Hi Chris,
I've been a T1 for 30+ years, and am starting on Metformin tomorrow, working up to the same dose you were prescribed of 4x500mg in the method Viv described increasing by 1 tablet per week. Although i take insulin injections i had discussed Metformin with my hospital specialist some time ago. I thought it may interest you to know that as all people (not just diabetics) become more resistant to insulin (either their own or synthetic solutions) as they get older, and this is far more pronounced in Diabetics, particularly T2s,
Metformin is often prescribed as a support for the body to help your own/your injectable insulin stay as effective as possible for as long as possible. This is the reason it has been prescribed to me, as i have long term Diabetes and (hopefully!) a lot more life to live.
I suspect that your being put on Metformin hasn't much to with your urinary infection. Infections of all sorts are more common in Diabetics i'm afraid, all you can do is try to keep a good amount of non-sugary fluids up each day to jeep your system flushed through.
I aven't researched Metformin's positive side effects as yet, but i know that it's possible to be prescribed drugs for their secondary good effect as well their primary. For example, i'm given Ramipril to keep my blood pressure low. Although i don't have an worryingly high BP (the higher nd of normal range), the lower it is for a Diabetic the better, but it also has the secondary benefit of protecting the kidneys so my doc thinks it worthwhile for a long term T1 like me, and so i wonder if this may help explain why it has been prescribed to you.
The 'Gold Standard' term applies to the dosage that research shows to be most effective in studies, but this is given as a benchmark of where to aim at for a doctor as there is no definative dose that suits every individual like you would have in Paracetampl, say.
Sorry that's a bit long-winded, but i hope you, or someone else, can be helped by this.
I noticed that your initial posting was some time ago now, so i wonder how you are getting on now?
Best wishes, Anni
