Welcome
@00jones
Sorry you're experiencing the rather unpleasant side effects of metformin, I know from experience how distressing it can be.
You already know about taking it with food, the usual advice is to persevere for a week or two and hope that the side effects disappear.
Another option is to ask your Dr for the slow release version, many people find it easier to tolerate.
If like me you are one of the unfortunate ones that just can't take metformin, there are other drugs your Dr can prescribe. Although all medicines come with side effects, so it could be a case of out of the frying pan, into the fire.
Metformin is a relatively mild drug that helps only a little with your sugar levels. Reducing the the amount of carbohydrates in your diet will reduce your sugar levels much more effectively than metformin ever could.
If you don't put the carbs in the resulting sugars can't get into your blood.
Have a look at the link below my post for the Nutritional thingy it should help