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

Metformin and blood glucose

Thecrazy_1

Well-Known Member
Messages
47
Location
London
Type of diabetes
Type 2
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi all,

I was diagnosed at Christmas with diabetes. HbA1c 6.8 and fasting 8.9
Today I was prescribed Metformin, start with one a day for a week at breakfast, increasing over a month to 3 a day.
A couple of things I am unsure about;
I don't eat breakfast, what should I do?
Also, I am worried the Metformin may lower my blood glucose too much.
I just tested 4 hours after eating and it is 6. I was going to keep testing for a few days before starting metformin.
Thanks
 
Hi and welcome to the forum. Tagging @daisy1 for the welcome info.
I started on metformin - I would recommend trying to have something small for breakfast rather than take them on an empty stomach as many people find metformin can upset your tummy. I was lucky and it passed after the first few days. Even if it’s just a chunk of cheese if you don’t fancy or have time for a bigger breakfast of say bacon and eggs.
With regards to dropping your sugars, metformin works long term so one tablet doesn’t reduce your sugars. The build up of them in your system over time is what helps so you won’t see a sudden drop of sugars, similarly missing a tablet won’t suddenly make you spike.
I was on them for 3 months and now have come off and am tackling diabetes by diet alone. The decision is ultimately yours whether to take them or wait but either way good luck with your journey and read as much as you can on this forum as I’ve found everyone on here so helpful!

Edited to add - with testing, test immediately before you eat and then exactly 2hrs after your first bite. If the rise is more than 2 then the meal wasn’t suitable for you and needs tweaking :)
 
Last edited:
Hi all,

I was diagnosed at Christmas with diabetes. HbA1c 6.8 and fasting 8.9
Today I was prescribed Metformin, start with one a day for a week at breakfast, increasing over a month to 3 a day.
A couple of things I am unsure about;
I don't eat breakfast, what should I do?
Also, I am worried the Metformin may lower my blood glucose too much.
I just tested 4 hours after eating and it is 6. I was going to keep testing for a few days before starting metformin.
Thanks

Hello and welcome,

Your HbA1c is certainly not drastic - just above the diagnostic level in fact. I am quite surprised you have been prescribed Metformin at this stage. My HbA1c was 53 (7.0%) and medication was never mentioned. I was sent away for 3 months to try to lower my blood glucose by diet and exercise. This seems to be the current guideline with fairly low diagnostic HbA1c's. Providing you tweak your diet, reduce your carbs and eat to your meter, you should not have much trouble getting your HbA1c down before your next test, with or without Metformin.

Metformin apart, many people on here skip breakfast and eat 2 meals a day. Some just eat 1 meal a day. This is known as intermittent fasting and gives the pancreas a chance to rest. I also do not know of any reason why Metformin has to be taken with breakfast. As long as it is taken with food, I do not think it matters when that is.

You are highly unlikely to go too low with Metformin. It does help a little bit with blood glucose levels, but only to a limited extent. It helps mostly with the morning fasting levels. It is a mild drug, but can cause tummy upsets, so it is best to take it with food.

It is necessary initially to test in an organised way that will help show you which of your food choices are raising your levels - you could have some nasty surprises at some of them. Test immediately before you eat and again 2 hours after first bite. Look at the difference between the first and second reading. This should be no more than 2mmol/l and preferably a lot less. More than 2mmol/l and there were too many carbs in that meal. Keeping a food diary and recording your before and after levels alongside will show patterns developing and will help enormously.
 
Thank you. I had an m&s balanced for you meal tonight, chicken with mushroom and tagliatelle. My bs was 6 and now 7.8 that was 2 hours after eating. Without the metformin
 
Thank you. I had an m&s balanced for you meal tonight, chicken with mushroom and tagliatelle. My bs was 6 and now 7.8 that was 2 hours after eating. Without the metformin

That sounds OK but from now on when you buy a ready meal have a look at the nutrition label and look for the total carbohydrate amount. It will give this amount per 100g and possibly also per portion size (although you need to know what the portion size is!)
If it is more than 10g per 100g and you are going to have more than a spoonful, it is best left on the shelf. The same goes for all packaged foods. All carbs turn to sugar once inside the system (not just white sugar - ALL carbs) so you need to watch how many you are eating at each meal. The fewer the better.
 
Metformin is unlikely to cause hypoglycaemia so I wouldn’t worry too much about that.
 
@Thecrazy_1
Hello and welcome to the Forum :) Here is the Basic Information we give to new members and I hope you will find it useful and interesting.

