Off of Medication

[Fencer]

Good news. As my Hba1c was good yesterday, my doctor has decided to take me off of the last of my medication. Was on 500mg Metformin daily after coming down from 2x500mg some time ago. My hba1c has been good the past twice that I have been to the clinic and they have therefore decided to take me off of the last of my medication. To review it in 6 months to see how things are

 

[Mushroom]

Hi, well done for getting off the meds! Do you feel any different by not taking the Metformin?

 

[Fencer]

Hi, well done for getting off the meds! Do you feel any different by not taking the Metformin?

Not sure yet, yesterday was the first day without taking anyway, so will be interesting to see if I start feeling any difference. I have been taking them so long now that I am don't really remember the difference at the moment.

 

[Superchip]

It's now 4 weeks since I stopped the toilets friend metformin, and I haven't noticed a scrap of difference in BG levels.
Can now have a decent drink of red wine without keeping my feet in starting blocks !

Superchip

 

[Fencer]

It's now 4 weeks since I stopped the toilets friend metformin, and I haven't noticed a scrap of difference in BG levels.
Can now have a decent drink of red wine without keeping my feet in starting blocks !

Superchip

How long were you on them?

 

[Cowboyjim]

Great news but I am puzzled. My HbA1c was 5.2 last month and the GP did not say much more than how the meds are working for me, I take two 750 mg SR mets a day. Of course I eat as low carb as I can and exercise every day but they choose to attribute my success to the pills.

No talk of my stopping them... they work OK for me as regards side-effects and I drink as often as I want. Not too much but wine and beer mostly a few a week. No hypos etc. I use a meter too.

Just when do we reach the point where we come off met then? Is there a NHS definition? Bet there isn't.

Personally I will continue with my two belts and braces but your post has made me wonder.... all the best! 8)

 

[Fraddycat]

I take 4 x 500 SR Metformin a day and I would dearly love to reduce this. I have now told my DN that this is my wish and I have my HBA1c on Monday so I am hopeful that my pill happy doctor will agree to reduce my meds. I am sure that my low carb diet has done 10 times more for my BG than the Metformin (as demonstrated so well by Superchip) I'll be sure to shout it from the rooftops if my results are good :thumbup:

 

[Fencer]

I take 4 x 500 SR Metformin a day and I would dearly love to reduce this. I have now told my DN that this is my wish and I have my HBA1c on Monday so I am hopeful that my pill happy doctor will agree to reduce my meds. I am sure that my low carb diet has done 10 times more for my BG than the Metformin (as demonstrated so well by Superchip) I'll be sure to shout it from the rooftops if my results are good :thumbup:

Good luck

 

[Superchip]

Fencer, on them for at least 10 flaming years, I put up with the gastro problems thinking that it was inevitable. So what I am doing is by way of experimentation, so far, so good. Beware of an increased appetite though.

cowboyjim, I did not discuss this with the GP, they just kick up a fuss going on about NHS advice etc. Some people on these forums suggest that metformin has a beneficial effect on CVD, but as a heart transplantee I take lots of drugs to combat rejection etc, although I had long ago packed in the statins, took them for 2 years out of 18 yrs post TX.

Sometimes NHS advice is as good as you get from the banks !

GLA, Superchip

 

[Mushroom]

Hi Cowboy, Jim. From my reading of these Forums, it would seem that your doctor would say they are working so no need to come off!! It seems that you would need to ask/demand a decrease in meds rather than it being suggested by the doctor. Metformin does not cause hypos so you shouldn't be getting hypos, anyway.

 

[Mushroom]

I might be new to this but I like to read up and make my own decisions. I have turned down the Met and the statins offered by my DSN. I saw her hesitate when we were discussing blood pressure. She was just on the point of suggesting blood pressure tablets, looked at me and then thought better of it. My body - my decision. Always open to review at a later date.

