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Metformin

Marcus1234

Well-Known Member
Messages
173
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Hi all,
I am currently taking 2 x 500mg metformin, one with breakfast and one with evening meal.
I got a call from my local chemist today asking how I am doing on the medication, I told them I had been sick twice and been suffering bad stomach ache and I am having higher BG readings, usually 1 hyper a day, I also feel very exhausted and struggle more than normal.
She said I may need slow release metformin, is there a difference between the two and can my high BG be down to my current metformin. My diet has also improved.
Thank you.
 
I asked in advance for the SR version because I had read on this forum about the side effects. It is definitely worth trying.
 

Can you give us some examples of your meals where you have got high readings afterwards? We may be able to spot some things you could tweak to improve your readings.
 
Rachox said:
Can you give us some examples of your meals where you have got high readings afterwards? We may be able to spot some things you could tweak to improve your readings.
Click to expand...
Today's food.

Breakfast scrambled eggs bacon BG 2 hours after 9.4
Lunch chicken salad half pitta bread my BG 2 hours after 9.6
I had some Granola low sugar cereal for tea my BG 2 hrs after 13.6

Thanks
 
Marcus1234 said:
Today's food.

Breakfast scrambled eggs bacon BG 2 hours after 9.4
Lunch chicken salad half pitta bread my BG 2 hours after 9.6
I had some Granola low sugar cereal for tea my BG 2 hrs after 13.6

Thanks
Click to expand...
You need to test immediately before you eat looking for a rise of no more than 2.

Lose the pitta. Lose the granola. No such thing as low sugar cereal for us.
 
Hi @Marcus1234 i was going to suggest the same, you need to test before you take your first bite then again 2hrs after, ideally you want any rise to be lower than 2
Your breakfast was a great choice, as we mentioned the other day maybe the pitta could be swapped for low carb bread or dropped completely, have extra salad items or more chicken instead. I know it’s difficult in these early days but you will get there, we have all been where you are, on that very steep and slippery learning curve, but once it clicks you will find it easier and so motivating, the desire to see low numbers and knowing that these mean you are winning is very encouraging and it takes away the want for naughty things.
 
The simple answer is yes and no. Slow Release Metformin normally helps a lot with bowel problems but it will not be the cause of high BG. The high BG may be helped by further carb reduction or additional tablets.
 
I'm on 1 Metformin a day and take it halfway through tea, with a glass of water. The first 10 days I felt awful most of the time with differing symptoms throughout the day. I'm now on day 17 and starting to feel more human. Just wanting to get my nurse appointment, but it's booked for mid August. Hope you soon feel the benefits of the meds.
 
Thanks all,
I have been taking readings before I start to eat and 2 hours after. I can understand the pitta would raise my BG and now I know Granola is a no go but I seem to be getting trapped in a viscous circle. If I only eat eggs bacon like this morning my BG is ok, yet before I eat lunch I check and I'm going slightly low BG. Then I had my lunch and within 10 mins I'm dizzy slight blurred vision, shaky body and generally feel ****, I only ate half the pitta all the salad and half the chicken. Several hours later the feeling passes and I feel ok, when I start getting hungry the shaky body starts, I eat and the same as lunch happens. I told this to the chemist today. I want to eat but don't want to because of how I feel afterwards and to top it off I was sick several times in work today.
I can't remember the last time I ate a proper meal because of how I feel afterwards.
 
@Marcus1234 if you haven't already done it, download the mySugr app.

You can enter your readings, record exactly what you eat, exercise and a number of other things.

I use it for fasting BG, as soon as I get up, before and after meals and bedtime.

At the beginning, fasting and bedtime numbers are not that important, but I like data!

You should be interested bin your levels before and after eating.
I the difference between the before and after is more than 2 then your meal either had too many carbs or the portion size was too large.

It is a huge learning curve. You will make many mistakes, we all did. Treat everything as part of your education.

Once you see how foods affect your numbers, you can adjust accordingly. This is a marathon and not a sprint.

I was put on the full dose of Metformin. My dose was incremental over a number of days. I personally had no issues with it.

Once I got to the maximum dose I did find my numbers started to drop. However, this could have been a coincidence as I was finally getting to grips with LCHF.

There are so many variables, there is no quick fix for us. All trial and error for us as individuals.

Metformin doesn't reduce your BG. It is working in the background. Jason Fung in his book the Diabetes Code explains it and is recommended reading.
 
Thanks xfieldok,

I check my BG first thing in the morning when I get up, then before my first mouthful of food and 2 hours after food I do this for breakfast, lunch, evening meal. I log everything on "my sugar" after each reading.

I began to realize from week 1 that this is a marathon not a sprint and it will take time.

Here are a few days readings of before food and after food readings.

5.1 - 10.1,
5.7 - 10.0,
7.4 - 10.3,

6.3 - 8.9,
5.9 - 10.9,
5.8 - 10.3

I am in hyper after nearly every meal.

Thanks.
 
This is early days for you.
Some people report that after adopting low carb it can take weeks or months for their numbers to gradually subside.
Give it time.

Also, you are on a fairly low dose of Metformin (lots of people are on double what you are, though they may have slowly stepped up to that dose over time), and it takes a while for the effects of Metformin to kick in. Weeks. And then it needs to be taken consistently for the effects to maintain. I speculate that Metformin is better absorbed once the digestive upset side effects have subsided, so it may not be properly effective until that point.

I believe the action of Metformin has been discussed on your other threads, so I won't go into it here.

Having said all that, if you are getting wobbly before lunch, then a couple of things may be happening. You need to test your bg at the time of the symptoms.
if your bg is below 4 then you are experiencing a hypo. A bigger breakfast would probably prevent that.
if your bg is above 4 then you are probably experiencing a false hypo which is basically where your blood glucose has gone a bit lower than the elevated levels you are used to. It feels odd, but it isn't anything other than an inconvenience, and the more your body adjusts to the new, lower, healthier levels, the less you will experience false hypos. When that happens your new lower levels have become your new normal.

Of course, if symptoms persist then there could be some other condition in the mix, and you would need to see your doc to discuss it. I recognise this would be difficult for you, so I would suggest that you do that finger prick testing when you feel wobbly, to hopefully work out what is happening for yourself.
 
Thanks Brunneria.

I have tested BP & BG at the time of the shaky feelings, sometimes my BP is slightly high (not major high) and my BG is either 4.8 or 10.0, and other times BP & BG are in normal range.

I will carry on as I am with diet and meds and see how I get on.

Thanks again
 
Do you know what your BG was before you started treatment? Mine was around 15 and now my average is 6.2 after a few weeks on LC and Metformin. I felt terrible for about 2 weeks, absolutely exhausted, particularly when BG was below 6. 6 isn't a hypo but when your body's been used to a much higher BG for so long, it takes time to get used to lower readings. And if BG is high in the morning before breakfast, it may be because your liver released glucose during the night, so don't worry about it. I think you should go back and see your doctor or diabetic nurse because you sound like you're having such a rough time. I don't know if you've met your diabetic nurse, but mine has been really supportive so I hope you have the same experience. Hope you feel better soon.
 
Hi Brie912. Just picked up your post, Im on hol at the mo. Yes I have seen the diabetic nurse. She was ok, give me lots of leaflets to read. When I asked about hypers/hypos she give me a leaflet, when I asked about diet I was given another leaflet and so on, she didnt really discuss anything with me. Im using an app called mysugar and if the app is acurate then my Hb1c BS is down from 7.4 to 6.2 since diagnosis.
 
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