BASIC INFORMATION FOR NEWLY DIAGNOSED DIABETICS

Diabetes is the general term to describe people who have blood that is sweeter than normal. A number of different types of diabetes exist.

A diagnosis of diabetes tends to be a big shock for most of us. It’s far from the end of the world though and on this forum you'll find well over 235,000 people who are demonstrating this.

On the forum we have found that with the number of new people being diagnosed with diabetes each day, sometimes the NHS is not being able to give all the advice it would perhaps like to deliver - particularly with regards to people with type 2 diabetes.

The role of carbohydrate

Carbohydrates are a factor in diabetes because they ultimately break down into sugar (glucose) within our blood. We then need enough insulin to either convert the blood sugar into energy for our body, or to store the blood sugar as body fat.

If the amount of carbohydrate we take in is more than our body’s own (or injected) insulin can cope with, then our blood sugar will rise.

The bad news

Research indicates that raised blood sugar levels over a period of years can lead to organ damage, commonly referred to as diabetic complications.

The good news

People on the forum here have shown that there is plenty of opportunity to keep blood sugar levels from going too high. It’s a daily task but it’s within our reach and it’s well worth the effort.

Controlling your carbs

The info below is primarily aimed at people with type 2 diabetes, however, it may also be of benefit for other types of diabetes as well.

There are two approaches to controlling your carbs:
  • Reduce your carbohydrate intake
  • Choose ‘better’ carbohydrates
Reduce your carbohydrates

A large number of people on this forum have chosen to reduce the amount of carbohydrates they eat as they have found this to be an effective way of improving (lowering) their blood sugar levels.

The carbohydrates which tend to have the most pronounced effect on blood sugar levels tend to be starchy carbohydrates such as rice, pasta, bread, potatoes and similar root vegetables, flour based products (pastry, cakes, biscuits, battered food etc) and certain fruits.

Choosing better carbohydrates

The low glycaemic index diet is often favoured by healthcare professionals but some people with diabetes find that low GI does not help their blood sugar enough and may wish to cut out these foods altogether.

Read more on carbohydrates and diabetes.

Over 145,000 people have taken part in the Low Carb Program - a 10 week structured education course that is helping people lose weight and reduce medication dependency by explaining the science behind carbs, insulin and GI.

Eating what works for you

Different people respond differently to different types of food. What works for one person may not work so well for another. The best way to see which foods are working for you is to test your blood sugar with a glucose meter.

To be able to see what effect a particular type of food or meal has on your blood sugar is to do a test before the meal and then test after the meal. A test 2 hours after the meal gives a good idea of how your body has reacted to the meal.

The blood sugar ranges recommended by NICE are as follows:

Blood glucose ranges for type 2 diabetes
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 8.5 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (adults)
  • Before meals: 4 to 7 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 9 mmol/l
Blood glucose ranges for type 1 diabetes (children)
  • Before meals: 4 to 8 mmol/l
  • 2 hours after meals: under 10 mmol/l
However, those that are able to, may wish to keep blood sugar levels below the NICE after meal targets.

Access to blood glucose test strips

The NICE guidelines suggest that people newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes should be offered:
  • structured education to every person and/or their carer at and around the time of diagnosis, with annual reinforcement and review
  • self-monitoring of plasma glucose to a person newly diagnosed with type 2 diabetes only as an integral part of his or her self-management education

Therefore both structured education and self-monitoring of blood glucose should be offered to people with type 2 diabetes. Read more on getting access to blood glucose testing supplies.

You may also be interested to read questions to ask at a diabetic clinic.

Note: This post has been edited from Sue/Ken's post to include up to date information.
Take part in Diabetes.co.uk digital education programs and improve your understanding. Most of these are free.

  • Low Carb Program - it's made front-page news of the New Scientist and The Times. Developed with 20,000 people with type 2 diabetes; 96% of people who take part recommend it... find out why

  • Hypo Program - improve your understanding of hypos. There's a version for people with diabetes, parents/guardians of children with type 1, children with type 1 diabetes, teachers and HCPs.
 
Hi all,

I was diagnosed at Christmas with diabetes. HbA1c 6.8 and fasting 8.9
Today I was prescribed Metformin, start with one a day for a week at breakfast, increasing over a month to 3 a day.
A couple of things I am unsure about;
I don't eat breakfast, what should I do?
Also, I am worried the Metformin may lower my blood glucose too much.
I just tested 4 hours after eating and it is 6. I was going to keep testing for a few days before starting metformin.
Thanks


Doesnt metaformin have a side effect of really reducing vitamin B12 levels?
 
Back
Top