Metformin neuropathy symptoms

I got pins and needles in my hand and memory problems with metformin. Metformin can lead to vitamin B12 deficiency which can result in neuropathy. I have now stopped taking metformin.

I was given Metformin when the GP said that I have diabetes. I had no problems before I started but on Metformin I was feeling sick and my feet started feeling as if I was stepping on cotton wool. I was then put on the slow release Metformin 1500 to 2000mg a day and Gliclazide which I took before meals. A few days after I was getting pain in my ankles and feet. It felt as if there were worms going through my blood vessels or being cut with razors and it was extremely painful. This sensation stopped when I stopped Metformin a few weeks later. They say these problems are supposed to go away but I was getting tingling in my extremities and I started not being able to feel my feet and lower legs. The consultant diagnosed a neuropathy in them. I started feeling my feet and upper legs when I stopped the Gliclazide. I had quite a severe reaction to Gliclazide. I tried a little metformin a few weeks after stopping the gliclazide but the sensations returned immediately. I remembered that there was nothing wrong before I started the drugs even though my fasting blood was at 17 mmol/l and HbA1c was extremely high. Before I started the drugs I had no problems with my feet. Thankfully the well feeling in my feet has returned after stopping these drugs about six weeks ago.

nosweets said:

I was given Metformin when the GP said that I have diabetes. I had no problems before I started but on Metformin I was feeling sick and my feet started feeling as if I was stepping on cotton wool. I was then put on the slow release Metformin 1500 to 2000mg a day and Gliclazide which I took before meals. A few days after I was getting pain in my ankles and feet. It felt as if there were worms going through my blood vessels or being cut with razors and it was extremely painful. This sensation stopped when I stopped Metformin a few weeks later. They say these problems are supposed to go away but I was getting tingling in my extremities and I started not being able to feel my feet and lower legs. The consultant diagnosed a neuropathy in them. I started feeling my feet and upper legs when I stopped the Gliclazide. I had quite a severe reaction to Gliclazide. I tried a little metformin a few weeks after stopping the gliclazide but the sensations returned immediately. I remembered that there was nothing wrong before I started the drugs even though my fasting blood was at 17 mmol/l and HbA1c was extremely high. Before I started the drugs I had no problems with my feet. Thankfully the well feeling in my feet has returned after stopping these drugs about six weeks ago.

Click to expand...

Hello I was also given Metformin but had constantly to run to the loo and sometimes did not make it. I stopped going out it was so bad and eventually was taken off it and am now taking 100mg Sitagliptine. I am now experiencing terrible shooting pains in my feet and they feel on fire. Is this another side effect do you think? What medication do you take now?

peabody2 said:

Hello I was also given Metformin but had constantly to run to the loo and sometimes did not make it. I stopped going out it was so bad and eventually was taken off it and am now taking 100mg Sitagliptine. I am now experiencing terrible shooting pains in my feet and they feel on fire. Is this another side effect do you think? What medication do you take now?

Click to expand...

I stopped taking metformin and now have no diabetes medication. Despite that, I have managed to reduce my HbA1C blood sugars from 99 to 43. I did this my eating a LCHF diet ... see https://www.dietdoctor.com/low-carb for some ideas of what to eat on a low carb diet. I also did some intermittent fasting. Check out the videos by Jason Fung on the benefits of intermittent fasting for people with type 2 diabetes.

You need to get a blood glucose meter to find out which foods to avoid. Typically you need to cut out breakfast cereals, bread, potatoes rice and pasta. Also avoid fruit juice and fruit like bananas and grapes. You should find you blood sugars decrease if you avoid high carb foods. You glucose meter will give you the confidence that you are making progress.

Initially my blood glucose was about 13 at diagnosis. After five weeks of cutting out food high in sugar it had decreased to 9.8 and I then got a meter. I slowly reduced high carb foods and my fasting blood glucose numbers reduced to about 6.5 over the next few weeks.

Drugs like metformin don’t lower blood glucose by much. Diet is a lot more effective, but you need to be doing something to lower blood glucose or otherwise you may get complications like blindness or painful neuropathy.

Hi I am getting the same problems now with neraphethy my hba1c is also 43 I'm on 2 metformin a day 1000mg I excercise eat low carb just checked my bg now after eating and exercise it is on 5.2 I get the same from my doctors and diabetic nurse they say it's in its normal range will get another appointment to get my b12 levels checked to see if it's dipping to low I used to get my b12 from cereal I no longer eat cereal

peabody2 said:

Hello I was also given Metformin but had constantly to run to the loo and sometimes did not make it. I stopped going out it was so bad and eventually was taken off it and am now taking 100mg Sitagliptine. I am now experiencing terrible shooting pains in my feet and they feel on fire. Is this another side effect do you think? What medication do you take now?

Click to expand...

