Any Type 1s take Metformin?

eventhorizon said:

Hi. I've moved to a new area and have a new endo. I had a review last week and he advised I take metformin 500mg X 2 daily as my insulin requirements are 'a little high'. My carb ratio of fiasp is 1:7 and I take 33u of tresiba. Does any other T1 benefit from metformin?

Good news is I've been put on the waiting list for a insulin pump!

Happy New Year!

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I went on a metformin for T1s trial a few years ago and was possibly (double blind trial) on it for a couple of years. I did feel that maybe my control was slightly better and my gp offered to put me on it if I wished. But I couldn't get an answer from the organisers as to whether I was on it or not so didn't get around to it. (Not desperate to have extra meds for no reason but suspect I am borderline double diabetic so would consider it if it brought my insulin requirements down : 18 lantus plus 1 unit humalog for 3g carb)

Hmm. Maybe I need metformin too then... My insulin requirements are a lot higher than yours. 50 units of Tresiba daily and 1:5 ratio for Novorapid. It works for me though so I don't think I really care what any "professional" says...

eventhorizon said:

Hi. I've moved to a new area and have a new endo. I had a review last week and he advised I take metformin 500mg X 2 daily as my insulin requirements are 'a little high'. My carb ratio of fiasp is 1:7 and I take 33u of tresiba. Does any other T1 benefit from metformin?

Good news is I've been put on the waiting list for a insulin pump!

Happy New Year!

Click to expand...

Hi

I was originally diagnosed as type 2 for 6 months and was put on metformin and when rediagnosed as type 1.5 (LADA) and prescribed humalog and originally lantus i was advised to keep taking the metformin as it (dont quote me on this word for word as i have the memory of a goldfish ) it helps the body process sugars better and was also told there was also a whole host of other health benefits, which was good enough for me maybe i was lucky, but i never had any side effects of taking them and i am on the same dose your doctor is wanting to put you on.

Best of luck

From this site, I see a lot of people who claim t1 and are on metformin. This is a mystery to me, especially when only on metformin ann t1. I know my need for insulin, and that’s all I take.

Maybe it’s something new.

mahola said:

Hmm. Maybe I need metformin too then... My insulin requirements are a lot higher than yours. 50 units of Tresiba daily and 1:5 ratio for Novorapid. It works for me though so I don't think I really care what any "professional" says...

Click to expand...

If it works for you then it works for you. Everyone's insulin needs seem to be different. I'm lowish carb already, so suspect my needs would be higher if not. My endo discounted it when I said I might be T2 as well as T1, but I've got family history of T2 and am heavier than I want to be, and, as I said, my GP would be happy to prescribe.

I have Metformin and insulin. It's partly to keep my DN happy. GPs and DNs are a bit obsessed with Metformin as they sometimes believe it's a diabetes miracle drug. It does help BS just a little so my insulin is marginally lower with the drug. It does have some other benefits so I'm happy to take it.

I have been using metformin for the last six years as a type 1 diabetic. I read some research at the time from the USA, they were giving it to Type 1's to help them reduce their weight and to help reduce the amount of units of rapid insulin they were taking with there meals.

Insulin does not make you put on weight, but it does stimulate your appetite. So in some people who feel the need to increase their insulin dosage, there can be weight gain. Wile metformin helps to reduce your appetite and make your system more sensitive to insulin.

I was at the time putting on weight and increasing my insulin dosage. I showed my GP the research papers I had been reading and asked him if I could give it a go. He prescribed 2 x 500mg/day to start with, and within a month i had lost two Kg of weight and found that I needed less rapid insulin each day, I later increased my dosage to 3 x 500mg/day and after six months had lost a total of five Kg's in weight and reduced my daily insulin by around 20%.