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metformin

J

jakeatyork

Member
Messages
22
i havent been well lateley,feeling sick/poor appetite,and my G.P. has suggested leaving out my metformin,to see if this improves things,and after a week my B.S readings are averaging 6.8 or thereabouts,i have since being diagnosed (march 08)cut out fried foods ,now only grilled,and after readind screwfixs postings cut out all oils,exept virgin olive oil,and i now take omega 3/6/9 capsule every day i feel fine after a week (question) did i really need this in the first place or am i being cynical i have allways had my doubts and after reading some of the posts on this forum,i am becoming more convinced so,i can only wait and see but fingers crossed eh!.
 
Metformin improves blood sugar control by helping insulin sensitivity, reduces blood pressure a little, helps lipid patterns a little and helps weight loss a little. There are also long term benefits on cardiovascular mortality rates. Unfortunately the gut side effects are a big problem.

The long acting version may suit you better but is more expensive.
 
I was on metformin 500 mg 2x2 for two months. My fasting BG dropped from 8 to as low as 4.1 but the side effect (nausea) was terrible. On the the advice from this forum I recommended to my pharmacist on my last visit to let me try the XR (glucophage XR 500) one tablet at night with dinner. The result is unblievable. My BG (fasting and before meals) is stablized at 5.3 and all the nausea is gone! In terms of cost, the XR is even cheaper here in South Africa.
I don't know what my GP will say when I see her this month.
 
i have just tried to request a repeat prescription of my medication,online from my G.P.only to find she has removed metformin off my list ,am i cured? my B.S.readings have crept up to occasionaly being double figures,and i was considering contacting her to ask should i restart my metformin,but it looks like she has her own ideas about managing the nausea I.E. stop the medication stop the nausea, help and advice required.
 
If you were diabetic, you are diabetic. It's not curable, other than by pancreas or islet cell transplant.
Make an appointent and find out why this change has been made to your repeats.
I can't think of ANY reason why Metformin should be dropped unless it's replaced by something else. It's not as if it's even expensive! :?
 
Hi Jake,
Your BS readings going up into double figures is not acceptable and your GP ought to be doing something about it. The most obvious thing, as several have suggested, is to try the slow-release version of metformin, Glucophage SR (Asante mentioned XR but that is the brand name of SR in South Africa). Your GP may be reluctant to prescribe it because it is more expensive in the UK than the standard metformin. But the fact that your BS has been increasing steadily since stopping metformin simply proves that you do have insulin resistance and that you therefore need a medication to counter this - and metformin and Glucophage SR are the only two available.

In the meantime you can also help things by reducing your carbohydrate intake a little (e.g. cut down on whatever portion of rice or pasta or cereals or potatoes that you would normally have). Even a small reduction can have a very noticeable effect on your BS. Don't worry too much about the fat content - its the carbs that raise your BS, not fat.
 
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