Metformin substitute

[Moggely]

tried to reply to your post but it didn't work properly - so am posting my reply again.

@pollensa Thank you so much for this info. I bought berberine last year but got worried about taking it so put it at the back of a cupboard. Have just retrieved it and will give it a go as even on only 20g carbs a day my blood sugars are very slow to go back down to fasting after a meal. Your current doctor sounds wonderful.

@Krystyna23040 . Please keep us informed how you go with it. I have been interested in that for awhile now. No health store i have been into in Tasmania have even heard of it. But i will keep trying. @pollensa sad you had to sack your long time doctor but it's your health and you have to look after it, happy that you have one that is understanding though i wish i had that. Mine is not too bad with alternative medicine, but he is such a very busy doctor though. Hope you enjoyed your surf.

 

[pollensa]

tried to reply to your post but it didn't work properly - so am posting my reply again.

@pollensa Thank you so much for this info. I bought berberine last year but got worried about taking it so put it at the back of a cupboard. Have just retrieved it and will give it a go as even on only 20g carbs a day my blood sugars are very slow to go back down to fasting after a meal. Your current doctor sounds wonderful.

I have a bottle also, just in case on standby, based on friends experience, but I do wish to reiterate, I am not a doctor, and do not have jurisdiction to know if Berberine is good for all, I simply speak of personal situations and pass info, from searches made, which may prove helpful, whether one wishes to use, read, or take notice is entirely up to them, it is interesting that at least people are finding this, as yourself, so good luck and great to see your on 20g carbs a day.

 

[Krystyna23040]

It will be an interesting experiment. I will try the bottle I have and see if it makes a difference. I also thought that I wouldn't stay on it long term but perhaps (if it works) use it intermittently during times that I may not be as active as I usually am. That way - I would hopefully avoid any long term side effects.

 

[chocks63]

I hope not.
https://www.fda.gov/Drugs/DrugSafety/ucm505860.htm

https://www.nice.org.uk/news/articl...tions-for-type-2-diabetes-recommended-by-nice

 

[Oldvatr]

https://www.nice.org.uk/news/articl...tions-for-type-2-diabetes-recommended-by-nice

Yes we know what NICE thinks of the SGLT-2 meds, especially in this link which is their trumpeting the new meds being approved by them for use in treating diabetes.

The link I posted is a much later FDA severe warning about what is now becoming visible and reported in USA from actual real data in the field, but in the UK NICE ignores what the FDA says, and takes what I consider to be a risky decision to continue to push these drugs, Like other advice that NICE gives, it seems that they do not always take our safety into proper consideration,

I speak from experience, since I was on Avandia (Rosiglitizone) when it was a Wunerkind drug approved by NICE, and there were also warnings from the FDA that it was associated with CVE events and under notice. Two strokes later I was taken off it, but of course I am only a small cog in their wheel,. I still suffer from their refusal to take heed of FDA guidelines, so I do have their T-shirt to 'prove it'

I do not consider their current advice on SGLT-2 meds to be sound and unrefutable. Avandia has been withdrawn from use, but its smaller brother Pioglitizone (Actos) is still unrestricted. I note that this is the 4th out of 5 members of this class of drugs that have so far been withdrawn, so one wonders why this last remnant is still being pushed by NICE as secondary treatment. Who is paying the piper?

I rate the FDA as being a better source of info than a NICE news release trumpeting their own deeds.

 

[Oldvatr]

Sorry but the safety and effective would not be truly know until a drug has been used for many years with many people. New drugs are always a unknown risk, old drugs we tend to know what the risks are. Hence the new drugs are should first be used by people who clearly don't get on well with the current drugs.

As to cost it will cost more, given how cheap Metformin is, but if it proved to work well, it should not be an issue unless it is very expensive. (If I recall correctly Metformin costs about £3 per month, most T2 drugs that have been out for less then 15 years cost at least £30 per month.)

Sukkarto is a generic drug, which means it is now off patent, so is not paying royalties or development costs, so is cheaper than the standard drug i.e. Metformin, or Glucophage.

 

[ringi]

There are no patents on standard Metformin and it is very cheap even in the USA. As far as I can tell Sukkarto is a slow release Metformin

 

[chocks63]

Yes we know what NICE thinks of the SGLT-2 meds, especially in this link which is their trumpeting the new meds being approved by them for use in treating diabetes.

The link I posted is a much later FDA severe warning about what is now becoming visible and reported in USA from actual real data in the field, but in the UK NICE ignores what the FDA says, and takes what I consider to be a risky decision to continue to push these drugs, Like other advice that NICE gives, it seems that they do not always take our safety into proper consideration,

I speak from experience, since I was on Avandia (Rosiglitizone) when it was a Wunerkind drug approved by NICE, and there were also warnings from the FDA that it was associated with CVE events and under notice. Two strokes later I was taken off it, but of course I am only a small cog in their wheel,. I still suffer from their refusal to take heed of FDA guidelines, so I do have their T-shirt to 'prove it'

I do not consider their current advice on SGLT-2 meds to be sound and unrefutable. Avandia has been withdrawn from use, but its smaller brother Pioglitizone (Actos) is still unrestricted. I note that this is the 4th out of 5 members of this class of drugs that have so far been withdrawn, so one wonders why this last remnant is still being pushed by NICE as secondary treatment. Who is paying the piper?

I rate the FDA as being a better source of info than a NICE news release trumpeting their own deeds.

Thanks Oldvatr.
Its minefield with information overload on the net...doctor has put me on 30mg daily Glidazide today, give that ago.

 

[Oldvatr]

There are no patents on standard Metformin and it is very cheap even in the USA. As far as I can tell Sukkarto is a slow release Metformin

I think the patent applies to the method of providing slow release i.e. the enteric coatings used. Each supplier uses a different technique to provide this, and so we haveXR SR, ER and other variants that all do similar jobs, but differ in proprietary name so that they can charge a premium and protect their market., A generic drug does not pay this, and so offers a cheaper equivalent of a proprietary drug. My CCG changed to Sukkarto purely on price, so it must be cheaper. My GP had to make a strong case for me to return to the standard Metformin, snd my case was based on the rise in bgl that I logged when it became clear that I was not absorbing the active ingredient because of the specific enteric coating used in Sukkarto. We logged a yellow ticket as part of that exercise.

 

[AboQusai]

Hi all

Some of us talk about diet or exercise as a replacement of Metformin. I think this drug is not meant to reduce sugar in blood as it is to help absorb sugar by cells. When you have insulin resistance; your muscles get weaker and sometimes even the brain may not get enough energy. In this case metformin will help.

I have tried to quit taking this medicine few times since my sugar is very low by exercise, but I then quickly loose my energy and start to develop dizziness and tiredness. Only after re-taking the medicine I start to recover.

I wonder, however, if there is another medicine that can do just the same function?

 

[ickihun]

I think the patent applies to the method of providing slow release i.e. the enteric coatings used. Each supplier uses a different technique to provide this, and so we haveXR SR, ER and other variants that all do similar jobs, but differ in proprietary name so that they can charge a premium and protect their market., A generic drug does not pay this, and so offers a cheaper equivalent of a proprietary drug. My CCG changed to Sukkarto purely on price, so it must be cheaper. My GP had to make a strong case for me to return to the standard Metformin, snd my case was based on the rise in bgl that I logged when it became clear that I was not absorbing the active ingredient because of the specific enteric coating used in Sukkarto. We logged a yellow ticket as part of that exercise.

I'm back on standard metformin now but still gives some side effect on the 2000mg daily. No improvement to bgs in fact I think has changed my insulin pathway and I hv higher bgs due to impulse for leptin to be more overactive.