Metformin

[Rocinante]

Has anyone here gone on Metformin for impaired fasting glycaemia?

 

[bulkbiker]

Guessing that dietary changes would be more effective?

 

[Rocinante]

I can get my HBA1C to 42 (cusp of pre-diabetes) if I am religiously careful with food, however, this does not allow for fuel while doing sports activities, which require carbohydrate (long distance cycling), hence why I'm wanting to explore this as an option.

 

[bulkbiker]

which require carbohydrate

That's a relatively controversial statement..

Once you become a full time fat burner you won't require carbs for cycling as you'll have access to the thousands of calories you have stored in your body fat.

 

[Rocinante]

That's a relatively controversial statement..

Once you become a full time fat burner you won't require carbs for cycling as you'll have access to the thousands of calories you have stored in your body fat.

Yes, I'm aware of this, however, the journey to doing 100km cycles from fuelled to un-fuelled is a long one, longer if you have IFG. I enjoy exercise and want to keep doing long and fast rides, hence want to continue (but reduce carb fuel) while also improving my fasted BG levels.

 

[Rocinante]

Yes My endo had suggested me to take Metformin 500 at night only for getting fasting sugars in range. they were going above 120..so I took it for about 3 months and kept diet control and exercise along..Now I am no more taking it.

Makes sense - are you UK based? Was it an NHS endo? I really suffer from the dawn phenomenon... and would like to reduce BG levels while exercising...

 

[carty]

I am taking Metformin but my Dawn Phenomenon levels will not come down I am now in pre diabetic range and I have a theory ( tongue in cheek ) My liver is very kind and generous in a morning it thinks that I am starving so throws out lots of glucose to save me !! I have tried every thing known to man woman child and probably Elephant but I am stuck with DP.
Carol

 

[Glink]

Yes. I was diagnosed pre-D after presenting with diabetic symptoms after a viral illness and now take metformin. Diet (low carb) controlled it well for a while, until it didn't. So my GP tried me on a low dose of metformin, which fixed it for a while, but then the fasting glucose started rising again. We've raised the dose 2 or 3 times so far but I'm still not at the max dose. My A1C is good and postprandial is okay, but I will just probably never have "normal" FBG.

FWIW, I have zero risk factors for diabetes, low instead of high c-peptide, but no auto-antibodies and don't fit the profile for any of the MODYs so they just figure I've got some weird genetic mutation. I'm also a cyclist, although more of a bike commuter and casual tour-taker than you; I don't race. Long hard rides sometimes make my sugars rise though, especially if the weather is hot. I keep pepperoni in my pannier for emergency fat/protein snacking to level it out! For me it seems all about finding the sweet spot dietwise (which I think is about 70g carb/day for me), taking the metformin, and accepting that whatever I figure out will probably change sometime in the future.

 

[potty pet]

Hi,
I am interested in the answer to this question. My hba1c was 43 and my fbs is generally higher . This morning it was 5.5 but after an hours running it had gone up to 7.7 . I am obviously not fat adapted as I find it a lot harder to run when I reduce my carbs . ( I only do about 6 k )
My Gp won’t prescribe me metformin saying that it’s not worth it for side effects.