Daily stomach cramps continue even after being put on slow release metformin

[Aethalides]

Hi girls and boys, as explained in the title, I am still having daily stomach cramps. These usually come in the late afternoon. I am told to take my slow release sukarto metformin tablets mornings and evenings.

The cramps start fairly mild, go much much more painful progressively then taper off again.

There is usually one session of cramps a day, but sometimes there are more.

Occasionally they are accompanied by gas but more often they are not.

I told all this to my diabetic nurse and she just said "oh that's normal"

Are we really to be on an interminable subscription of painful cramps as long as we're medicated for Diabetes? Is there some better alternative to Metformin I can ask for, and what can I say to her to convince her to change me over to it.

Thank you!!!

 

[Rose22]

Hi girls and boys, as explained in the title, I am still having daily stomach cramps. These usually come in the late afternoon. I am told to take my slow release sukarto metformin tablets mornings and evenings.

The cramps start fairly mild, go much much more painful progressively then taper off again.

There is usually one session of cramps a day, but sometimes there are more.

Occasionally they are accompanied by gas but more often they are not.

I told all this to my diabetic nurse and she just said "oh that's normal"

Are we really to be on an interminable subscription of painful cramps as long as we're medicated for Diabetes? Is there some better alternative to Metformin I can ask for, and what can I say to her to convince her to change me over to it.

Thank you!!!

Hello, so sorry you are suffering discomfort as a side effect of metformin. I had tummy troubles on metformin and the slow release. I tried a tablet every other day and building up, but over weeks I wasn’t able to tolerate it. I did take it for months. I had to map out my day by where the toilets where! Plus I started to wake with abdominal cramps and pains In the morning. Which isn’t the best way to start the day! Also suffered nausea feeling, tried but went to GP saying it was too much, needed to be able to look after my children and function. There are lots of other meds, I found (not through choice) that the GP and nurses almost work through a list. If one doesn’t suit or work it’s on to the next. Before taking a med they suggested I came on the Diabetes UK site and looked it up first. But definitely don’t suffer in silence, if you are experiencing cramps after a couple of weeks on the med I’d go back for a review. My GP liked me to try something for 3 months, which also tied in nicely with a hba1c result. Good luck with feeling better.

 

[DavidGrahamJones]

Is there some better alternative to Metformin I can ask for, and what can I say to her to convince her to change me over to it.

I put up with metformin for several years I know every inch of my bathroom with a very intimate knowledge. I'm taking them now without too many issues and the only difference is that I now eat a lot less carbohydrate, most days less than 50gms. Could that be an issue in your case?

 

[Resurgam]

I only tried normal Metformin, but it was so horrible in its effects that I threw away the tablets - I was already eating a low carb diet, that was all I needed to do. Weeks of excruciating embarrassment and upset all for nothing.

 

[Aethalides]

I put up with metformin for several years I know every inch of my bathroom with a very intimate knowledge. I'm taking them now without too many issues and the only difference is that I now eat a lot less carbohydrate, most days less than 50gms. Could that be an issue in your case?

I eat my daily oatmeal breastfast as I love the cholesterol absorbing effect it brings.

For lunch I only eat homemade soup and watermelon. The soup is made of carrots, peas, lentils, cabbage, onion, garlic and pork bellies. it also has a potato for thickening, but that's one small potato for 2 liter of soup.

Evening is roast chicken with creamy mushroom sauce and brown rice.

for afters there's more watermelon.

I did cut out all bread and pastries out of my diet but it didn't have any difference on my cramps...

 

[Resurgam]

Oh - you are eating quite a lot of carbohydrate - I would suggest swapping them for a low carb diet and seeing if you need to take the Metformin.

 

[Tophat1900]

Agree wth @Resurgam , that's a lot load of carbs. I have no idea what you are talking about in regards to cholesterol absorbing effects of oatmeal?

If metformin and gliclazide are your only drugs and you want to improve your bg numbers then low carb would be a good start and replace the carbs like oatmeal with scrambled eggs, bacon and eggs, or omelettes etc. However, you will need to let you HCP know you want to do this as low carb and gliclazide require monitoring of bg levels. Are you testing before and after meals to see how these meals you eat are affecting you?

Personally, I find fiber is problematic for me, cramps and bloating, so I follow a low carb diet and no longer have these issues. That's one of the many benefits of low carbing. Here is a link to some great dietary info if interested in improving your diet and glucose levels.

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/blog-entry/the-nutritional-thingy.2330/

Here's a great site for low carb info in general.

www.dietdoctor.com

Hope you get the issue sorted out.

 

[Aethalides]

Agree wth @Resurgam , that's a lot load of carbs. I have no idea what you are talking about in regards to cholesterol absorbing effects of oatmeal?

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oatmeal#Health_benefits

My h1bac is quite good actually lower than 40 last reading and I feel generally good apart from the stomach cramps

 

[bulkbiker]

Are we really to be on an interminable subscription of painful cramps as long as we're medicated for Diabetes? Is there some better alternative to Metformin I can ask for, and what can I say to her to convince her to change me over to it.

You are eating carbs and taking metformin.. which is often a combination that leads to digestive issue so...

My advice would be to reduce the carbs significantly and stop the metformin (under docs guidance obviously) then you will both maintain your successfully lowered BG levels and stop the cramps.

I'd also advise to stop worrying about cholesterol too..

 

[Aethalides]

Why would I stop worrying about cholesterol? My cholesterol was so high I had to take statins but since I started eating oatmeal on doctors advise all of my readings were low and my statins got stopped.

