Metformin is making me miserable

Hello and welcome @leanne_2

That sounds really awful- virtual hugs from me.

I only had symptoms from metformin when I took them without food. I always had the slow release.

If you didn't have the slow release you could try that.

I would encourage you to report it as an adverse effect of the drug. Where I work we deal with animal drugs and people do report adverse effects which are then reported to the company. More information is always useful.

Good luck and welcome.

leanne_2 said:

Hello I’ve tried taking Metformin XR to reverse my insulin resistance but when I took it I felt so depressed, so miserable, and I couldn’t get out of bed in the morning despite me being a very overly energetic person. The GI problems were a piece of cake, they went away after a couple of days but the misery I felt was unbearable. I couldn’t talk, or smile, or think even. This continued for a month and a half until I decided to stop taking metformin all together because I just couldn’t take it anymore! The strange thing is straight afterwards after eating a high carb meal I felt so hyper in an uncomfortable way, I couldn’t sleep at night, was too talkative, I couldn’t sit still- just too much energy in general. It was as if my nervous system was turned on to its highest capacity. Does anyone have any idea what’s going on? I’m so confused because this doesn’t seem like a common side effect of the drug.
Thanks ^^

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Those side effects aren't listed in the leaflet, but the leaflet does have a whole chapter on the dangers of lactic acidosis, which is conveniently seperate and not something you'll read when you're specifically looking at the side effect section. One of the symptoms includes extreme fatigue. No idea whether that is what happened, but you might want to talk to your doctor and/or pharmacy about this.

The leaflet said:
Stop taking Metformin Mylan and contact a doctor or the nearest hospital immediately if you
experience some of the symptoms of lactic acidosis, as this condition may lead to coma.
Symptoms of lactic acidosis include:
- vomiting
- stomach ache (abdominal pain)
- muscle cramps
- a general feeling of not being well with severe tiredness
- difficulty in breathing
- reduced body temperature and heartbeat

If that sounds familiar, metformin might not be safe for you. There's other ways to deal with insulin resistance (other medications, or a diet change; the latter worked for me and many others here), that might agree with you more.

Hang in there eh.
Jo

I would recommend write down the lists of side effects you are getting from metformin xr.

As you may be intolerance/allergic to metformin for the worse side effects.

Take the lists of side effects with you to your doctor appointment.

Hopefully your doctor will find another medication.

Once I got off metformin/xr for Type 2 Diabetes, when metformin got out of my system... I started feeling more better and regained back my energy... esp metformin was making me more unwell, muscles weakness, muscles pains, nauseous, extreme fatigue, sleepy, diarrhea, kidneys pains, plus it didn't bring down my Hba1c levels as well. Doctor got my medical record marked allergic/intolerance to metformin/XR.

Hi @leanne_2. When I first noticed a weird side effect for me of metfomin, I reported it to my trusty GP as "strangely, crying every day" (and I am not normally a tearing up and tearful kind of gal). I have tried taking metformin many times over the last few years, and sure enough - the crying thing happens every time, and stops when I stop metformin. I took it up again this Xmas along with another medication, and sure enough, but this time I give it what it probably is - depression as a side effect. As soon as I noticed it again, this time as depression, I stopped it (a few days ago).

When my GP and I discussed it, she said it was a rare side effect. I replied that i have seen it crop up in the Diabetes forums I have visited, mainly visiting this one. Not a lot, but I have seen it.

My understanding is that any med that affects metabolism can potentially affect your mood, especially as diabetes type two can absolutely affect your mood, and can present one as mood disordered if blood glucose, and all the attendant hormones are out of kilter, due to the cascade of blood glucose dysregulation and digestive issues etc that can be Type two.

And sadly for me too, metformin on its own doesn't lower my BG much at all, but in combination with another drug it seemed to help better than either of them on their own. (My trusty GP and I have what I would call a partnership, and she is willing to back me in all manner of metabolic experimentation.)

I have mentioned elsewhere on this Forum that they have identified a gene that can make metformin largely ineffective. My doctor and I are assuming I have that.

