metformin

[riodad]

Hello at moment i take 3 doses of nova rapid per day and one of lanctes at bed time, my doc has now told me to take 2 x500mg metformin. He says one with breakfast one with evening meal. He told me to expect stomach problems i just wondered how long do the problems last.

 

[Daibell]

Hi. If it's the plain version of Metformin some poeple have long-term stomach problems; do take them with food. If you have problems then your doc needs to move you over to Metformin SR the slow release version which is much better. I've been on the SR for 8 years max dose and no problems whatsoever so it affects people differently.

 

[Anonymous]

Lot's of people mention problems with the standard Metformin - just thought I'd mention that I've been on the standard version for a few years without any side affects.

 

[shine]

I've been on standard metformin for 4 years with no problems but always take them with food. My sister had terrible problems with standard metformin and is now on slow release metformin and is ok with them.

 

[bernie.freeman]

Hi Rioad,
I started on the normal Metformin, I had problems for a coulpe of weeks then it all settled down. Two years later it came back with a vengeance and didn't stop. I went to my GP and he put me on the SR version, no problems at all since.

Good luck

Bernie

 

[Anonymous]

I have only been taking metformin for three days, and I am hoping my lack of side effects will continue. Good luck!

 

[riodad]

thanks for taking time to answer .It just says metformin 500mg so i am guessing this is the standard type .Only started them last night not had any problems yet "touch wood" .

 

[Albez]

What improvements would you see on Metformin?
Is it a drug where u actually see or feel any difference?

 

[Pneu]

Metformin is the staple drug for type II diabetics and type I diabetics with insulin resistance...

It works primarily in three ways:

1) It reduces the amount of carbohydrate (glucose) that you absorb into your blood stream
2) It reduces the amount of glucose that your liver releases throughout the day into your blood stream
3) It increases the sensitivity of your cells to insulin, making the insulin you have more effective.

Metformin will generally reduce blood glucose by around 2 mmol/l and help to reduce spikes in blood glucose after eating.. Typically to be effective most type II's would combine it with a reduced / controlled carbohydrate diet...

It is seen as a 'good' drug as it has relatively few side effects and also some other benefits such as improved heart health.. It also doesn't stimulate your pancreas to produce extra insulin like some other type II diabetic drugs which has been shown to quicken pancreas failure.

 

[xyzzy]

Here's some visible proof that Met both reduces BG's and stabilizes spikes.

Taken from my spreadsheet for beginning Jan, the "500" in purple are the days I first started taking Met. The effect was pretty much instant. Column H shows my daily average, Column B & C are my pre and +2 hour readings. Look at Jan 10 onwards



Second image is the last few days on a combo of 1500mg of Met + 4000mg Bitter melon + 1750mg Cinnamon



[edit] Should mention the Jan figures show levels when I was averaging around 45g carbs / day. The latest figures I'm averaging around 65g / day.

 

[Anonymous]

I like your spreadsheets xyzzy

I did ask on another thread but can you clarify how you're taking the Bitter Lemon and Cinnamon ?

S2

 

[Defren]

I made the mistake once of taking Metformin on an empty stomach, did I pay for that. I was in awful pain. I take mine now with food and never have a problem.

 

[xyzzy]

I like your spreadsheets xyzzy

I did ask on another thread but can you clarify how you're taking the Bitter Lemon and Cinnamon ?

S2

Hi swimmer2. Yes like my spreadsheet the images show around half the columns the rest are to do with what I eat, how many carbs and calories, BMI & RMR calcs, loads of averages. It ends up telling me how much weight I should be losing on average a day. It's was doing ok until I got stuck around a week ago.

The Cinnamon I take is from Swanson. I take 2 850g caps at breakfast time. There was a thread a couple of weeks ago that kind of concluded you had to get the same kind of Cinnamon you would get it the States as there's lots of different types. The Swanson one looks ok as its all labelled up as a US product with FDA statements etc. Bought it of eBay.

The Bitter Melon. I originally ordered caps from Canada but later found I could buy the same caps off eBay. I looked last night and there is a seller on eBay selling the same caps I got "Himalaya Bitter Melon" at about £25 for 600 caps. Each cap claims to have 660mg of active ingredient so I take 4 caps in the morning with the Cinnamon and 4 more with dinner at night so that works out at just under 5g / day. Alternatively if you have the stomach for it its far cheaper to just buy Karela powder (Indian name of Bitter melon). Again I got some off eBay but just can't stomach the raw taste. I was attempting to eat around 5g / day. From wikipedia on Bitter Melon...

In 2007, a study by the Philippine Department of Health determined that a daily dose of 100 mg per kilogram of body weight is comparable to 2.5 mg/kg of the anti-diabetes drug glibenclamide taken twice per day

Did you see the thread yesterday on the new find "Banaba"

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