I'm a specialist nurse in another field, so I'm not qualified to give a professional opinion on metformin. My personal opinion (as all my opinions are on this site) is that it is often prescribed very early in the disease process, on the basis of diabetes being a lifelong progressive disease, before other options such as weight loss have been tried. I probably see 3 reps (in my own speciality)per month.
It seems to me that the 'diabetic professionals' see Type 2 as a 'progressive' disease and, I feel, this would be backed up by my own situation in that, for a long time I really struggled to do any sort of diet, either to get/keep my glucose levels lower or to lose, very necessary, weight. So, what did the so called 'professionals' do? Increase my Metformin and then start Glipizide 5mgs, then increased to 15mgs some 6 months later when the hoped-for lower HbA1c didn't happen. Instead, I started to gain even more weight. Had I not then felt that I wanted to turn this around, I feel I would have just had more and more tablets thrown at me, all in the hope to lower glucose levels but I would have just got fatter and fatter!
I'm also a retired Ward Sister, so I feel I do have some insight into the 'professional' aspect (although no relevant experience re diabetes during my nursing career) but I do consider Metformin to be a useful medication for Type 2/Insulin Resistance and if it is being prescribed to PreDiabetics, then maybe it will significantly delay/prevent developing Type 2. It may also be enough to help a PreDiabetic person to lose enough weight to delay/prevent developing Type 2
... in my opinion, of course
