• Guest - w'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »

A vent about slack GPs

Metformin is cheap, but that's not why it's the first line option for T2 meds. It's the only oral med for T2 that doesn't have the risk of serious side effects like cancer and heart attacks, and other things. It's not meant to do "a lot" for HbA1c levels - it has several benefits, including reducing the liver dump that drives up fasting BGs.

And yes, doctors should be a LOT clearer about the possible side effects... we see many stories about diarrhoea and stomach pain on the forum, but that is a self-selected sample. The majority of met users don't get those effects. It's appalling though that when I read the side effect stories on here, the doctor didn't warn the patient, and didn't say call me if you get bad side effects and I will look at the other options. People are sent off with no info. It's unethical and poor practice.
 
Yes, ordinary metformin is much cheaper than SR. Most people will not need SR, so it makes sense to use it only if needed. Doctors need to start warning people though!
 
IMO GPs don't warn about the brown tsunami, because they feel patients will balk and say no to Metformin.
 
IMO GPs don't warn about the brown tsunami, because they feel patients will balk and say no to Metformin.
And isn't that silly, because the patients who get the tsunami will soon say no to metformin anyway. And most people don't get those side effects, or they don't get them for long, or they are improved on SR. Doctors absolutely have to warn patients of common side effects before gaining informed consent to treat with meds. But many are slack. That's why I always ask, and double check by reading the info leaflet online too. Learned the hard way.
 
Cookies are required to use this site. You must accept them to continue using the site. Learn More.…