Metformin how long does it stay in body after giving it up?

[Shelley6255]

wonder if anyone knows how long Metformin stays in body after finishing taking it? I took 2 x 500 Metformin for two years until a month ago and kept HbA1c at 42 from 6 months after diagnosis at hbac1 at 94 - then started in August with an LCHF way of eating as well as intermittent fasting. I’ve been doing this for three months and lost almost 2 stone. Blood tests on meterwent down to 5 on average over first two months and have now been off Metformin for four weeks. Haven’t changed my way of eating but bloods now closer to 6 in last week could this be because Metformin was in my system for several weeks and no longer there? I’m due an HbA1c in three weeks will be interesting to see what it says! Can anyone help?

 

[Freema]

well, I am wondering the exact same question... have now been off metformin for 3 days now... wondering if my blood glucose will go up tomorrow from not taking the metformin.. and also hoping my eczema will disappear when the metformin is totally out of my body... I think I remember reading a year ago that it takes around 1-2 weeks to work optimally ... so maybe 2 weeks ???

maybe someone else in here knows more of it..

 

[shelley262]

well, I am wondering the exact same question... have now been off metformin for 3 days now... wondering if my blood glucose will go up tomorrow from not taking the metformin.. and also hoping my eczema will disappear when the metformin is totally out of my body... I think I remember reading a year ago that it takes around 1-2 weeks to work optimally ... so maybe 2 weeks ???

maybe someone else in here knows more of it..

Thank you Freema it’s quite a journey isn’t it! A bit scary when you’ve been on a medication for a long time although I’m loving lack of digestive side effects

 

[Freema]

Yes But it is also wonderfull to prove we can do without all these chemicals in our body , I do Think however that I will need to go futher down in number of grams of carbs Daily ; hope not to have to go under 100 grams daily

 

[shelley262]

Yes But it is also wonderfull to prove we can do without all these chemicals in our body , I do Think however that I will need to go futher down in number of grams of carbs Daily ; hope not to have to go under 100 grams daily

I agree but I am under 30g of carbs - suppose it’s all to do with ones own tolerance or not to carbs

 

[Freema]

I agree but I am under 30g of carbs - suppose it’s all to do with ones own tolerance or not to carbs

Yes it is very different from one person to the other , I Think I have lowered my insuline resistance by purposely building more muscle

 

[skipchaser_]

How did you get on with the metformin ?? did you loose weight ?? as I was on it for a while and I had to stop taking it because I lost so much weight , drawn out face and skinny body ......not good !!! my specialist thought it would do me good but it didn't ...do the job .

 

[pleinster]

Hi @Shelley6255 - I have heard it's roughly 4-7 days.

 

[Polgara]

I took my last metformin on the 13th November. My 7 day average is up 0.3 from the previous week - but that's within the usual weekly variation over the last 7 months - so stopping doesn't seem to have had a big effect (yet?)

 

[Kentoldlady1]

Yes it is very different from one person to the other , I Think I have lowered my insuline resistance by purposely building more muscle

Can I ask if you have noticed a difference in your tsh levels while on metformin? I would be quite interested to know if the tsh rises after you have stopped metformin for a while.

 

[Freema]

Can I ask if you have noticed a difference in your tsh levels while on metformin? I would be quite interested to know if the tsh rises after you have stopped metformin for a while.

I think my TSH has gone down, but my GP also along the way has lowered my levothyroxin a lot , initially I was on 200micrograms a day , then 150 micrograms and now she wanted me down on 100 micrograms which I refused... but my TSH has been very suppressed for a decade and I have been free of much interference, a period I upped my levothyroxine to ty to loose weight up till 300 micrograms, that was a disaster : didn´t loose any weight but got some noise on my hearth beat, so I will strongly ask others never to do so.. now I am in my middle fifties and that means that I should be more aware not to have a too suppressed TSH so therefor I have agreed to go to a level of 125 micrograms , and maybe also next time as low as 100 micrograms, as I have found out that too high levels of thyroid hormons also drags out calcium from ones bones and that is especially dangerous after menopause/ late in life because the body won´t compensate that..
so well yes I think my TSH has been lowered a lot but it was all along the way so now I´ll try what my GP suggests.. and see how this will affect my T4 and T3 before I complain...

yes it will be interesting how my TSH acts towards what I do now : being both without metformin but also at the same time going lower in levothyroxine ... but maybe not really given a reliable picture of just what stopping Metformin would do on it´s own.. as my GP wants me off of metformin anyway I thought I would try to see how all my numbers acts when I am only on levothyroxine 125 micrograms ... and hope this is the ideal dose for good now...
by the way my thyroid gland is totally dead , which is not the case in most persons taking thyroxine.

