Metformin with food?

[Tootse]

How important is it that Metformin is taken with food, and if it is essential, how much food?

I found 1 the in morning and 1 in evening easy to remember, but I've just progressed to 3 metformin a day (my 3rd wk on meds) I'm finding it difficult to have 3 meals at regular intervals to fit in my 3 a day tablets.

On a weekday breakfast is not a problem as I get up for work around 7 each morning. Lunchtime comes a bit more difficult. Having probably grazed on fruit during the morning, coupled with being busy at work, I tend to start feeling peckish around 3pm or later. If I take my tablet late afternoon I have to make sure my evening meal is later than usual to even out the medication times. Can I have the tablet with an apple, or does it have to be a meal?

Then there's the weekend. Where I usually have breakfast around 7am on weekdays, on Sat and Sun I have a long lay-in, so it's nearer 11.30am usually having brunch. I know this is a bit late for my tablet but then my next meal would be in evening. Now I have this 3rd tablet to take in the middle somewhere.

Alternatively, can I take the weekend am tablet when I wake up without the breakfast ( I usually initially wake up around 8am but rollover and doze)?

 

[Grazer]

The ONLY reason for having it with good is to help with your digestion of it. It will still work the same with or without food. So have your midday one with an spoke, and if you don't get tummy problems that's fine

 

[catza]

I take my Metformin just twice a day. 2 X 500mg with breakfast and 2 X 500mg with my evening meal. I have never seen any guidelines that show this is wrong. Maybe just taking them twice a day would sort out your problem.

I find I only get side effects if I don't eat anything at all when I take the tablets.

 

[Tootse]

I didn't have a problem with twice a day, but the doctor has prescribed it for 3 times, but I had to start them slowly. Just 1 in morning first week, then I in morning and I in evening 2nd week and so on. Once I'm regularly on 3 a day I was told that it would take a while for my bg levels to even out.

So my lunchtime one can be taken with an apple, but it's not advised to have the morning one on a empty stomach?

 

[catza]

Some members have had no side effects whilst some, like me, found that we needed the slow introduction method in order to let their bodies settle down before increasing the number of tablet they took each day.

Eating something small works for me, a slice of cheese or ham for example stops any side effects, but I wouldn't be able to eat a full Apple without my readings shooting up alarmingly. Everyone handles sugar/carbohydrates differently so that is why testing your BG levels helps.

I too started on one a day then each week increased the dosage until I got to the 4 tablets I take now. Maybe the advise to take the tablets in the way you have advised is the way they should be taken but I would rather have a simple routine that ensures I don't miss a dose.

 

[viviennem]

I asked 2 different GPs and one said "space them evenly" and the other said "always with food, that's when you want them to work" ! :shock: :roll: Comments, anyone? I thought they worked all the time once you were on them regularly.

I get out all three in a morning and usually take them either just before or after I've eaten - sometimes as much as 2 hours after, if I've been forgetful. Sometimes the last one is at bedtime, with my BP and opiod pills.

I rarely have any side effects now, but just occasionally something fights back. I had a very bad system upset last night, which was either something I ate or the Metformin out to get me! Then the problem is, when to take them on the day after the upset. I've only just eaten today, so I shall take one now and probably another one after my evening meal.

I put the last paragraph in to suggest that it is still possible to have occasional upsets, even if you've settled on them well.

Viv 8)

 

[Tootse]

Thanks, that's been a great help.

I've not tried testing after an apple...

...Maybe I should???

 

[Fraddycat]

I am on 4 x slow release metformin and I have all four in the evening with my evening meal. You don't have to take the third one with lunch, you can have 2 in the eve and one in the morning. We are all different but apples are really full of sugar and make my blood sugar really spike, I would not recommend them while you are trying to get your BG under control. Strawberries or raspberries are better or a slice of cheese or ham as suggested earlier. These don't raise your BG anywhere near as much as fruit.

Take care
Jane

 

[Tootse]

:shock: Consider Apples excluded from my diet henceforth,

 

[Defren]

:shock: Consider Apples excluded from my diet henceforth,

Fraddycat is right, but I would say try a small amount of apple and test. Most T2's can't tolerate melon, banana and grapes, anything ending in berry is usually better, but before you chuck all your apples in the bin, do try a small amount and see. Some here do tolerate apples, sadly I don't.

Good luck.

