Is it advisable to stop taking metformin/medication

nareshthandu

Newbie
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Hello,

I am type-2 diabetic and diagnosed with it few years back.
I am 37 years and weighing around 68.
I have recently started doing intermittent fasting(16:8) for last three weeks and stopped taking metformin.
I have also reduced my carbohydrates intake and mostly eating vegetables, nuts and cheese. I am also making sure to do at least 30 minutes of walking/jogging everyday.
I can see my sugar levels are coming down, for example my today’s fasting blood sugar was 5.1.
But for last couple of days, I am struggling with frequent urination. Relatively I am drinking lot of water, that is at least one glass per hour.
Do I need to worry about frequent urination as I have stopped taking metformin.
I have also checked if there are any ketones in urine but there aren’t any.
Inputs would be helpful.
Thanks
 

Daibell

Master
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Be aware that Metformin only ever has small a effect so unlikely to be the cause of the changes you note.. Don't worry too much about fasting sugars due to the overnight liver dump effect. Better to test 2 hours after a typical meal.
 
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nareshthandu

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Be aware that Metformin only ever has small a effect so unlikely to be the cause of the changes you note.. Don't worry too much about fasting sugars due to the overnight liver dump effect. Better to test 2 hours after a typical meal.
Thanks for the update.
I was under the impression that fasting sugars are important?
 

bulkbiker

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Thanks for your reply.

Will try doing that.
I am drinking water as I am doing fasting.
Will monitor it for few more days and see how it goes.

I intermittent fast almost every day but mainly have coffee with cream as my liquid source and rarely drink more than 2 glasses of water per day.
 

nareshthandu

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I intermittent fast almost every day but mainly have coffee with cream as my liquid source and rarely drink more than 2 glasses of water per day.

I am new to intermittent fasting(in my fourth week).

I will try reducing the water intake.

For last couple of days, the urination became excess. I had to twice during night while sleeping.

So not sure, if it's change in my diet or something else.

Thanks.
 

type two paul

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Maybe reduce the water consumption and just drink when you are thirsty?
I read somewhere that waiting until thirsty is not the best thing as the body has entered a dehydration phase. I can kind of understand this reasoning but I'm the same as most and wait for the thirst trigger. Just an observation.
 

bulkbiker

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I read somewhere that waiting until thirsty is not the best thing as the body has entered a dehydration phase.

But isn't that exactly when we should drink rather than forcing in water when there's no demand for it?
Don't forget excess water consumption can also cause drainage of electrolytes which may well not be a good thing..
 

type two paul

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But isn't that exactly when we should drink rather than forcing in water when there's no demand for it?
Don't forget excess water consumption can also cause drainage of electrolytes which may well not be a good thing..
Think you're fine if you stick to the recommended 3 Litres per day. Yes excess water is dangerous (Hyponatremia). But my point really was the thirst trigger.
 

bulkbiker

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But my point really was the thirst trigger.

I see what your point was but my question would be why would our body be so stupid as to demand water when we were already dehydrated..unless the dehydration was the trigger?
I'm a great one for assuming that we have things like thirst to keep us healthy.
I let my body tell me things like when to drink and when to eat.
Seems to be working ok so far.
 

TeddyTottie

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I see what your point was but my question would be why would our body be so stupid as to demand water when we were already dehydrated..unless the dehydration was the trigger?
I'm a great one for assuming that we have things like thirst to keep us healthy.
I let my body tell me things like when to drink and when to eat.
Seems to be working ok so far.
I do agree, of course I am no expert in human health, but our bodies are. They have built-in redundancy all the way, 2 of almost everything and are incredibly self-protective. I have never been convinced that the thirst mechanism would only kick in when we are already in trouble. If anything, I would expect it to prompt us early so that we have time to find a waterhole before suffering real dehydration.

Animals don’t have a target for water consumption and are prompted solely by thirst, and do just fine unless they are already unwell.
 

Brunneria

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I find drinking plenty of water very helpful, and I certainly don’t think that thirst is necessarily the best guide. My view is formed from personal experience.

if I ‘only drink when thirsty’ it triggers water retention, my mind loses focus, and I develop constipation within a couple of days.

if I drink 3+ litres of water a day, my water retention decreases, constipation doesn’t happen, and I just generally feel better.

There are plenty of bodily signals that can be misleading, from carb cravings to hunger, muscle and joint aches (some respond to rest, others respond to exercise), and thirst is just another one which has many messaging interruptions and misconnections.

We can easily learn to ignore thirst, and after a while, we don’t even notice when it starts. I do that all the time when working and distracted.

Sleep with your mouth open? If so, then your body learns to ignore a dry mouth as a thirst signal.
Some people even mistake thirst for hunger (been there, done that too).

https://www.seattletimes.com/life/w...t-are-you-eating-when-you-should-be-drinking/

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/natural-thirst-the-instin_b_9547500
 
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type two paul

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I see what your point was but my question would be why would our body be so stupid as to demand water when we were already dehydrated..unless the dehydration was the trigger?
I'm a great one for assuming that we have things like thirst to keep us healthy.
I let my body tell me things like when to drink and when to eat.
Seems to be working ok so far.
So, in doing so you consume the recommended 3 Litres a day?? Many people don't consume the recommended daily intake just going by thirst triggers alone. I won't pursue this argument any longer.
 

type two paul

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I do agree, of course I am no expert in human health, but our bodies are. They have built-in redundancy all the way, 2 of almost everything and are incredibly self-protective. I have never been convinced that the thirst mechanism would only kick in when we are already in trouble. If anything, I would expect it to prompt us early so that we have time to find a waterhole before suffering real dehydration.

Animals don’t have a target for water consumption and are prompted solely by thirst, and do just fine unless they are already unwell.
Have you spoken to many animals ?
 

type two paul

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I find drinking plenty of water very helpful, and I certainly don’t think that thirst is necessarily the best guide. My view is formed from personal experience.

if I ‘only drink when thirsty’ it triggers water retention, my mind loses focus, and I develop constipation within a couple of days.

if I drink 3+ litres of water a day, my water retention decreases, constipation doesn’t happen, and I just generally feel better.

There are plenty of bodily signals that can be misleading, from carb cravings to hunger, muscle and joint aches (some respond to rest, others respond to exercise), and thirst is just another one which has many messaging interruptions and misconnections.

We can easily learn to ignore thirst, and after a while, we don’t even notice when it starts. I do that all the time when working and distracted.

Sleep with your mouth open? If so, then your body learns to ignore a dry mouth as a thirst signal.
Some people even mistake thirst for hunger (been there, done that too).

https://www.seattletimes.com/life/w...t-are-you-eating-when-you-should-be-drinking/

https://www.huffpost.com/entry/natural-thirst-the-instin_b_9547500
Precisely.
 

bulkbiker

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So, in doing so you consume the recommended 3 Litres a day?
Unlikely... 4 coffees of 400ml each and maybe 1tea about the same size is 2 litres maybe one smaller glass of water. so no I don't drink 3 litres of water per day.
I also however don't eat the "recommended" 130g of carbohydrate, nor the "5 servings of fruit and vegetables per day" either yet seem pretty healthy.

Edit to add I'm not being deliberately argumentative but fail to see why the body would have a perfectly useful trigger to drink something (thirst) if we were meant to consume water all the time. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me.