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Metformin question

J

jockster

Member
Hi, i take the slow release type Metformin 3x500mg and was wondering if Metformin can cause hypos?

I have asked my Diabetic Nurse this question and her answer was NO it cant, but in the passed when testing myself at home ive had readings under 4 with the lowest being 3.5, mostly first thing in the morning or last thing at night.
 
Generally accepted that it can't, because it works differently to sugar lowering drugs. I've been to 3.2 on diet only- even non-diabetics can have low blood sugar. That's different to a dangerous insulin (or similar) induced hypos.
 
I'm on regular Metformin and in the past I have been down to 2.7.
I sometimes get to just below 4 before a meal.
I think why they say no is that the liver will (hopefully) dump before we need assistance in a T2. Never tried it to check though!!
It could also be just that they say no so they don't have to let everybody have test strips under the guidelines....cynical i know but just a thought!!
Regards
Angie
 
Cynic though I am, I don't think that is it. A lot of diabetic drugs act by actively lowering sugar levels; by stimulating the pancreas to produce insulin for example. Metformin reduces the amount of sugar produced by the liver in the first place a little, and improves the rate at which the cells take sugar from the blood (sensitivity to insulin). It only has a very small affect on blood sugar levels compared to other drugs.
 


Grazer,
If it improves the rate the cells take sugar from the blood and you don't eat a lot of sugar in the first place (ie: lower carbs) then surely you would go even lower than if you were not taking the tablets if you do any sort of activity or work?
I can eat more carbs in the couple of hours after taking my tablet (1 in morning and one with evening meal) than I can say midday onwards after the morning one is wearing off. If I don't eat many carbs for breakfast I can get low before lunch, but very few carbs at lunchtime will last me to my evening meal.
Whether it's the Metformin or not i don't know but that is my experience. :think:
HTH
Angie
 
Yes, the general understanding is that Metformin does not have any influence on hypos. On the other hand Gliclazide can cause hypos although I've never got near one
 
Angie, I didn't explain it well.
With a lot of drugs, sugars would be lowered even if food wasn't eaten and sugars were thus already low because those drugs stimulate the production of insulin regardless of current sugar levels.
With metformin, only when food is eaten, and sugar levels thus rise, can metformin help the body to better utilise the insulin the body naturally produces as a result of that sugar rise. So it can't make you hypo, as it only works (in a limited way) when the sugars have already gone high. That's why metformin is no good on it's own if the pancreas is producing no, or very little, insulin.
 
Thanks Grazer.

That's helped me understand it too. I did go as low as 3.2 in the beginning and Dr reduced my dosage so that made me think it has caused a hypo.

You are such a wealth of knowledge :thumbup:
 
Thanks for that info everyone,

It was just that the other day i noticed a comment on the Diabetes.co.uk Facebook page, it mentioned hypo's during the night when your asleep, I had never thought of this happening and the thought stuck in my mind, that night i tested myself before going to bed and was reading 3.8 i was a little concerned and ate a banana.
 

Then an hour later you were probably 6 or more! Personally, I'd have thought "woohoo!" and gone to bed with a nice low BG. If you feel a bit faint or dizzy on low BG, which I've done after lots of exercise BEFORE I was diabetic, and my very non-diabetic daughter does after lots of work in the field (biologist), then by all means eat something to up the sugars a bit. Otherwise, I wouldn't be concerned on diet only /metformin (personal view of course).
 
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