Metformin

[davd]

I have read in many other threads on here that metformin does little to reduce BG levels.
I am taking 1000mg of metformin extended release tablets with evening meal as instructed.
Usually my first test of day about 2 hours after getting out of bed and only having a mug of coffee is about 5.2 mmol.
The last thing I eat is 14 hours before testing.
Yesterday I forgot to take tablets and this morning usual testing BG level came out at 6,7 mmol, I had not eaten or drunk anything different.
So surely metformin does help to reduce BG levels more than some people say , 1.5 mmol is quite a big difference.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

I have read in many other threads on here that metformin does little to reduce BG levels.
I am taking 1000mg of metformin extended release tablets with evening meal as instructed.
Usually my first test of day about 2 hours after getting out of bed and only having a mug of coffee is about 5.2 mmol.
The last thing I eat is 14 hours before testing.
Yesterday I forgot to take tablets and this morning usual testing BG level came out at 6,7 mmol, I had not eaten or drunk anything different.
So surely metformin does help to reduce BG levels more than some people say , 1.5 mmol is quite a big difference.

Metformin tells your liver not to dump as much glucose in the morning. It's the stuff that's stored there that gets released to help you start the day, before your first meal. That's it. It doesn't do anything about what you eat. If you test before a meal and 2 hours after the first bite, you'll see numbers metformin had no real impact on. (One might argue it increases insulin sensitivity some, but not much). The fasting bloods you're measuring are the ones it does affect. I started out with blood sugars of 22 mmol/l, and then 1,5 isn't even close to a dent. So that's where a diet change made the biggest difference. And with my bloods going down, so did the liver dump in the morning. So yeah, it's got it's uses, but don't rely on it entirely to beat diabetes into submission, because it can't, sadly.

 

[WAGR57]

When I first started on Metformin 12 years ago I started at 500mg once a day to later taking 1500mg daily. My A1C was only tested once a year to start and for the first few years it fluctuated from the high 6s to low 7s. In the later years (then testing every 3 months) my A1C kept rising slowly. I didn’t go LCHF/Keto and until one year ago and stopped taking Metformin at the same time. The LCHF diet made the biggest difference. After 3 months on the LCHF my A1C was 6.1 and still is, from 8.9 previously ( it likely could be better If I didn’t have a few cheat weeks).

 

[mdmm55]

I am using Metormin combination Janumet in Canada(Metformin+Sitagliptin (1000+100 mg). One tablet in the morning and one in the evening if neede.
But I feel a few symptoms of Lactic Acidocis. Kindly suggest to reduce dangerous side effect,L.A of Metformin .

 

[davd]

I am using Metormin combination Janumet in Canada(Metformin+Sitagliptin (1000+100 mg). One tablet in the morning and one in the evening if neede.
But I feel a few symptoms of Lactic Acidocis. Kindly suggest to reduce dangerous side effect,L.A of Metformin .

Don’t know about symptoms of lactic acidosis but apparently excessive alcohol can bring it on with metformin.
I am risking it a bit as I tend to have a brandy or three most nights since the start of this COVID nightmare as I am tending to follow guidelines and not leaving house much apart from food and drink shopping.