Skip metformin dose if you haven't had carbs?

Donaldfr

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Sorry to hijack this thread but i do have a similar question. I sometimes skip lunch and i do skip breakfast for 16h fasting. If i dont eat lunch should u skip metformin as i am skipping them now a days.
 

Riva_Roxaban

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f i dont eat lunch should u skip metformin as i am skipping them now a days.
As I earlier in this thread, it says on the box take one with food.

So if you do not eat, should be a a no brainer to figure out... :D
 

HSSS

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As I earlier in this thread, it says on the box take one with food.

So if you do not eat, should be a a no brainer to figure out... :D
To clarify as has been said before. Taking them with food is recommended for gastric and digestive comfort and side effects.

The medicinal effects do not work directly on the food eaten. They work in a background way, mostly by limiting glucose dumping by the liver. So eating fewer carbs in the long term may well lower levels enough that a person no longer needs the additional support of metformin. On the day to day level however the lack of carbs eaten and metformin are unrelated.
 

Languagelearner

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Thank you for the people who encouraged me to test my FBG. I now realise this condition can't be managed without taking regular readings. I just thought that I could just assume everything was OK, and after I got metformin I thought that would deal with the sugar, so I could allow myself treats like a bottle of country meadow cream (a cheap version of Baileys). I was shocked when I found I was at 13.0 mmol/l before going to bed and then 11.8 after waking up. It fell to FGB 10.2 today, as I have had less than 30g of carbs every day since.

I'm meant to have 2 metformin tablets with meals twice a day, so 4 tablets a day. But I'd rather eat one largish meal a day and fast till the next day. I don't want to have 2 tablets later in the day without meals - as metformin without meals is particularly harsh into terms of running to the toilet. Do you think I can have one big meal a day and have all 4 tablets then? Or one meal with 2 tablets and then the rest of the meal an hour later with 2 tablets?
 
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ianf0ster

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Thank you for the people who encouraged me to test my FBG. I now realise this condition can't be managed without taking regular readings. I just thought that I could just assume everything was OK, and after I got metformin I thought that would deal with the sugar, so I could allow myself treats like a bottle of country meadow cream (a cheap version of Baileys). I was shocked when I found I was at 13.0 mmol/l before going to bed and then 11.8 after waking up. It fell to FGB 10.2 today, as I have had less than 30g of carbs every day since.

I'm meant to have 2 metformin tablets with meals twice a day, so 4 tablets a day. But I'd rather eat one largish meal a day and fast till the next day. I don't want to have 2 tablets later in the day without meals - as metformin without meals is particularly harsh into terms of running to the toilet. Do you think I can have one big meal a day and have all 4 tablets then? Or one meal with 2 tablets and then the rest of the meal an hour later with 2 tablets?

I guess that your were prescribed that dose of Metformin before you discovered the benefits of a Low Carb way of eating.
If so then I can't see why you can't cut down the metformin to just 2 tablets per day rather than risking possible gastric reaction from taking the whole day's dose with a single meal.
Do what makes sense for your body, but also inform your doctor and explain why you are doing it!
 

Languagelearner

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I guess that your were prescribed that dose of Metformin before you discovered the benefits of a Low Carb way of eating.
If so then I can't see why you can't cut down the metformin to just 2 tablets per day rather than risking possible gastric reaction from taking the whole day's dose with a single meal.
Do what makes sense for your body, but also inform your doctor and explain why you are doing it!
I'll try. But don't we all fantasise about carbohydrates?
 

ianf0ster

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I'll try. But don't we all fantasise about carbohydrates?

Fantasise? Once I accepted what LowcarbGP (Dr David Unwin) says as true, I have never fantasised that I was immune to carbs. I do however still desire certain carbs but I desire to avoid diabetes complications tines of times more than I still desire mangoes for example.
 
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LittleGreyCat

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@Languagelearner I am on 4 Metformin tablets a day and I take two in the morning and two in the evening.
The morning ones I take with coffee, double cream and butter so I think that counts as a meal.

The evening ones I take with a meal if convenient, but if I have eaten earlier (say 16:00) then I take them when I remember.

I am probably lucky in that I don't seem to have adverse gastric reactions, when taking Metformin when I am not eating.

Have you tried taking Metformin when you haven't eaten recently?
If so, how badly does it affect you?
You may be worrying unduly.
 

Languagelearner

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@Languagelearner I am on 4 Metformin tablets a day and I take two in the morning and two in the evening.
The morning ones I take with coffee, double cream and butter so I think that counts as a meal.

The evening ones I take with a meal if convenient, but if I have eaten earlier (say 16:00) then I take them when I remember.

I am probably lucky in that I don't seem to have adverse gastric reactions, when taking Metformin when I am not eating.

Have you tried taking Metformin when you haven't eaten recently?
If so, how badly does it affect you?
You may be worrying unduly.

If the double cream goes in the coffee, what do you do with the butter?