 

[Kentoldlady1]

I think my TSH has gone down, but my GP also along the way has lowered my levothyroxin a lot , initially I was on 200micrograms a day , then 150 micrograms and now she wanted me down on 100 micrograms which I refused... but my TSH has been very suppressed for a decade and I have been free of much interference, a period I upped my levothyroxine to ty to loose weight up till 300 micrograms, that was a disaster : didn´t loose any weight but got some noise on my hearth beat, so I will strongly ask others never to do so.. now I am in my middle fifties and that means that I should be more aware not to have a too suppressed TSH so therefor I have agreed to go to a level of 125 micrograms , and maybe also next time as low as 100 micrograms, as I have found out that too high levels of thyroid hormons also drags out calcium from ones bones and that is especially dangerous after menopause/ late in life because the body won´t compensate that..
so well yes I think my TSH has been lowered a lot but it was all along the way so now I´ll try what my GP suggests.. and see how this will affect my T4 and T3 before I complain...

yes it will be interesting how my TSH acts towards what I do now : being both without metformin but also at the same time going lower in levothyroxine ... but maybe not really given a reliable picture of just what stopping Metformin would do on it´s own.. as my GP wants me off of metformin anyway I thought I would try to see how all my numbers acts when I am only on levothyroxine 125 micrograms ... and hope this is the ideal dose for good now...
by the way my thyroid gland is totally dead , which is not the case in most persons taking thyroxine.

Does your gp test for t3? Mine will not because she said they will not treat it so there is no point. She had also not heard about the problems with metformin and levo. When I told her she said "we will never know then, will we. " And that was that.

I am getting my own tests done by blue horizon and will buy my own meds. The pharmacist was aware of the problem and told me to make sure the gp was aware. Absolutely no point.

It is so very disappointing to have to get most of our medical help from forums.

 

[ringi]

I was told by a consultant that TSH levels may have reduce due to losing weight. Or it may just be a limitation with the lab (she is in charge of the lab). So not to change dose of levothyroxin based on one set of results, but to wait until there is a trend.

(Stockport now seems to be doing a T3 test as standard, never had one before, and I think GP did not request it.)

 

[Freema]

Does your gp test for t3? Mine will not because she said they will not treat it so there is no point. She had also not heard about the problems with metformin and levo. When I told her she said "we will never know then, will we. " And that was that.

I am getting my own tests done by blue horizon and will buy my own meds. The pharmacist was aware of the problem and told me to make sure the gp was aware. Absolutely no point.

It is so very disappointing to have to get most of our medical help from forums.

yes but she doesn´t use it for anything at all, I think here in Denmark it is stadard to have all 3 measures at the same blood sample so I can see how my T4 and T3 goes , so I can see if they behave weird ... and I sure will comment it if they look crazy and too low next time I go there... but that´ll be in february I hope .. I don´t fanzy going to my GP often...

 

[Pinkorchid]

I think that a lot of people here agree that Metformin does not really affect your BG levels very much so taking it or not you probably would not find much difference or only very slight. It is more for stopping to much glucose being made and released by the liver. I think medication can take 2 to 4 weeks to completely leave the body

 

[Pinkorchid]

How did you get on with the metformin ?? did you loose weight ?? as I was on it for a while and I had to stop taking it because I lost so much weight , drawn out face and skinny body ......not good !!! my specialist thought it would do me good but it didn't ...do the job .

Yes people find Metformin affects them in different ways. For me it was appetite the more Metformin I took the less I ate until I was hardly eating anything and of course I lost quite a bit of weight and I was already slim to start with. My doctor told me to reduce the dose until I felt I was eating properly again I had to get it down to one 500mg a day before that happened and that is what I take now

 

[Shelley6255]

Hi @Shelley6255 - I have heard it's roughly 4-7 days.

Thank you

 

[Shelley6255]

How did you get on with the metformin ?? did you loose weight ?? as I was on it for a while and I had to stop taking it because I lost so much weight , drawn out face and skinny body ......not good !!! my specialist thought it would do me good but it didn't ...do the job .

I initially lost weight on Metformin when put on over 2 years ago but then started gaining again last year despite the digestive issues! I’ve found it easier to lose weight in last month since I’ve been off the Metformin I wasn't keen on doing intermittent fasting whilst on Metformin and so stopped have felt much much better since I did

 

[Shelley6255]

I think that a lot of people here agree that Metformin does not really affect your BG levels very much so taking it or not you probably would not find much difference or only very slight. It is more for stopping to much glucose being made and released by the liver. I think medication can take 2 to 4 weeks to completely leave the body

Thank you very much your info is really helpful think I’m finding stress and exercise seem to be having the biggest effects on my blood glucose rather than food at moment

 

[ickihun]

How did you get on with the metformin ?? did you loose weight ?? as I was on it for a while and I had to stop taking it because I lost so much weight , drawn out face and skinny body ......not good !!! my specialist thought it would do me good but it didn't ...do the job .

Some type1s use it to sensitize their insulin better. Were you having trouble with your insulin effectiveness?