Metformin and alchohol

[LittleGreyCat]

Just taken my very first 500mg Metformin tablet, after a review with my doctor.

Mine are manufactured by Almus.
The enclosed leaflet says (amongst other things)

You should not drink alchohol while taking Metformin Tablets

I find it hard to believe that all the Metformin users in the UK are tetotal, hence the poll
Please select the value nearest to your currrent consumption.
Honesty, please - I won't be doubling up like the HCPs do when you answer their questions :lol:

Added a 'decline to comment' option as more people are replying than are voting.

 

[borofergie]

Your my mate - I bl**dy love you, I do

:lol: Ha ha!

I don't take Metformin anymore, which is a good job, because my average for March would probably be over 2 units a day, but consumed in a single 12 hour drinking session.

Most of the time I'm tea-total. At <30g a day, I'd rather eat my carbs than drink them...

 

[carty]

I take metformin and drink red wine .As far as I can gather the reason you are advised not to drink when taking met is that there is a risk of lactic acidosis .There have been other threads about this on the forum but I will be interested in the results of your research .
CAROL

 

[LittleGreyCat]

I'm living dangerously because we are going out to eat at friends tonight which does normally involve a certain amount of imbibing.
I'll wear running shoes.

 

[Grazer]

As a libacious plonky, I've studied this quite in depth. The warnings on the packets of Met are, in my view, OTT and typical "lets not get sued" stuff. Their is a very rare occurence of lactic acidosis, but no-one I know is aware of anyone who has had it. In my one-time visit to a private endo who lectures doctors on diabetes, I asked, and he said "no reason at all why you shouldn't drink with metformin unless of course you have other health issues that make drinking ill advised" Apparently the side effect with met is acutely rare, and unlikely to occur unless the person already had a badly damaged liver, was alcoholic, etc. I think it's a bit like not eating peanuts IN CASE you might become allergic. Just my view though!!

 

[Mothman]

When i was initially diagnosed last July, tried the SR metformin for a few days and i only had to have 1 pint of beer and within 20 minutes i had one 'mother' of a hangover which lasted till late afternoon of the next day so gave that up and went low carb instead.

Andy

 

[Paul1976]

Where's the 'Paul gascoigne' or 'Boris yeltzin' option? :lol:

 

[andrewk]

The enclosed leaflet says (amongst other things) You should not drink alchohol while taking Metformin Tablets

Yep, most prescription medications say that. It's one of those watching rear-end, avoiding litigation type paragraphs.

I find it hard to believe that all the Metformin users in the UK are tetotal, hence the poll

Me too. My bet is that most folks don't read the leaflet anyway. If you query it with your GP, he'll probably have a bit of a private giggle and tell you to be careful.

I am a recent ex-metformin user (as of April Fool's day) - hope you don't mind me voting anyway

Andrew

 

[LittleGreyCat]

More the merrier Andrew - just a bit of fun

Just voted myself as I am now an official Metformin user.
I find myself on the cusp of two values.

I've checked my beer bottles, and the 500ml 5% lager from Lidl will be 2.5 units whilst the 500ml 5.4% will be 2.7 units.

I reckon I average a couple of cold ones from the fridge a day, which puts me firmly in the 4-6 units box.

However if I have a glass of wine with a meal, or a small nightcap, that will be enough to take me over the 6 units.

Which means I am your (collective) mate. :lol:

 

[ButtterflyLady]

It would be nice if the "don't drink alcohol while taking this drug" warning was split out into two options depending on the risk for each drug:

1. Don't drink (because we might get sued)
2. Really don't drink (because there's no point taking this drug if you do/you'll get quite ill/there's a good chance you'll get very ill)

Without this split, I have to read the entire fact sheet and sometimes other info online to figure it out for myself. I don't mind, because I get other useful info that way anyway.

