Good afternoon all. This is my first post. I was diagnosed type 2 7 weeks ago HbA1c a little over 100 and over 4 weeks built up to 4x500mg Metformin per day. Not testing bloods myself at the moment. I have a blood test in 5 weeks. I have lost 8kg, and my BMI has dropped from 31 to 28. This is helped by Metformin reducing my appetite. I'm a keen hiker and my last few hikes I have been puffing and panting earlier than I did before medication. I will be walking again on Monday 17km with 1200m total climb. Would dropping my dose to 1x500mg in the morning of my walk instead of 2x500mg be of benefit to me? I feel like my body struggles to get the energy I need after an hour (glycogen to glucose conversion in the liver much reduced?) I realise taking professional medical advice would be the best route but asking people who experience type 2 firsthand will be helpful and perhaps more knowledgeable than my diabetic nurse.
-
Guest, the forum is undergoing some upgrades and so the usual themes will be unavailable for a few days. In the meantime, you can use the forum like normal. We'd love to know what you think about the forum! Take the 2025 Survey »
I was diagnosed with a similar hb1ac (106 in my case) about a month ago and also put on metformin - although in my case only 2 x 500mg per day. Not sure if my BMI was a factor (it was 28 at that time, about 26.5 now) but that does seem quite a high dose you're on (although I'm no expert!).
Having said that I'd have thought the lack of energy might be more related to the reduce calorie intake and other diet changes than down to the metformin itself. I'd be tempted to do some low-carb snacking during the walk maybe, to try and keep energy levels up.
I do climb Munro's from time to time but haven't since my diagnosis - but it'll be interesting to see how I cope when I get back to it. I'm hoping that carrying less weight might make up for any other issues.
Having said that I'd have thought the lack of energy might be more related to the reduce calorie intake and other diet changes than down to the metformin itself. I'd be tempted to do some low-carb snacking during the walk maybe, to try and keep energy levels up.
I do climb Munro's from time to time but haven't since my diagnosis - but it'll be interesting to see how I cope when I get back to it. I'm hoping that carrying less weight might make up for any other issues.
catinahat
Well-Known Member
Welcome @Roadsport
Metformin stays in your system for around 4 days so cutting your dose by half on the morning is extremely unlikely to have any effect
https://www.drugs.com/medical-answe...t=5.5 x 17.6 hours = 96.8 hours for metformin.
Metformin stays in your system for around 4 days so cutting your dose by half on the morning is extremely unlikely to have any effect
https://www.drugs.com/medical-answe...t=5.5 x 17.6 hours = 96.8 hours for metformin.
Metformin will have no affect on your puffing and panting. Your body is gradually getting used to more normal levels of glucose in your blood. give it time to adjust, if you try to circumvent the process, it will not adjust properly and then the whole process will take a lot more time. Go with the flow, and then you will realise as things improve, that it was short term pain for long term gain.
I think it would make more sense to see if you can do some blood glucose tests, at the moment, you have no way to know if it's high BG, lower than your usual BG, the metformin, or something else altogether causing the difficulties.
But considering it's saturday and the hike will be the day after tomorrow, this may prove difficult.
Any chance you know any diabetics willing to let you borrow their meter tomorrow?
Thank you for the responses. The fact Metformin will be in my system for days is a bit of information that I needed - no point trying to cut my dose on the day then. Further weight loss and improving my cardio will all help and the readjustment of my body is taking place. I'll get an idea of my long term sugar levels soon.
