Metformin - am I right to be scared??

Hi Emmar, I am not sure why you would be so scared of metformin. It is not a drug that stimulates insulin so it will not drive you low. The one thing it may do is cause a few days of stomach or bowel upset but that usually resolves quite quickly. Metformin works by decreasing insulin resistance and slowing down the liver from dumping too much glucose into your system. It takes weeks to build to a therapeutic dose and wont be a sudden shock to your blood sugars. It is also a mild appetite suppressant in some people. This is a drug that has been around for many many years and is well studied. The false hypos you are experiencing should go away as your blood sugars stabilize at a more normal level and as unpleasant as they are, they are a good sign that you are headed in the right direction.

5 months in with Metformin. The biggest issue is as 'chalup' says, the bowelly issues. It took me 5 months to get use to it. I kept a food diary and BG readings. It might help detecting triggers. I found certain foods made it worse, IRs very much perseverance! You will get use to it, there is a Slow Release version, might be worth keeping in mind. Good luck and don't worry you will be fine. X

Hi Emmar,

I've been on Metformin for 12 years without any problems. I can't remember any side effects from back when I started but now I have none. Combined with my other meds and a lower carb diet, I'm seeing good bg's too.

S

It is only a minority who get the bowel upsets, and while they can be unpleasant, there are tricks to manage them
- start on a low dose for a week or two, then add another tablet, allowing your body to adjust slowly
- spread the tablets out through the day
- always take them with meals
- some people say the bowels are worst after carbs, so that is easily adjustable by reducing the carb content of meals.

and, I repeat, it is only a minority of people who get the side effects (although they are understandably the most vocal!) so you may well get no side effects at all!

There is nothing scary about Metformin. It is not a very powerful drug and if they give you adverse side effects there are things you can do about that. Make sure you take them with meals and have the SR version which is kinder if you are one of the people who get bowel problems.

I had a problem with my taste of foods and so my dose was reduced until DN thought that there wasn't much point. Unfortunate maybe but definitely not scary.

Just be aware that reducing carbs on an LCHF diet means that you need to replace them with some fats for the energy you were previously getting from them - both are both an essential part of this diet. And LCHF does not necessarily = high cholersterol!

And yes its a good idea to get used to metformin gradually. It's a well tried and tested drug, and we tend to hear (as with many things!) the problems that people have and not the successes. I've only ever had a couple of tummy upsets in over two and a half years, and that was when I first started eating a low carb diet and ate a couple of higher carb meals (spaghetti). But do pester for the slow release version if you don't manage with the standard one.

Robbity

Hi Emmar,
I was diagnosed 4 weeks ago today, prescribed Metformin & sent on my way (no nurse or anything) I was in the 8's.. After the shock, panic etc I trawled the net read everything I could from whatever source. found this site & read everything about LCHF, how people were dropping doses of Metformin because of better diet & awareness, through testing. so I bought a tester & began my war. I didn't take the Metformin thought I'd try low carbs for a week or so as I wasn't to far above what they consider normal bloods, was horrible I got the carb flu, lasted about 4 days (similar symptoms of hypo/hyper mixed into 1) + I'm menopausal similar symptoms again. But I broke through it, my bloods came into the normal range (I'm floating the 4's) which I'm really happy about, more energy to play with grandchildren lost over a stone in weight (bonus) I know its a condition that will always be there & its early days, but so far I'm winning my war & not adding another pill to add to my collection

Emmar said:

@oopsie that's fantastic great to hear your positive actions have paid off. I was diagnosed about 8 years ago, diet changes, weight loss and low carb have worked for me in the past, but for whatever reason those same things are no longer working anymore - I have tried very hard especially since Jan this year but I finally have to accept I need pharmaceutical help. It doesn't mean I'll be giving up on low carbing, exercise, weight loss but I have found it very difficult to accept I need medication. Good luck with your journey

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Sending hugs. That's why I said so far, a few months,years down the line I might be taking it myself.

Emmar said:

Tomorrow I start taking Metformin - I've been trying my hardest with LCHF but unfortunately, for me, it's not been a great success. I am ridiculously scared of starting this medication and I'm not sure why - although when my bloods near the low 7's I often experience false hypo symptoms which I hate. I'm dreading how rubbish I'm going to feel as my sugars normalise . Does anyone have any words of advice / comfort???

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To be honest I didn't experience much of a problem. I did go to feel a bit unwell when I was out in town one day and ate something in a local cafe because I felt quite low. But that was the only time. I'm sure it was a false hypo.

Metformin is considered so safe pregnant women can be prescribed it in gestational diabetes.

Emmar said:

@oopsie that's fantastic great to hear your positive actions have paid off. I was diagnosed about 8 years ago, diet changes, weight loss and low carb have worked for me in the past, but for whatever reason those same things are no longer working anymore - I have tried very hard especially since Jan this year but I finally have to accept I need pharmaceutical help. It doesn't mean I'll be giving up on low carbing, exercise, weight loss but I have found it very difficult to accept I need medication. Good luck with your journey

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I was origionally diagnosed in 2005 and found it very easy to control with diet alone and no meds. Here I am 11 years later and it just doesn't work that way any more. Even with meds and low carb I am struggling. I think this is a very common story. It is great to hear how people newly diagnosed seem to be able to get things under control so easily and I don't want to rain on anyone's parade but years down the line things may change. I think when that happens we tend to beat up on ourselves. We think that we are failures because we know how to keep it under control and we have not done it. I am guilty of this but now I think that our bodies change as we age and time goes by. Change is unavoidable and we need to accept that and move on to dealing with it. In my case it also means meds when I did not really want to go there. I know that people who are newer and managing this with diet alone are happy with their success and trying to help but it is not always possible. Just some thoughts.

You have managed for 11 years without meds. If you had taken the meds at the beginning where would you be now? You had the courage to give your body a chance to sort itself out. Now it needs some help.

What I find difficult is when the initial diet advice is 'eat healthy carbs' (a contradiction in terms for diabetics) and we will give you meds from the beginning to mop up the result. By the way it is your fault for being type 2 diabetic, you are the wrong ethnicity, your parents did not have it so it must be your fault, the attitude I got from the DN. We are in the middle of a diabetes epidemic and the drug companies are laughing all the way to the bank.

I know that eventually I may need to take some medication but the longer I can delay that the better. If I can manage 11 years I will be happy with that achievement.

I did not manage 11 years well. When my right foot suddenly went numb I dusted off my meter and tested with a strip that had expired 4 years earlier and was at 26. I freaked. The next day I got a new meter and strips and was still in the 20's. There were other things going on with meds for other issues at the time but my A1c was 10.4. Turns out it had been steadily rising for about a year and doc forgot to mention it. Turns out the foot is probably not neuropathy or at least not entirely. Over those years my weight had steadily crept up but in the last two years I became disabled enough with arthritis that I had to stop working. 50 more pounds happened overnight it seemed. The weight gain seems to be what retriggered the diabetes. (I had previously lost 120 lbs)
I am now struggling with everything. The weight does not want to come off, my insulin level is off the charts high, my fasting level this morning was 7.7 which is terrible. A1c is still 6.7 which is better but still firmly diabetic and my lab FBG was 8.3. This is with very low carb for 4 months <20 g per day, forxiga, and 1500 mg metformin. Anyways, the point of all this is not just that things change and easy control may not last, but also how easy it is to get control and then get on with life and suddenly find you are out of control and didn't even notice. I keep hearing people say they are in remission or cured, I read how all these people get control with the help of metformin and immediately want to stop taking the drug that is helping to control it??????? It makes no sense to me. Ah well, I am having a frustrating D-day. I wish you all well.