Fast heartbeat. Sweating

[ROSIETIA]

Hi all. I was diagnosed with Diabetes type 2 five weeks ago. I was put Metformin which when the dose was doubled after 2 weeks from one 500mg to 2 daily, this made me really ill so was changed to the slow release 500mg for 2 weeks , it was increased to 1000mg on Wednesday. Last night I was wakened with my heart racing was sweating had headache and didn't feel right. I had a heart attack 4 years ago so i was a bit worried . I don't think the higher dose of Metformin is agreeing with me . Any advice greatly appreciated.

 

[ert]

Hi all. I was diagnosed with Diabetes type 2 five weeks ago. I was put Metformin which when the dose was doubled after 2 weeks from one 500mg to 2 daily, this made me really ill so was changed to the slow release 500mg for 2 weeks , it was increased to 1000mg on Wednesday. Last night I was wakened with my heart racing was sweating had headache and didn't feel right. I had a heart attack 4 years ago so i was a bit worried . I don't think the higher dose of Metformin is agreeing with me . Any advice greatly appreciated.

Phone 111 if you think you are experiencing symptoms of a heart attack, otherwise contact your GP and ask if your symptoms could be from Metformin. If not, they may suggest you need other tests for something not related to diabetes. Your symptoms need checking either way.

It's worth reading the following article: https://www.nhs.uk/medicines/metformin/

 

[ROSIETIA]

Thank you, I dont think it was my heart more like the Metformin .I was wondering if it might have been low blood sugar as I was a bit shaky and anxious. I'm new to all this and have a lot to learn . I'm glad I found this site as I'm sure I will get a lot of my questions answered. Thanks again . I will contact gp on Monday.

 

[Deleted member 475901]

I agree you should check with your GP, but I had 'false hypos' when I first went low carb - even though my blood sugar was not low enough to cause a hypo - this is because my body was used to running on higher blood sugar and reacted to me getting down into the normal range

 

[ROSIETIA]

Thank you. I have been cutting out carbs like bread potatoes and any sugary things. My blood reading was 5.2 when I checked it around 5 this morning. I don't sleep well so I'm always up early. I didnt realise there were such a thing as false hypos , what can I do if it happens again .

 

[pinkfoot]

Thank you. I have been cutting out carbs like bread potatoes and any sugary things. My blood reading was 5.2 when I checked it around 5 this morning. I don't sleep well so I'm always up early. I didnt realise there were such a thing as false hypos , what can I do if it happens again .

My GP is a bit of a wag and I hope these little gems of his will help you.control your diabetes, these refer to blood sugars in mmol.

4 on the floor
5 to drive
8 not great

They made it easy for me to see what was right and what wasn't.

If you're feeling as you say you were, always keep some chocolate and/ or a non-diet drink about, it depends on your body for how much you'll need to alleviate the hypo - It sounds like you had some hypo symptoms.

as @TriciaWs so rightly says, sometimes your body will react to the carbs/sugars being depleted.

All the very best for the future and hope you get on top of this.

Kev

 

[ianf0ster]

Hi all. I was diagnosed with Diabetes type 2 five weeks ago. I was put Metformin which when the dose was doubled after 2 weeks from one 500mg to 2 daily, this made me really ill so was changed to the slow release 500mg for 2 weeks , it was increased to 1000mg on Wednesday. Last night I was wakened with my heart racing was sweating had headache and didn't feel right. I had a heart attack 4 years ago so i was a bit worried . I don't think the higher dose of Metformin is agreeing with me . Any advice greatly appreciated.

Hi @ROSIETIA and welcome to the forum
It is extremely unusual for Metformin to cause a real hypo, though much more common for a Type 2 to experience 'false hypos' when they lower their BG by diet and medication if it has previously been very high for a long time.
Check your BG with the meter if you get the symptoms again. If it is higher than 3.5 don't panic because many Type 2's (unlike Type 1's ) don't get a real hypo above 3.0 - so it may be unpleasant, but it isn't dangerous unless it is caused by something other than a low BG.

 

[ROSIETIA]

My GP is a bit of a wag and I hope these little gems of his will help you.control your diabetes, these refer to blood sugars in mmol.

4 on the floor
5 to drive
8 not great

They made it easy for me to see what was right and what wasn't.

If you're feeling as you say you were, always keep some chocolate and/ or a non-diet drink about, it depends on your body for how much you'll need to alleviate the hypo - It sounds like you had some hypo symptoms.

as @TriciaWs so rightly says, sometimes your body will react to the carbs/sugars being depleted.

All the very best for the future and hope you get on top of this.

Kev

Thank you so much for your advice ,there is so much I need to learn and appreciate any help I can get so I can learn to get to grips with the things I need to do to get to an even keel.

 

[ROSIETIA]

Hi @ROSIETIA and welcome to the forum
It is extremely unusual for Metformin to cause a real hypo, though much more common for a Type 2 to experience 'false hypos' when they lower their BG by diet and medication if it has previously been very high for a long time.
Check your BG with the meter if you get the symptoms again. If it is higher than 3.5 don't panic because many Type 2's (unlike Type 1's ) don't get a real hypo above 3.0 - so it may be unpleasant, but it isn't dangerous unless it is caused by something other than a low BG.

Thank you for your reply it has put my mind at rest knowing it likely to be a false hypo not nice but at least not the real thing. I am trying to learn as much as I can so thank-you for your response.