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help with metformin

teddybear74

teddybear74

Well-Known Member
Messages
265
Type of diabetes
Type 1
Treatment type
Insulin
hi my dn has just upped my metformin by another 500ml so now on 1500ml a day and my sugars are lowering quickly almost to the point of a hypo took just now before I had my dinner as I felt awful and it was 4.1 im normally hitting 6 or 7 this time of night I had a blt sandwich and yogurt with grapes for lunch around 3 can anyone help me please
 
hi, what do you need help with? the hypo? it wasnt a hypo, if your type two it may have been a false hypo, where your body is used to higher blood sugar and thinks your going too low but your not so let it be, dont adjust to combat a perfect bg number and the hypo feelings will hopefully pass soon enough, best of luck


edit: just my opinion im not medical
 
well if it wasn't a hypo it certainly scared me as I have been that low before and just as bad I have a 5 year old and I am on my own tonight hence why the concern seems nothing that I eat will make my sugars stay high for long I have been on 1000mg for a couple of months and felt fine but not today I have eaten regularly I am type 2 diagnosed in jan this year
 
sorry it scared you, understandable with a littlen please feel free to ignore me, hopefully someone will come along with another explanation and or advice
 
I would have just enough carbs to keep you above around 5 but keep going with the Metformin. It is unusual for it to cause a real hypo and hopefully your body will get used to lower blood sugar
 
The book Blood Sugar 101 (and no doubt somewhere in this forum) talks about these false hypos. If I recall, the brain senses that your bg is dropping at an alarming rate (as it is not used to it) and screams out get me more glucose now!. The brain is scared to death of not getting its sweets. Adrenaline (and cortisol?) are released which is what makes you feel shaky - imagine you have just been scared witless like in a near car crash (or actual) one. Same feeling? The adrenaline tells the liver to start dumping glucose.

Apparently you need to let your body learn the new regime. Test your bg every 15 minutes. If necessary take a glucose tablet (dextrose? from the chemist, fast acting) and keep testing, but don't push yourself back up too much. You need to go a bit lower yet before you are in trouble. As the author of BS101 says keep using the meter.

But, yes it's not a very nice feeling and the shakiness can last a little time. I've been there.

Anyway this is how I currently understand it, but perhaps someone with more experience will explain it better. I'm really pleased if my bg gets to 4.1, or even 4.0 or 3.9 - apparently that's what the muggles have all the time ;) lol.
 
teddybear74 said:
well if it wasn't a hypo it certainly scared me as I have been that low before and just as bad I have a 5 year old and I am on my own tonight hence why the concern seems nothing that I eat will make my sugars stay high for long I have been on 1000mg for a couple of months and felt fine but not today I have eaten regularly I am type 2 diagnosed in jan this year
Click to expand...

If it helps, I'm T2 and I used to have levels spiking into double figures. When I first took action to reduce my BG levels I experienced false hypos and I agree they are very scary.

They did quickly go away, however, as my body got more used to lower BG levels and I now regularly get readings in the lower 4s without feeling any effects whatsoever.
 
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