And, she has noted tearfullness/depression as a very unfortunate side effect for me. So. Could be rare, but it was definitely the case for me, she says without a tear in sight now .

After a few weeks taking Metformin and Atorvastatin I was suicidal - but none of the side effects of the medication were recorded in my notes, despite my going though them several times with nurses and GPs trying to get me to take medication.
This last time I did mention that it is like talking to a brick wall.
The increase in total cholesterol which got me an appointment with the GP was 0.1.

Given you a hug emoticon because we don't have one that shows shaking the head in sad understanding.

Caused me a lot of stomach upsets so I ditched it.
I'm doing much better than those at my surgery who take it... some of them seem to get nothing more than we'll have to increase your medication.
Quite a few years now since I took any diabetes medication.
I've added more to my diet than I've removed.
I'm sure you know what to avoid.
What I added was nuts and berries every day and cloves ginger cinnamon cardamom flax seed dates cayenne pepper and EVOO.
I don't snack but then I never have.
I don't do fizzy diet or otherwise.
I do like a whiskey now and then.

I’ve been on metformin 500xr for about 3 weeks now and I just stopped taking it today because I was severely depressed and suicidal. I feel somewhat better today ( noticeable difference ). I will be contacting my doctor tomorrow. The other night was almost too much for me. I have a history of depression as well. Reading this thread and others like it probably saved my life. Hopefully others.

Sirshadowd said:

I’ve been on metformin 500xr for about 3 weeks now and I just stopped taking it today because I was severely depressed and suicidal. I feel somewhat better today ( noticeable difference ). I will be contacting my doctor tomorrow. The other night was almost too much for me. I have a history of depression as well. Reading this thread and others like it probably saved my life. Hopefully others.

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Feeling like that is awful, I hope it'll improve very shortly.
Don't hesitate to post again with any questions or just to rant, we tend to be good listeners here. And please let us know how you are after you've spoken to your doctor!

Sirshadowd said:

I’ve been on metformin 500xr for about 3 weeks now and I just stopped taking it today because I was severely depressed and suicidal. I feel somewhat better today ( noticeable difference ). I will be contacting my doctor tomorrow. The other night was almost too much for me. I have a history of depression as well. Reading this thread and others like it probably saved my life. Hopefully others.

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I have no history of depression, but was actually planning suicide - only Christmas getting in the way and me deciding to stop taking the tablets so I could visit family without disgracing myself saved me.
If only GPs would take notice and record these things - we need to get some T shirts printed with 'I survived Metformin'.

Hi everyone. I just joined the forum today and look forward to engaging with others here. I have been reading this thread about Metformin and mood with interest.

Before I get onto Metformin I'll just mention that I live in Australia (Tasmania) and I'm 70. I was diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes in January this year. Unfortunately it was a rather belated diagnosis and I had already developed complications of uncontrolled high blood glucose such as peripheral neuropathy, sub-optimal kidney function and vision problems. On diagnosis I was put on Metformin XR 500mg daily. All my doctor told me was that I needed to take the pill and cut the carbs. Which was not wrong, I suppose, but not very helpful either. I had to get online to read up on Type 2 diabetes and exactly what I needed to cut from my diet. I was 35kg overweight so as well as going on a low carbohydrate diet to reduce my blood glucose levels I also needed to drastically cut my calories and undertake a rigorous exercise program. It took a week or so to figure out what to eat and to gently ease myself into an exercising again but what I've been doing has worked. I've lost over 20kg since early February which means that have less than 15kg to lose before I am at my optimal weight of about 80kg. But best of all, my blood glucose levels have dropped dramatically and are now within the normal, non-diabetic range pretty much all the time according my monitor readings. And this has been confirmed by a HbA1c I had last week. My high blood pressure has also dropped to the extent that I have halved my blood pressure medication. So, all of that is great.

