).
But from what you've said about B12 deficiency symptoms, I need to research this a bit more thoroughly and get my GP to put me in for endocrinologist tests to see if I am deficient not only in this, but if it's had knock-on effects with testosterone and other hormones. Having just read the Wikipedia article on B12 deficiency, that also suggests that this can cause reductions in testosterone, which itself has a knock on effect on type 2 - as I said, a can of worms to look into.

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[mickey121]

You should get your Dr or DN to enrol you on a Desmond course ,this will explain a lot of the things that you are having difficulties with. Just completed mine and found it very helpful


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