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metformin dosage

ArnoldH

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6
The OH has been n put on metformin. The 1St week was 1 daily with biggest meal. Today he changes to twice a day with biggest meal. Has just taken 2 with his evening meal (biggest meal) but we are now wondering if twice a day with biggest meal actually means one twice a day with the two largest meals ! Next week is simple as it says 1 tablet 3 times a day so morning , lunch and evening meals.

Any advice re the confusing "twice a day with biggest meal" will be most welcome.
 
I take mine twice a day : 1 in the morning and 1 in the late afternoon...

I tried for a shorter while to take 1 very late in the evening to see if that lowered the fasting blood glucose in the mornings , but it didn´t seem to do much change.

it especially works in the longer run, but it is also important to level its effect out over all the day so I would say take a pill in the morning ad one later in the day...it takes a week before the maximum effect is in place so it is important to take the medicine steadily.

one can also get a slow release kind of metformine which is only takn once a day, much more expencive I guess...
 
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Thank you

I will get him to swap to 1 tablet twice a day from tomorrow.

I guess he will be asking for toast in the morning before dashing off to work :)
 
toast is a bad choice , lidl protein rolls are a better choice then ... :)
 
Good evening @ArnoldH my friend is it not possible to get in touch with your pharmacy they would explain it for you,I used to take one in the morning with or just after my breakfast and one at evening with or just after my dinner although now I have cut down to just one a day which I take at 1pm with or after a small lunch:)
 
The OH has been n put on metformin. The 1St week was 1 daily with biggest meal. Today he changes to twice a day with biggest meal. Has just taken 2 with his evening meal (biggest meal) but we are now wondering if twice a day with biggest meal actually means one twice a day with the two largest meals ! Next week is simple as it says 1 tablet 3 times a day so morning , lunch and evening meals.

Any advice re the confusing "twice a day with biggest meal" will be most welcome.


Hi ArnoldH, I think it means 1 twice a day and the biggest meals probably means the two main meals of the day, which for most are lunch and dinner. But like any medication if you are uncertain then the best and safest option is to speak with your pharmacist, they are people who really are in the know when it comes to medicines. Personally I doubt you can do much harm with Metformin from what I've read, I think the real issue though is how a person tolerates it and we are all different in this respect. I take mine after breakfast because I found taking it with food made me use the toilet a lot, this was after I mentioned it to the pharmacist who suggested the slight change. Oh and loosing the toast for breakfast would be a good idea as there are carbs in toast that raise blood sugar, mine would go up by 2 mmol/mol after a couple of small slices.
 
one can also get a slow release kind of metformine which is only takn once a day, much more expencive I guess...

I'm sorry but this isn't actually correct in my experience. I take the slow release metformin with the directions to take it three times a day with meals.

Its all too easy for folk who don't take the medicines to give advice on something they have no personal knowledge of so do please check with the pharmacist or the instruction leaflet within the packet.
 
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