 

[Cowboyjim]

Interesting points... I am almost tempted to return to discuss it with him... but it is a faff with the inevitable result. What is the use you know what their line is. Any unilateral action re meds is frowned upon quite rightly. But as one of you said, it is my body. I am already concerned about sticking all these pills in me as well as staying off the carbs and exercising. I think they expect none of us to do either or lie. They insist on treating us all en masse rather than individually. Scary.
I would consider trying a week without met but fear going through the initial stages again re stomach problems.
Re hypos I thought that if you "overidid" it with low-carbs/exercise/pills you COULD incur a hypo... they all serve to lower BG after all, but no GP has discussed that with me either. 8)

 

[Fencer]

Interesting points... I am almost tempted to return to discuss it with him... but it is a faff with the inevitable result. What is the use you know what their line is. Any unilateral action re meds is frowned upon quite rightly. But as one of you said, it is my body. I am already concerned about sticking all these pills in me as well as staying off the carbs and exercising. I think they expect none of us to do either or lie. They insist on treating us all en masse rather than individually. Scary.
I would consider trying a week without met but fear going through the initial stages again re stomach problems.
Re hypos I thought that if you "overidid" it with low-carbs/exercise/pills you COULD incur a hypo... they all serve to lower BG after all, but no GP has discussed that with me either. 8)

I think they all serve to help the body regulate your BG, so you won't go too low.

 

[Fraddycat]

I take 4 x 500 SR Metformin a day and I would dearly love to reduce this. I have now told my DN that this is my wish and I have my HBA1c on Monday so I am hopeful that my pill happy doctor will agree to reduce my meds. I am sure that my low carb diet has done 10 times more for my BG than the Metformin (as demonstrated so well by Superchip) I'll be sure to shout it from the rooftops if my results are good :thumbup:

Good luck

Thanks Fencer, look forward to hearing how you get on too!

 

[Cowboyjim]

Re the hypo's... maybe I should qualify it with my usual practice of a glass of red wine with an evening meal which is usually the most problematic for me for various reaons not least because it is shared. Four contributors to loweing of BG could, and I emphasise, could, lead to a hypo. This has not been explained to me by a health prac.

However.... among the reasons for continuing with met we can count this:


See also:
http://www.gastroendonews.com/ViewA...s&d_id=481&i=October+2012&i_id=889&a_id=21837

Results from an American case–control study and a nationwide study from Taiwan showed HCC incidence plummeted in patients with diabetes who were taking metformin compared with diabetic patients who were not receiving the therapy.

“The results are astonishing. If you put it together, these two papers, we have potentially a breakthrough in the prevention of liver cancer,” said Jacques Devière, MD, PhD, professor of medicine at Erasme University Hospital in Brussels, Belgium, after hearing the studies presented.

Previous epidemiologic studies have suggested that metformin may be protective against many cancers, and a recent study published in Cancer Prevention Research showed that metformin slowed tumor activity in mice given chemically-induced liver tumors (Bhalla K et al. 2012;5:544–552).

 

[carty]

I lowered my Metformin from 1000 twice a day to once a day on my GPs advice to try to help me put on weight my HbA1c was 47 ,after 3 months my HbA1c had gone up to 60 . Now after returning to the 2 a day Met it is back down to 51 after 3 months .I was not eating any thing different or changing any of my routine so I can only assume that the Met helped my BG levels
CAROL

 

[Fencer]

I lowered my Metformin from 1000 twice a day to once a day on my GPs advice to try to help me put on weight my HbA1c was 47 ,after 3 months my HbA1c had gone up to 60 . Now after returning to the 2 a day Met it is back down to 51 after 3 months .I was not eating any thing different or changing any of my routine so I can only assume that the Met helped my BG levels
CAROL

That's interesting, thanks for the info.

 

[Cowboyjim]

Interesting words Carol. Such changes intrigue me tho I doubt I shall embark on anything new for a while.
Plus it would worry me about what might be happening to me in between HbA1c tests afaik you only get two a year... or less....
I suppose the meter helps keep an eye on things but it is the HbA1c that they put so much store in.
Those changes you saw puzzle me too. It would seem the met does have an effect after all.... I sometimes doubt it does all that much for me. I suspect that a complete understanding of the mechanism of its effect remains elusive and it may depend on the individual.