Hi, it looks like you are having a bad reaction to it to me. They say that the side effect will disappear if you take it for long enough but my symptoms are way over the top. One should not have to experience so much pain and it means that there is something wrong. I reacted badly to co-promoxamol (distelgesic) which is now a banned drug. There was something on the news about metformin which is a wonder drug and they say they want to prescribe this to prevent aging. I am told that supermodels also use it to help them lose weight. It helped me lose weight because it was making me feel sick. I could not take the metformin or the gliclazide and I need insulin but was allergic to the one they tested on me. So I just put myself on an ultra low carb diet. I try to aim for zero carbs but it appears to be impossible so I keep them under 20g a day. I am not getting the safe range of blood sugars as my fasting BG is 8 to 10 but this is amazingly low now as it was initially 17mmol/l when I was first diagnosed. If one does not react so badly to the drugs it is best to have them as it rests your pancreas and lets it regenerate if that is possible. Thumbs up to @ArtofFlowers and the low carb diet. I have had to cut out all carbs and starchy foods but it all depends on how much your body can deal with to be able to achieve normal BG.I found that coconut oil can reduce my blood sugar more than Metformin.

Rosieroo - I had a similar problem after taking Metformin for the first two years of Type 2 diagnosis and treatment. However, being a medical doctor I started to do research on it and discovered that Metformin was depleting my Vitamin B12 and causing neuropathy.

I went to Holland & Barrett Health Store and bought Vitamin B complex and B12 (25mcg) combined in one tablet. I take one tablet daily in the morning up till now.

My neuropathy disappeared completely within one month. I hope it works for you too.

My diabetes is well-controlled. Despite taking Metformin for 19 years after the neuropathy I initially suffered, the Vit B complex and Vitamin B12 has kept neuropathy away.

sorry to rain on the topic

can you give us a span of what blood sugars are like with and without the medications you say are causing the issues ?if you are running totally spot on without the additional meds -- then happily ditch them

if howerver the BG's are high without all the meds then perhaps they become a necessary evil ..........
further discussion with doctor sounds an outcome...


i am liking what @achike said on this subject very much
sometimes it is something we are not looking at that is the issue.

Hello himtoo! I have never experimented on stopping my anti-diabetic medications in my 21 years as a diabetic because they stabilised my blood sugar which was high at diagnosis.

I take them religiously but I had to stop Pioglitazone 45mg daily 5 months ago when I developed some adverse effects which has now cleared.

I am annoyed that I was not prescribed B12 when they gave me metformin. It appears to be mandatory when prescribing met in the US from what I read. They also prescribe something else such as coenzyme QA with this. However it should help to also take vit B complex. My GP told me that they cant prescribe anything more than D3.
Anyway the metformin had no impact on my blood sugar and the neuropathy did not stop when I stopped this as I was still taking gliclazide. Though I had then started taking B complex with the gliclazide this continued to make my neuropathy worse. It got to my heart muscle and head. I would have gone blind within a month or two of taking these drugs if I had not stopped them. It does appear that these drugs are causing and accelerating the neuropathies. Anyway it is easy enough to do the diet I just have to reduce the proteins. .

I've just tried L-Arginine for neuropathy since yesterday, it works immediately and WOW. I am able to feel my legs again and no pain.

Old topic just wanted to give my experience if helps anyone. Diagnosed type 2, 7.8 and put on metformin 500mg. Everything good till a little over a week. Pain in toes and balls of feet. Had never had any feet issues before then. Got worse as days went by, progressed to my legs/thighs, accompanied by intense burning in my feet, numbness with tingling and shooting pains. Could only sleep for an hour at a time. Would wake up and have to massage and lather lidocaine to get any brief relief. Couple more days shoulder joint pain, burning arm muscles with hardly any exertion, numbness tingling in fingers and fatigue. As this was happening I was figuring I had gone undiagnosed for to long and was suffering from nerve damage which gp also said. Decided to stop all meds and supplements except alpha lipoic. Was taking lisinopril, B, D, C, Calcium and krill oil. Three days later I was 60% back to normal. I could actually walk and get sleep. Couple more days almost back to normal. I started off just with the metformin since my BP wasn’t bad. After a week all the 1st symptoms were back and couldnt hardly walk again. So doctor declared me allergic and intolerant to metformin. Do not know if it was due to vitamin b deficiency or not since that usually takes a long time they said and wasn’t tested. Anyways good luck to everyone I don’t wish this type of pain on anyone and have new found respect for those who go through it.

When diagnosed T2DM I had a feeling like I had a plaster under the skin on my left foot. That was my only symptom. It progressed and I got tingling. I was put on Metformin four days after diagnosis. I switched to the slow release after about three months. The tingling stopped when my BG lowered with LCHF.

No-one ever told me about the B12 thing, until an American specialist mentioned it on Twitter. I take it every other day, because on the other day I take an Immune Support tablet which contains B12. I do it because I don't know what a safe dose is. I take Vitamin D daily and I eat mostly organic food. I barely eat processed food, certainly zero added sugar.

Switched to keto from low carb about three or four weeks ago and GP allowed me to drop Sitagliptin. No withdrawal symptoms. Had keto flu and felt lousy. Was just starting to feel great then heatwave happened. I feel like I'm battling dehydration and the tingling toes started up. Just randomly and also in hands, fingers, legs in varying degrees of ouch.

No symptoms of high BG. I can never tell if I'm going low, but I can tell if I'm going high. No rashes or red patches. No Covid-19 symptoms (haven't been out of the house). Not eating anything which would spike me.

Only thing I can think of, is that I'm over-hydrating but er doesn't look like it, if you get my drift. So infuriating.