So why aren't I feeling on top of the world? I suspect it's the Metformin. I certainly feel physically lighter and can walk for kilometer after kilometer whereas, before I started to lose weight, just walking the length of my driveway was an extremely painful and exhausting experience. Again, that's all great. So I can only put my blues down to the Metformin. And I am chronically constipated which I had never experienced in my life before metformin. With all the low carbohydrate vegetables I eat on my low calorie diet I'm certainly getting enough fibre. So not only do I feel blocked up internally but I'm also down in the dumps mentally pretty much all the time. I don't enjoy anything anymore. Not even the music I have loved all my life moves me these days, and I haven't been able to touch the piano for weeks.

Given what others in this thread have said, and in light of the great results from my diet and exercise regime, I'm going to ask my doctor about coming off Metformin. I believe the great results I've achieved are mainly due to diet, exercise and weight loss. But I guess there's only one way to find out for sure, and that is to try coming off Metformin. It can't hurt to try. I monitor my blood glucose multiple times per day, so I will see immediately if my blood glucose levels shoot up. I'm hoping that doesn't happen. On the other hand, I hope that my mood does shoot up. And that I can go to the loo regularly again. That alone would be a mood booster.

Anyway, I'm very glad I found this forum. It seems to be a very lively, supportive place with lots of interesting threads.

Sorry if the above sounds like a whine. Thanks for listening.

Rob

I'll let others comment about the metformin, but you may find the bowel issues resolve if you increase healthy fats - olive oil, butter, cream, and the fat that comes with whatever meat you cook. You've done brilliantly with your weight loss and the increase in fats should not affect this negatively - it certainly didn't for me, and I was significantly overweight on diagnosis but now have a BMI of 21 without cutting or counting calories - simply cutting out carbs, even "healthy" carbs and anything with sugar in, even natural sugars. We are all different, but it's worth trying, and many of us here have found it works. You've nothing to lose by having a go.

Hello and Welcome. It's good to see another Leanne on here though sorry to read about what you're going through. Oddly enough I haven't experienced this symptom though I used to be on Citalopram for depression and I'm going through the menopause. The doctor has to have other options for you. I'm also on Sitigliptin and Forxiga. I guess you could say I'm on a cocktail of drugs and trying to master going lower on my carbs which is tricky as well.

Thanks, Outlier.

I'll raise my intake of olive oil and avocado and see how I get on. I'm keen to come off the Metformin, not only because of the side effects, but also because coming off it will be a test of whether I am actually in remission. If my blood glucose levels stay down when I come off the Metformin that will be great. If not, then I can always go back on the Metformin or ask my doctor to try me on another medication.

I'm so grateful I've seen this thread, I've started taking Metformin recently and have noticed in the last week my mental health has plummeted. I do have a history of severe depression but was feeling ok mentally prior to this and could not understand why I was feeling so bad again, to the point of feeling suicidal. I honestly thought I was losing my mind. Having read these experiences of others I think it may well be the Metformin, too much of a coincidence from when I started it to how I'm feeling. I am not taking any more Metformin, ever, I'll contact my GP to see if there's anything else I can take instead. Thank you so much for posting about this, it could honestly save someone's life. I would never have thought a diabetes medication could have these kind of side effects.

Maggie

When I first ditched the Metformin without asking my doctor my glucose levels were up and down and all over the place for about ten days then they settled down.
I started and am still taking EVOO twice a day.
Root ginger thinly sliced with whatever I'm having for breakfast.
Juice of half a lemon a day.
Teaspoon of coriander a day.
Teaspoon of cayenne pepper a day.
Teaspoon of cardamom a day.
Clove tea nightly.
Nuts and berries daily.
A reasonably normal diet too.
I've almost gone into remission and if I wasn't so lazy about it all I could probably achieve that but can't be bothered.

I'm so glad I've seen this post - it's put my mind at ease a bit. I've recently started Metformin ER (4 weeks ago) but having so so so many side effects - it's making me not recognise myself. I can handle all the physical effects but the non stop crying and mental health issues are becoming too much. At least I'm not alone though. I've not taken my meds for the last 2 nights cause I just can't handle this constant sadness and I'm thinking of ditching them and giving diet and lifestyle another go. I've never had issues with moods and depression and feel like I'm suddenly losing my mind.

I guess my question is - those of you that had a low mood with the metformin - did it ever go away ?

Thanks in advance....
x