Metformin

[Marcus1234]

It's been nearly 6 weeks since I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I thought going to the doctor's and getting a diagnosis was part of the battle won. I think I was wrong.
I was prescribed metformin 500mg once a day and struggled with diaherra, stomach pain, left flank pain, feeling really irritable, extreme fatigue and generally felt rough. I spoke with my doctor and he told me to take 1 x 500mg in the morning and 1 x 500mg in the evening. I tried this and didn't feel any better. I spoke with the doctor again and was prescribed extended release metformin 1 x 1000mg once a day with evening meal.
After a few days on the ER meds the diaherra started again, especially in the morning, left flank pain, feeling irritable, fatigued and generally feeling quite rough. People have started to comment on how tired I am looking and this is affecting my work and home life.
Last night I decided to stop taking the metformin and see how it goes, I've still got the symptoms but hoping this will settle down in time.
On a positive note I am beginning to know what will raise my BG and what foods to avoid. I feel I have more control of my sugars and usually have an idea what my readings will be before testing.
When I was diagnosed I was told my Hba1c was 7.5 (58) and now according to "my sugar" it is 4.7 (45) which I think as put me back in the prediabetes stage. Although not perfect it is a start in the right direction.

 

[jayney27]

It's been nearly 6 weeks since I was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes. I thought going to the doctor's and getting a diagnosis was part of the battle won. I think I was wrong.
I was prescribed metformin 500mg once a day and struggled with diaherra, stomach pain, left flank pain, feeling really irritable, extreme fatigue and generally felt rough. I spoke with my doctor and he told me to take 1 x 500mg in the morning and 1 x 500mg in the evening. I tried this and didn't feel any better. I spoke with the doctor again and was prescribed extended release metformin 1 x 1000mg once a day with evening meal.
After a few days on the ER meds the diaherra started again, especially in the morning, left flank pain, feeling irritable, fatigued and generally feeling quite rough. People have started to comment on how tired I am looking and this is affecting my work and home life.
Last night I decided to stop taking the metformin and see how it goes, I've still got the symptoms but hoping this will settle down in time.
On a positive note I am beginning to know what will raise my BG and what foods to avoid. I feel I have more control of my sugars and usually have an idea what my readings will be before testing.
When I was diagnosed I was told my Hba1c was 7.5 (58) and now according to "my sugar" it is 4.7 (45) which I think as put me back in the prediabetes stage. Although not perfect it is a start in the right direction.

Hi, good to read a post from you, fingers crossed things are beginning to settle down for you.
The following is only my personal opinion, I appreciate that we are all individual with unique circumstances and I’m in no way an expert or have any medical knowledge but I wouldn’t personally think that not being on Metformin would be too harmful, my HbA1c was a lot higher than yours at diagnoses and I was given an opportunity to see what diet alone would achieve, not put onto any medication, it was mentioned as an option if things didn’t improve in my initial 3 months. There are lots of people on the forum who were given this option and many who, like you, seem to have been put onto medication straight away. There may be other underlying health conditions that determine whether meds at diagnoses are deemed appropriate, as I say I’m not medically trained or an expert , so it may be worth you just informing your doctor or DN about your decision, just in case. It seems to me that meds or not as a first course of action is determined by who your doctor is and or the “post code lottery” as with many health care scenarios.
I hope you continue to move towards better control and feel better physically and emotionally.
Take care

 

[Squire Fulwood]

Yours is a story which is similar to others that have appeared on this website in the past. It's not clear to me why Metformin is pushed so hard when it seems to be troublesome to so many. When I took it my taste was affected so I had a more civilised kind of side effect which made me stop taking them. I am so glad I didn't suffer the stomach problems.

My experience was that my diet had a significantly greater effect on my blood sugars whereas Metformin had no effect that I could detect. Congratulations on your progress.

 

[Guzzler]

When a drug impacts so negatively on one's quality of life then I think it only right to reconsider continued use.

 

[Marcus1234]

The metformin reminds me of simivastatin that symptoms start within 24hrs of starting them and gradually get worse over time. I am going to contact my doctors receptionist about my decision and ask her to speak with the doctor about what I'm doing, if he disagrees I will have to make an appointment and discuss it further. I hope he will be ok with it though. I don't think I got any benefits from taking them anyway.
My BG spikes have been high when eating stuff I'm not meant to and good when eating what I should, it's not as though the metformin has suddenly transformed my BG readings and improved them, my diet is responsible for that.

 

[Terrytiddy]

Hi @Marcus1234 good post. A lot of people suffer with Metformin and at the end of the day its your decision if you want to stop it. If it is causing you so much upset then I think you have done the right thing. I would mention it to your Dr or Dn. I was on 1000mg x2 a day for years and did not have any problems. Since my last HbA1c blood tests that came back at 41 I have reduced my Metformin dose to 500mg x 2 a day. I have done this as I have read the Metformin is good for Fatty Liver. Hope you get things sorted soon.

 

[bulkbiker]

The metformin reminds me of simivastatin that symptoms start within 24hrs of starting them and gradually get worse over time. I am going to contact my doctors receptionist about my decision and ask her to speak with the doctor about what I'm doing, if he disagrees I will have to make an appointment and discuss it further. I hope he will be ok with it though. I don't think I got any benefits from taking them anyway.
My BG spikes have been high when eating stuff I'm not meant to and good when eating what I should, it's not as though the metformin has suddenly transformed my BG readings and improved them, my diet is responsible for that.

Completely agree.. I too stopped metformin after 3 weeks of being tied to the loo on both regular and extended versions. My own decision entirely. My thought process was "If I were eating something that gave me these side effects would I carry on" as the answer to that one was obvious I decided to stop. As you are monitoring your blood sugars anyway then you can see the benefits of low carbing yourself so you can make your own decisions on medications. In your shoes if you are getting good results I would carry on as you are.

 

[Resurgam]

My five weeks on Metformin gave me a real incentive to stick to low carb - though the last test showed that my Hba1c is now 42 rather than 41 - but I blame the hot weather making frozen berries and cream so tempting, added to the stress of not sleeping and having to make meals in the south facing kitchen. I have now had to throw out vegetables and salad as I have lowered my intake of carbs right down - it might help me to lose weight after all, and perhaps I will start to test my BG levels again.
Old Nick will be skating to work before I willingly swallow another tablet of Metformin, or a statin.

 

[Marcus1234]

I don't fully understand the workings of metformin. I'm still a newbie and I may be doing wrong by stopping them but will see what the doctor says next week. My BG are under control providing I eat correctly. My theory is, eat the correct foods, exercise, lose weight = good BG control.
I also wasn't aware that metformin helped with fatty liver, maybe that is why my doctor prescribed them in the first place, to help with my type 2 and my fatty liver. Will see what the doctor or DN says next week.

Some of my recent readings are.

Fasting 5.9, 6.6, 5.9, 5.6, 5.8, 5.6, 5.2
Before meals 5.9, 5.8, 5.2, 5.8, 6.3, 6.8, 5.7
2 hours post meal 8.9, 8.1, 7.2, 9.3, 7.1, 7.6, 8.2

Some of my bad readings 2 hours after eating to many carbs. 10.6, 13.1, 10.3, 17.1, 11.4, 12.1, 10,1.

I think my readings are good apart from the bad readings when I had overdone it on the carbs, would appreciate some feedback on these fasting, before & after meal readings.

Thanks