High cholesterol is a valid worry for people with diabetes, as being obese and having high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes all together make up metabolic syndrome which takes off years off of your life.

I have no desire to get cardiac disease because I stopped worrying about cholesterol!

 

[bulkbiker]

Why would I stop worrying about cholesterol? My cholesterol was so high I had to take statins but since I started eating oatmeal on doctors advise all of my readings were low and my statins got stopped.

High cholesterol is a valid worry for people with diabetes, as being obese and having high blood pressure, high cholesterol, and diabetes all together make up metabolic syndrome which takes off years off of your life.

I have no desire to get cardiac disease because I stopped worrying about cholesterol!

Have a read/watch here

https://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/cholesterol-and-statins.156985/

But that aside you are experiencing problems with the metformin so wouldn't it make sense to try to reduce your exposure to it?
If you could do that by eating fewer carbs you could maintain your HbA1c level and avoid the gut issues?

 

[ianf0ster]

Hi Aethalides.
I see that you still believe all that discredited research showing that Fat is bad and Carbs are good.

I too fell for it and for over 10yrs eat very high Carb and very low fat on medical advice.
Where did that get me? - A 3x Coronary Artery Bypass followed by Type 2 Diabetes.

Do I still eat that way? - No, even I'm not that stubborn or stupid (though my GP is).

Oh and just for completeness, I have never been Obese, I am a TOFI - Thin Outside Fat Inside person.

 

[Aethalides]

Yes, I want to decrease my exposure to metformin, which is why I asked about alternatives. I'm not looking to change my diet at the moment. I'm in the middle of a depression and restricting the things I can eat is not going to improve that.

I have come a long way already, my previous h1bac readings were all high nineties but after changing my diet from loads of bread and pastries and sausages and bacon down to what I now have my hcab1 readings have gone to below 40.

So I have already massively improved and since being put on the slow release metformin I can actually motivate myself to take them, something which I was struggling with before.

But now what I want most of all is knowledge of alternative medicine that I can take to my diabetic nurse or gp and a way to persuade them to put me on it as before all I received was a `that's normal'

 

[ianf0ster]

I'm confused.
Why would anybody want 'knowledge of alternative medicine' - by which I think you mean an alternative to Metformin, when they don't need any (diabetes) medicine at all?

Or do you feel that without Metformin you would not be able to stick to your current lifestyle? Metformin has a small effect on how much Glucose the Liver dumps into the bloodstream, but in context of an HbA1C inside the normal range, it is very small indeed!

 

[Aethalides]

I'm confused why you think I don't need diabetes medicine. My current diet and gliclacide and metformin regime is what produced the low hbac1 reading.

 

[bulkbiker]

My current diet and gliclacide and metformin regime is what produced the low hbac1 reading.

And a low carb diet without the gliclazide and metformin could well assist in keeping the HbA1c reading low.
This would also ameliorate the gut issues you originally started the post about.

 

[Aethalides]

Great, but I still haven't got an answer to my questions.

I've got people telling me current medicine is a sham and cholesterol doesn't cause cardiovascular disease.
I've got people telling me to go low carb and maybe it's something I can do eventually, ...

but I've got nobody that has given me any names of medicines that doctors can prescribe to lower blood sugar that doesn't have the stomach problems metformin has, which is what I wanted to know and take to the doctor to try and convince them to prescribe to me

 

[TriciaWs]

I am not going to try to give you individual medical advice. We aren't allowed to.
If you don't want to reduce your carbs that is your decision but don't be surprised that we disagree with your reason for eating so many carbs - because there is plenty of good quality research that you can lower blood fats on low carb! -
then have a look at this, but note eating too many carbs plus diabetes meds is likely to cause digestive problems whatever you use?
https://www.nhsinform.scot/illnesse...etes/type-2-diabetes#treating-type-2-diabetes

If you change your mind, then check out the swaps for carb high foods - eg I eat a mix of milled flaxseed, with a little chia and oatbran (not rolled/porridge oats) for breakfast, and cauliflower rice that I make at home, it takes just 15 mins from scratch and I make enough for 3-4 days. I lowered my triglycerides from nearly 2 to under 0.9 in weeks without eating oats but with double cream etc in my diet.

 

[Aethalides]

Thank you Tricia

I do want to improve my diet when my mood improves a bit but I am terrified to God from getting cardiovascular disease from high cholesterol.

Would I like to eat loads of meat instead? You betcha! I love eating meat. I love bacon and sausages and smoked salmon and beef steaks and etc etc. but I'm afraid of processed meat causing cancer and getting clogged arteries.

 

[ianf0ster]

I'm confused why you think I don't need diabetes medicine. My current diet and gliclacide and metformin regime is what produced the low hbac1 reading.

Sorry, I had not picked up that you are on Gliclazide. Though I did think it strange that you were able to eat such High Carb foods.
My point is that the Metformin probably does almost nothing for you plus in your case (a common case) it makes your gut feel unwell , though for some people in mild form this is considered a benefit as they lose some appetite.
So if it does nothing of any good for you, why are you taking it?

However you need to be aware that:
A). All the other diabetes meds are higher risk - but if that is what you want, go ahead.
B). Type 2 is commonly thought to be progressive and incurable - and it certainly is that if you rely on diabetes medication rather than a lifestyle change. Now don't get me wrong, diabetes meds have their place, but think which do you love more - Your carby food, or your sight and your limbs ?

For me it's a no-brainer choice!