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Metformin with alcohol

M

M9483

Newbie
Hello everyone. I am knew to this site and want to first say thank all for contributing on the wealth of information. So my question is if its alright to drink alcohol while drinking metformin? I just want to point out a few things first on my condition. I was diagnosed with Type 2 as of July last year. I started taking metformin of 2000mg a day with an A1C level of 11.2. I stopped cold turkey drinking of any kind when i was in the emergency room. 4 months later, my a1c dropped to 9. 3 months after it was at 7. As of 2 months ago, im now at 5.4. Im assuming thats good. For the past few months the doctor lowered it to taking one pill of 500mg a day. I wish he told me i can stop completely but i guess not yet. It's been some crazy times lately as most are aware. Before July last year, my favorite drink was whiskey. So back to my question, is it safe for me to have my first drink since july last year while drinking one 500mg a day? I heard drinking it with seltzer water is ok i guess. Im just concerned on the metformin thing. Thank all.
 
M9483 said:
So my question is if its alright to drink alcohol while drinking metformin?
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I drank low carb beer and single malt whisky when I was taking Metformin, but did not go out of my way to get **** faced drinking alcohol.

My GP knows I drink, and says keep the drinking under moderation.
 
Tipetoo said:
I drank low carb beer and single malt whisky when I was taking Metformin, but did not go out of my way to get **** faced drinking alcohol.

My GP knows I drink, and says keep the drinking under moderation.
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Thanks for the response. How many mg per day of metformin were you drinking? Im also not planning to drink like I was before being diagnosed. I was thinking of drinking 3-4 cups of jamison whiskey with seltzer. Iv just been afraid to kind of since last year in the emergency room.
 
Hi @M9483 and welcome to the forum. I am on Metformin and am teetotal, I haven’t drunk alcohol for years, so from before my type 2 diagnosis. I don’t want to be a party pooper, however here’s an article about Metformin and alcohol. So long as you don’t binge drink it appears you’ll probably be ok but I want to high light the increased risk of lactic acidosis, a potentially very dangerous condition.
https://www.healthline.com/health/diabetes/metformin-alcohol


Edit for typo.
 
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Hi. The Metformin leaflet says no alcohol but I suspect many of us do have some alcohol but don't have too much. It's your call but I suspect small amounts of alcohol together with low dose Metformin will not show any ill effects
 
I no longer use Metformin or alcohol but have mixed them in the past without any obvious adverse effects. Newly diagnosed type 2 could potentially be more likely to experience 'false' hypos as the combined effect of alcohol and Metformin discourages the liver from secreting glucose.

Keep in mind that alcohol will incrementally increase insulin resistance, but that's another subject for another day.
 
I have drunk a fair few times on 2000mg but I never got "drunk.

The risk of getting too drunk is that the symptoms of the rare side effects of mixing booze with Metformin are similar to those of being drunk only you can end up dead rather then with a hangover!

So generally it's just making sure you don't get smashed and people around you know if you start acting weird (see symptom on box) it's possibly the drugs and not the booze so putting you to bed might not be the best idea
 
I take metformin in the morning and whisky in the evening so far not a problem but I don't drink a large amount just one or two tots well maybe three or four but definitely no more.
 
I prefer a single malt I quite like Auchentoshan 12 year old malt. But with blended whisky I quite like copper Dog or Johnie Walker Green Label or Black label but definitely a single malt has always been my drop of choice.
 
Jim Lahey said:
I no longer use Metformin or alcohol but have mixed them in the past without any obvious adverse effects. Newly diagnosed type 2 could potentially be more likely to experience 'false' hypos as the combined effect of alcohol and Metformin discourages the liver from secreting glucose.

Keep in mind that alcohol will incrementally increase insulin resistance, but that's another subject for another day.
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Thanks for sharing this experience and insight I am new to the group.
I discontinued the use of Metformin more than a year and a half ago. It gave me terrible acid reflux problems, seemed to exacerbate my urgency issues and rapid weight loss (perhaps the latter really reflected its ineffectiveness rather than attributable causation). I had to be taking other medicines to cancel its massive side effects.
I only take Glipizide now and my HB A1 C is 6.2 and has hovered around 6.5 for the last three months.
 
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