Can Metformin Cause Hypos?

[EllieM]

OK, my dad is a 87 (nearly 88) yo T2. He used to test his blood sugars while my T1 mother was alive but has since stopped, probably at the recommendation of his DN.
In any case, his meds have been stable at 1500mg of metformin for many years, so am assuming his blood sugars are also not too bad (I get 9s on an occasional test when he visits us, which I'd worry about if he was younger, but with his other conditions I feel that diabetes is not going to be the thing that kills him.) He has no idea of his hbA1C, but does get regular "diabetic checks" at his gp.

Anyway, his diet is reasonably low carb, except for the (recommended by DN) tea time biscuit/kit kat/something carby snack. Both my brother and I think this is probably a bad idea, but don't want to swap to something low carb if there is a chance that he actually might go low. (And he does love his tea time snack.)

Obviously we could blood test to see whether he's OK then (he'll need to buy new supplies as I'm in NZ and won't see him till his annual 3 month visit from the UK), but would like to know whether it's actually possible to go low on metformin only (he's on lots of other drugs for pain relief, heart conditions, gout, hiatus hernia etc but metformin is his only diabetic one.)

So, thoughts please.

 

[Martin2018]

Metformin is not known to cause hypos apart from it may exacerbate low blood sugar in cases where there is not enough intake i.e. If he started dieting hard for long periods or not eating at all.

 

[Australiadiabetic2]

Seems to be high on metformin for his age ?
Im only on 500mg a day and im 50

As for the kit kat biscuit why worry ,he,s 88 , let him eat as much chocolate as he wants

 

[EllieM]

Seems to be high on metformin for his age ?
Im only on 500mg a day and im 50

As for the kit kat biscuit why worry ,he,s 88 , let him eat as much chocolate as he wants

The metformin is after 7 (?10?) years of diabetes, and unless you go very low carb T2 is regarded as a progressive illness. I sort of agree with the "as much chocolate as he wants" (or at least, 1 kit kat per day) because he likes it and it's not going to kill him before something else does but my brother thinks he'd feel healthier if he lost weight (he's got fat round his tummy but I don't think his bmi is into the obese range). I think he'd be happier if we could change his opiate (cocodamol) painkillers (once or twice per day) into something that would interfere less with his sleeping patterns. (He has chronic pain from unoperable back and hip conditions.)

Having said all that, it's possible that a healthier diet would improve his state of mind. (It's fairly low carb, apart from the snack.)

 

[Lally123]

Metformin won't cause him to hypo. His drs will be keeping an eye on his kidneys and other things through his regular checks. Really and truly at 88 he should eat what he wants. My darling dad was the same age but on gliclazide only which gave him a massive hypo around a month ago which needed the ambulance staff to rescue him from. He lived with me for the past 6 months gradually declining health and appetite over that time. He used to eat a cereal breakfast. I used to leave him a snack box out during the day (He never wanted lunch) and dinner in the evening. Because his appetite was so low I didn't much bother about his carb intake, thinking that anything was better than nothing. Sadly my dad passed away last week. My advice would be keep up the metformin, let him eat what he wants to eat. Presumably he's been managing his diabetes for many years now so he will know what he needs to do.

 

[Brunneria]

Metformin won't cause him to hypo. His drs will be keeping an eye on his kidneys and other things through his regular checks. Really and truly at 88 he should eat what he wants. My darling dad was the same age but on gliclazide only which gave him a massive hypo around a month ago which needed the ambulance staff to rescue him from. He lived with me for the past 6 months gradually declining health and appetite over that time. He used to eat a cereal breakfast. I used to leave him a snack box out during the day (He never wanted lunch) and dinner in the evening. Because his appetite was so low I didn't much bother about his carb intake, thinking that anything was better than nothing. Sadly my dad passed away last week. My advice would be keep up the metformin, let him eat what he wants to eat. Presumably he's been managing his diabetes for many years now so he will know what he needs to do.

I am very sorry to hear about your dad.
You have my condolences.

 

[Guzzler]

Seems to be high on metformin for his age ?
Im only on 500mg a day and im 50

As for the kit kat biscuit why worry ,he,s 88 , let him eat as much chocolate as he wants

Metformin is not age related.