I'm pretty sure I'd get a mother of hangover if I had a drink while on Metformin, but I accept that others don't necessarily get one. Have a beer for me ;-)

 

[lovinglife]

When i was initially diagnosed last July, tried the SR metformin for a few days and i only had to have 1 pint of beer and within 20 minutes i had one 'mother' of a hangover which lasted till late afternoon of the next day so gave that up and went low carb instead.

Andy

I find exactly the same after I have a couple of small glasses of wine Mothman - I still do have a couple of glasses once a month though - after 24/7 care of my teenage son who has autism I need to make the most of my 4 hours a month break!

Also for me alcohol does absolutely zilch for my BS - in fact it does the opposite to most people and pushes it up for 24hrs or so after my little drinkie! - usually run between 4-7 but the day after drinking never can get it below 6 no matter what :crazy:

 

[viviennem]

I'm afraid I can't tick an option 'cos mine isn't there!

Quite a lot of the time I don't drink at all.

If I do open a bottle of red wine it's very seldom I don't finish it it one session.

I never, ever have a hangover.

Pre-diabetes I drank more than I do now - a bottle of red every day at one stage, and more :shock: . In those days I used to wake up in the night occasionally, sweating, shaking, heart pounding - since being diagnosed Type 2 I've learned that was a hypoglycaemic episode! Alcohol induced - I've not had one since diagnosis, and I am drinking less.

I take 500mg Metformin 3 times daily. I need to stop drinking becuse of a)weight loss; b) inflammation - bad for everything, including liver, kidneys and pancreas.

In my case, Metformin and wine don't seem to interact.

Viv 8)

 

[Mothman]

Viv,

what would happen to you if you stopped taking the metformin? Sorry if its a silly question as ime still quite new to the ins and outs of diabetic medicines. Could you manage without it if you went very low carb?
I certainly cant tolerate the stuff but i do like a drink at weekends, try not to touch alcohol during the week to give the liver a rest. The only carbs ive had so far this weekend was 2 slices of burgen toast with my marmite this morning and 2 hours later my bg 5.8 and ime quite happy with that considering it was on carbs.

Andy

 

[LittleGreyCat]

I'm afraid I can't tick an option 'cos mine isn't there!
<snip>

Tell me how you would like it worded and I'll edit it in just for you

 

[chris lowe]

I don't drink (much) simply because ever since I started taking metformin, alcohol makes me nauseous. I do occasionally treat myself to a drop of rye whisky with diet lemonade which doesn't seem to have the same effect but a couple of glasses of white wine will see me getting on down with the toilet. I find it easier to stick to diet coke. fizzy water or no sugar squash.

 

[viviennem]

Viv,

what would happen to you if you stopped taking the metformin? Sorry if its a silly question as ime still quite new to the ins and outs of diabetic medicines. Could you manage without it if you went very low carb?
I certainly cant tolerate the stuff but i do like a drink at weekends, try not to touch alcohol during the week to give the liver a rest. The only carbs ive had so far this weekend was 2 slices of burgen toast with my marmite this morning and 2 hours later my bg 5.8 and ime quite happy with that considering it was on carbs.

Andy

I think I probably could manage without it, Andy, as when I'm being very good, not drinking at all and eating less than 30g carb a day, my levels are hardly ever above 5 - now.

But I like metformin. As I've said, I have hardly any side-effects with it now (maybe very occasionally) and I value it because it's supposed to help with weight loss (though I haven't noticed any loss of appetite :lol. Also, it's supposed to have protective effects re heart disease and stroke, and also apparently some types of cancer. I'm a confirmed statin refusnik so I value any protection metformin can give me. I'm hanging on to mine as long as they'll keep prescribing it.

Also, metformin doesn't force the pancreas into producing more insulin, but instead lessens insulin resistance so the blood glucose is used more efficiently and the pancreas doesn't have to work too hard. By low carbing I'm trying to give my pancreas a rest, and it seems to be working. I don't think Metformin has a massive effect on BG levels, but rather smooths things out over the day and prevents spikes. Xzzzy knows more than I do.

Viv 8)

 

[LittleGreyCat]

Bump to encourage people who didn't vote first time round