Metformin...worth taking or not?

[Kenners]

Hi All,

I was recently diagnosed as having Type 2 diabetes and promptly put on Metformin (1 * 500mg twice daily). Waiting to get on a T2 education course...and that is it really as far as the support goes.

I'm thinking to get on the Atkins Diet (used previously to drop 56 lbs) and get testing as this combo appears to be a good way to control blood glucose and hence bring down the HbA1c over time.

Am I being naive, or is Metformin just an appetite suppressant? If so, is it worth bothering with (since I'm able to portion control my meals)? The side effects seem pretty grim for what appears to be a pointless medication.

Cheers.

 

[Freema]

Metformin helps a bit... if one also keep blood glucose low by food choice. in my case it means around lowering my blood glucose daily by 1 mmol, because I keep my carbs level moderately low, metformin does the last part so my numbers are around 5.5-6.5 mmol and will raise to a level of around 6.5-7.5 mmol if I don´t take my metformin.

so yes they do help but more like a stick to lean at than like a fundamental cure.. because of metformin I can eat a little more carbs than I would be able to if not taking metformin. I think in my case I would need to go lower than 50 grams of carbs a day if I didn´t take metformin

 

[Kenners]

Metformin helps a bit... if one also keep blood glucose low by food choice. in my case it mean around lowering my blood glucose daily by 1 mmol, because I keep my carbs level moderately low, metformin does the last part so my numbers are around 5.5-6.5 mmol and will raise to a level of around 6.5-7.5 mmol if I don´t take my metformin.

so yes they do help but more lika a stick to lean at than like a fundamental cure.. because of metformin I can eat a little more carbs than I would be able to if not taking metformin. I think in my case I would need to go lower than 50 grams of carbs a day if I didn´t take metformin

So, worth sticking with (at least until things are under control...never been one for medicine). Many thanks.

 

[Bluetit1802]

So, worth sticking with (at least until things are under control...never been one for medicine). Many thanks.

Much depends on your personal circumstances. It is an appetite suppressant as you say. It also helps to a limited extent in reducing the amount of natural glucose your liver produces when it feels you need a bit more energy, and can help with insulin resistance. But all this is limited. It is known as a safe drug, and there is some evidence it has benefits for the heart. The choice is yours. I was never prescribed it, nor any other medication. I have managed to control my diabetes with diet only.

 

[Jordi77]

When I took metformin for a while i didn't get any symptoms which you can get and I was on insulin at the same time but I was on the maximum amount of 6 a day 2 at breakfast and lunch and dinner and insulin at those times and a long acting insulin at night and my sugars were flat 5.0 and I can't remember if they ever went any higher until I came off them as they weren't doing anything for me and the doctor took them off me so I never had a chance to stay on them but since my sugars have gone sky high with 2 dka's for a type 2 diabetic and the second one was the worst one I had

 

[Kenners]

Much depends on your personal circumstances. It is an appetite suppressant as you say. It also helps to a limited extent in reducing the amount of natural glucose your liver produces when it feels you need a bit more energy, and can help with insulin resistance. But all this is limited. It is known as a safe drug, and there is some evidence it has benefits for the heart. The choice is yours. I was never prescribed it, nor any other medication. I have managed to control my diabetes with diet only.

Ideally I would like to control it by diet alone. However, I work at sea and don't get such great choice in what I get to eat when working (canteen food, basically). I plan to test the hell out of it whilst away and see what gives.

 

[wiseowl_123]

Good evening @Kenners my friend everyone is different at diagnosis Hb1ac was 114(12.6)I started of taking two Metformin 500g a day,my first Hb1Ac went down 50 (6.7)so with the doctors OK I cut one out,my second Hb1ac in April was was 39(5.7) so I stopped taking Metformin 5 days ago,my readings have risen a little but nothing that concerns me yet,but I am watching my sbg levels very closely,but as for an appetite suppressant it certainly never had that effect on me

 

[Mbaker]

Hi @Kenners, this is just my opinion. I would say it depends on where you are starting from, if you had a really high HbA1c like mine over 20 then I would start on Metformin; if I were at say 12, I would do diet (low carb high fat) and exercise, or I would do the Newcastle Diet, with low carb high fat once I had achieved my weight and blood sugar goals.

If you become consistent with your diet and choose to use Metformin, you can perhaps do what I did once I started to get results (you should technically consult your Doctor / Diabetic Nurse) in reducing your dosage - if you look at my signature you will see that I gradually reduced my dose. I wish I had gone through the reduction quicker as I have not required it since. If you use slow release Metformin do not cut these in half.

Metformin has been said to have protective benefits for the heart, this has to be weighed up with the reports that in some it impacts Kidney function (so ensure you get your GFR results and compare); my GFR results went up of after getting rid of Metformin - it is fair to temper this, with the fact that it might have been coincidental with my increase in my daily intake of berries

 

[Kenners]

Good evening @Kenners my friend everyone is different at diagnosis Hb1ac was 114(12.6)I started of taking two Metformin 500g a day,my first Hb1Ac went down 50 (6.7)so with the doctors OK I cut one out,my second Hb1ac in April was was 39(5.7) so I stopped taking Metformin 5 days ago,my readings have risen a little but nothing that concerns me yet,but I am watching my sbg levels very closely,but as for an appetite suppressant it certainly never had that effect on me

It looks like you were diagnosed only quite recently? Wow, you managed to get the numbers down really quickly! My HbA1c was 101 when diagnosed (towards the back end of April). Hopefully I'll get mine down to those levels!

 

[wiseowl_123]

Hi @Kenners my friend I am sure you will,but I came home from the doctors and stopped eating all the bad stuff,I had a terrible first 8 weeks but I will spare you all the details,even stopped sugar in my tea,on reflection looking back may be it would have been wiser to have cut down gradually instead of going cold turkey,regardless of everyone saying oh you will soon get used to tea without sugar after 7 months I still miss it,enjoy your evening

 

[NatJS]

Metformin is a really good drug to be on if you can tolerate the side effects. One thing that perhaps doesn't get mentioned on here so often is that having type 2 can put you at a seriously increased risk for cancer, and the metformin can help to mitigate that risk quite a bit.