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

Maybe I should just stop eating

chalup

chalup

Well-Known Member
Messages
1,745
Location
canada
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Other
I have IBS which causes sudden explosive diarrhea when I eat, I also have no gall bladder which causes chronic diarrhea due to bile salt malapsorption. My doctor just raised my metformin up from 1000 to 1500 mg and told me to take 1 pill in the morning and 2 with dinner. Nope, just, nope. After 2 full nights wearing a trail in the bathroom floor I have decided that if I don't eat I will feel better. I have eaten almost nothing today and it works for the most part. I know I have to eat and I am just feeling ill and whiny right now. Thanks for listening.:nurse::sour::depressed::spitoutdummy:
 
Well the sudden explosive D is where my journey started some years back. Do you know what I found! a few days of fasting (one small meal a day - generally small handful of meat, a few raw carrot sticks, lettuce , about 10 hazelnuts/almonds and about the same in blueberries/raspberries) followed by about a period of intermittent fasting (about 2 weeks) will normally stop it in its tracks and return me to normal.

By the way a single banana will trigger an episode for me!

I found this interesting article yesterday https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2016/07/160726123632.htm
 
The article is very interesting, however I have not had any grains at all for about 4 months. This misery started about a half hour after I took 2 metformin pills at the same time. I have decided to take them 3 times a day and it seems to be a bit better, not great but better. I ate a salad with a bit of chicken and mayo in it about a half hour ago and so far so good. It is 11 pm here and this is my first meal of the day so I was getting very hungry. I am hoping to be off to bed in a couple hours and not up all night again.
 
chalup said:
The article is very interesting, however I have not had any grains at all for about 4 months. This misery started about a half hour after I took 2 metformin pills at the same time. I have decided to take them 3 times a day and it seems to be a bit better, not great but better. I ate a salad with a bit of chicken and mayo in it about a half hour ago and so far so good. It is 11 pm here and this is my first meal of the day so I was getting very hungry. I am hoping to be off to bed in a couple hours and not up all night again.
Click to expand...
Hun get your liver function checked. I had fatty liver which I got rid of by lchf diet.
I went on mixed insulin and off metformin for the same reason. As soon as metformin hit my stomach I started with watery no.2s.
No metformin for a year and I've just reintroduced it with no explosions. Softer but no G.
Liver problem is being monitored by blood tests monthly.
 
My liver is closely monitored because of other meds I take and is quite happy. I do have NAFLD or at least I did when I had a liver biopsy done but that was many years ago. My insulin level is extremely high and I would not want to add more. If this doesnt calm down I will drop it back to 1000 per day and talk to my doctor. I was ok at that dose. I have been VLCHF for the last 4 months. Thanks for your reply :) I was just needing to whine.
 
chalup said:
My liver is closely monitored because of other meds I take and is quite happy. I do have NAFLD or at least I did when I had a liver biopsy done but that was many years ago. My insulin level is extremely high and I would not want to add more. If this doesnt calm down I will drop it back to 1000 per day and talk to my doctor. I was ok at that dose. I have been VLCHF for the last 4 months. Thanks for your reply :) I was just needing to whine.
Click to expand...

Chalup - Is your Metformin "ordinary" or the Modified release variant. Some find the MR/SR helps a bit with gastric upset, so could be worth exploring with your Doc, if you're not already on it?

Another thing some folks comment upon is if they have a carb heavier day their tummies can object when on Metformin. Perhaps with the increased dose of Metformin, your tolerances have lowered?

I have never taken Meformin or any other medication to manage diabetes, so have no personal wisdom to offer, but could it be worth exploring trying a period of lower (than usual) carb intake to see if that helps a bit? To be fair, you're hardly eating anything might be mimicking that already, but you'd have to ensurer you would be eating enough not to be fading away!

Now, clearly that's a bit of a brain dump from me, so apologies if it's unhelpful.
 
Some people seem unable to tolerate metformin no matter the version or how they take it. It might be time to see your doctor again if it's interfering with your quality of life to this degree.
 
It seems a bit better today. I have split them up into 3 different times and that seems to helping. I eat 10-20 grams carb per day, I don't know how I can go any lower without cutting veggies completely and I don't want to do that. I am not sure if I can even get extended release in Canada but I will ask my doctor about it. I am sure fading away won't be an issue as there is rather a lot of me to fade lol. I have eaten tonight. It is now 3 am here and I think I am going to go to bed, the dog is tired and the hubby is long since gone to bed :wideyed: I am a bit of a vampire. The crazy thing is 2 nights of constant trips and 3 days of eating almost nothing and I have gone up a pound. Thank you all for listening and trying to help You are appreciated. :p
 
Hi. Yes, are you on Metformin SR (Slow Release)? If not the GP should have prescribed those as they are much kinder and probably essential with IBS. As Metformin never has that much effect on blood sugar anyway, if the SR version doesn't help, I would ask the GP to remove them from your prescription and rely on other approaches including insulin if necessary.
 
chalup said:
It seems a bit better today. I have split them up into 3 different times and that seems to helping. I eat 10-20 grams carb per day, I don't know how I can go any lower without cutting veggies completely and I don't want to do that. I am not sure if I can even get extended release in Canada but I will ask my doctor about it. I am sure fading away won't be an issue as there is rather a lot of me to fade lol. I have eaten tonight. It is now 3 am here and I think I am going to go to bed, the dog is tired and the hubby is long since gone to bed :wideyed: I am a bit of a vampire. The crazy thing is 2 nights of constant trips and 3 days of eating almost nothing and I have gone up a pound. Thank you all for listening and trying to help You are appreciated. :p
Click to expand...

Gosh - 10-20gr is very low carb, so it seems unlikely that's your issue!

I hope it all improves for you.
 
Daibell said:
Hi. Yes, are you on Metformin SR (Slow Release)? If not the GP should have prescribed those as they are much kinder and probably essential with IBS. As Metformin never has that much effect on blood sugar anyway, if the SR version doesn't help, would ask the GP to remove them from your prescription and rely on other approaches including insulin if necessary.
Click to expand...
Once again someone advocating insulin as the main solution for a T2D. The OP has said that 1000 mg seems to be sustainable, but the recent change to 2000 mg seems to be a step too far. There are other meds in the chest that are compatible with Met, and should be discussed with the HCP The issue being discussed was gastric reaction,
 
Good morning all. The worst of the storm seems to have passed now. I hope so anyways. But it was an ugly couple of days. Metformin seems to work well for me and I certainly dont want to put more insulin into a system that already has far more than normal, and I have been tested. I think I will stay at 1500 mg and keep it divided into 3 different times a day as 1000 mg taken all at once is more than my system can handle. I also am opposed to any drugs that try to force my pancreas to make more insulin. In my case that just seems counterproductive. So far I have lost 20 lbs so this is a start and I have got my A1c from 10.4 down to 6.7. Not down quite where it should be but a whole lot better. Thanks all :)
 
Back
Top