Re: Metformin : How long before side effects start ?
I must be one of the rare ones after reading through this thread, as Metformin made me really ill within 6 days of taking one 500mg tablet daily. I started off by just feeling generally unwell, weak and tired on about day three of taking it, then the next day i noticed a slightly panicky feeling of flutterings in my chest which progressed throughout the day into full blown palpitations. I rang the doctors surgery at around 4pm, and was seen as an emergency by 6pm, where the GP diagnosed a cardiac arythmia and ectopic heartbeat. I needed further testing and was set up for a short ECG in the A&E of our local hospital, which confirmed that this was the case, and although it wasnt dangerous enough for admission, i was told that i should go home and rest, but continue with the Metformin.
I had a very bad night feeling sick and unwell, by 6am my chest was thumping and i really did feel like i may be starting to have an heart attack, so rang NHS direct who put me through to the out of hours service. The doctor there had access to my ECG results, and had also delt with someone with similar symptoms after taking Metformin in the past. He ordered blood tests which confirmed me to be anaemic, and stopped the Metformin straight away. 10 days on and im feeling much better, my pulse has returned to a regular beat, and my DN today confirmed that although rare, what i had suffered was a severe reaction to Metformin. I am still awaiting an echocardiograph to check my heart is ok, and for now i have returned to following the NHS diabetic diet plan. I did ask about low carb diet, but was told that due to the heart problem, a high protien, high fat diet was not for me, and just to follow the diabetes Uk/Nhs diet like i had been doing before. My fasting BS is around 7.3 and two hours after meals it goes up to around 10.5, my BP is 150/90, cholesterol 4.2, and i have lost 1kg since i was last weighed 10 days ago.
If all is clear with my heart tests and 24hr ECG planned for next week, then i will start to take another diabetes medication, but unsure what yet until they get all the results together.
Julia