 

[Paul1976]

:shock: Consider Apples excluded from my diet henceforth,

As Defren rightly says,It's still worth a try though,you may well get away with a small apple,some people can't tolerate them but some can as this Diabetes malarcky is VERY unpredictable with all of us different.A process of elimination regarding food that you could keep tabs on in a simple written diary is very useful I found too,Eat to your meter is the best thing I ever learned.

 

[Defren]

:shock: Consider Apples excluded from my diet henceforth,

As Defren rightly says,It's still worth a try though,you may well get away with a small apple,some people can't tolerate them but some can as this Diabetes malarcky is VERY unpredictable with all of us different.A process of elimination regarding food that you could keep tabs on in a simple written diary is very useful I found too,Eat to your meter is the best thing I ever learned.

Too true, I think the only advice that applies to us all is to vastly reduce carbs, especially highly processed 'white poison' (my view of them). Otherwise it's best to eat small amounts, and test, learn your own body.

 

[chris lowe]

I take my metformin 2 after breakfast and two after evening meal - if I remember! For some reason it's so easy to forget taking it in the evening. I try not to take it on an empty stomach as I find it causes nausea, more than usual anyway, but we're all different so maybe you would get away with it. Instead of the apple I would swap it for cheese wrapped in a slice of ham. It's easy to make yourself but I know Sainsbury's (other supermarkets are available!) sell it as a "wrap" 3 in a pack which is handy if you are out and about and need a quick snack.

 

[Anonymous]

Take it anytime.

If it gives you the runs, all the better. Keeps you regular, much better than constipation

 

[Cowboyjim]

Maybe someone else has brought this up but eventually they gave me the slower release pills so maybe this is something you could discuss with your GP.
Once again it is a tad depressing that there is no consistency in the instructions as regards medication but then in part this reflects what an individual disease DM is. Do what is best for you and gets the results.
Metformin afaics is not like insulin or some kind of dare I say palliative for eating when and what you like though this was never properly explained to me. Its effects once again afaics are not startlingly effective in dropping your BG reading by more than one or two points so it is really down to using them in concert with diet and exercise. Once again the regimen that best suits you is what you must find and stick to.

 

[KJSines]

Is a problem. I think the only reason you eat with metformin is to avoid a hypo,, adjusting the dose doesn't work like insulin.. Personally I try to eat with them to help reduce the problems with stomach upsets. I'm sure you will find out what is best for you.

 

[KJSines]

Perhaps Sustained action meteor min may work for you!

 

[xyzzy]

I think the only reason you eat with metformin is to avoid a hypo

Very unlikely as Metformin does not work by stimulating a release of insulin. It's inability to produce hypos is the reason you don't have to report you are diabetic to the DVLA as your risk of hypo or "low blood sugars" is only marginally more than a non diabetic or diet only diabetic. Of hypos reported only around 1 in a 1000 come from diet only or non diabetics. This rises to 3 in 1000 for those on Metformin. Even those 3 very rarely need any kind of medical intervention.

 

[JosieL]

Thought I'd join in this discussion...I'm British, but live in California. I take metformin, 1000mg x2 daily. I take the morning dose when I wake up, have breakfast about an hour later. I stagger it because the dosage peaks at around 2 hours, food digestion peaks at around 1 1/2-2 hours. Staggering it allows for the food and meds to peak simultaneously. Makes sense to me! I take my evening dose about 15-30 minutes before I eat, mostly because of my schedule and work, I can't take it any earlier. As I eat a high-fat low-carb diet, breakfast can at times contain more carbs than my evening meal, so I figure I can slide on the timing. Regulating your daily schedule as much as possible helps just about everything, especially remembering to take meds/supplements when the optimal time is.
Although I now forego apples, before I dropped them from my diet, I found I could occasionally have a couple of slices, but always with cheese. Fats, fiber and protein slow down the absorption of the fructrose (fruit sugars), minimizing glucose spikes. But sadly I now stick to just the berries, and limit the amount to around 6-8 if blueberries, or 3 if strawberries or raspberries maximum.

 

[Phil72]

Hello everyone have just joined Re taking Metformin 3 x 500mg = 1500mg per day,I have read the answers but when I had the same problem, I went from 2 x 500 grams morning & evening after meals when doc increased dose 2 - 3t times after meals found it hard but then discovered 800Mg Metformin so started taking as before Morning & Evening 2 x 800 = 1600.

Told my doc on my next visit She said was ok just thought this might be an alternative you could try.