New to forum - Metformin side effects

hi carby2009 i take the metformin halfway through a meal with a glass of water.touch wood have had no gassy side effects or any side affects up to now .

I've found the more carbs I eat, the more gassy I am. OP you seem to be eating quite a lot of carbs, so maybe if you ate less carbs, you may have less problems with gas.

))Denise(( said:

I've found the more carbs I eat, the more gassy I am. OP you seem to be eating quite a lot of carbs, so maybe if you ate less carbs, you may have less problems with gas.

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+1

I found that Metformin was great at keeping me honest. If overindulged in carbs then Metformin would pay me back with an immediate explosive revenge attack.

It seems that you are eating a high carbohydrate diet. Despite what the nurse says, that probably isn't going to be good for your diabetes. Do you test your blood glucose after you've eaten?

borofergie said:

))Denise(( said:

I've found the more carbs I eat, the more gassy I am. OP you seem to be eating quite a lot of carbs, so maybe if you ate less carbs, you may have less problems with gas.

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It seems that you are eating a high carbohydrate diet. Despite what the nurse says, that probably isn't going to be good for your diabetes. Do you test your blood glucose after you've eaten?

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Agree with borofergie seems like a lot of carbs to me. I would test your levels after 2 hours to make sure they are well within the safety limits. The NHS limit says less than 8.5 after two hours however there is proven research to show that diabetic damage starts to occur if you regularly exceed 7.8.

As to Metformin so long as I behave regarding diet I get no side effects at all. At the first sign of straying (in my case pastry) it makes me feel very sick, very quickly. Don't expect it to be a miracle cure. It does help with "spikes" after you eat somewhat but seems to have about a 1 or at most 2 mmol/l maximum reduction in your background blood sugar levels. It is not a substitute for a good diet imo that's where you will get the most benefit.

I also like it because it is a passive drug. It mostly works by stopping your liver releasing glucose rather than making you pancreas produce more insulin and therefore stressing the poor thing more! The way it works means it cannot induce hypos.

carby2009 said:

Hi everyone. Been reading the forum for quite a while to get info. Now need to know if there is something I can do to minimise the gassy side effects of Metformin during the day by diet? I'm a bit of a carboholic and chocoholic, but try to be good most of the time.

Usually cornflakes and banana for breakfast, snack on grapes, apple and banana at work. Lunch usually ciabatta with bit of ham and a low fat yoghurt. Evening meal around 7pm normal things (small portion) like sausages and mash, spaghetti bolognaise etc. Cannot tolerate salad, but eat lots of fruit. Diabetic nurse seems to think this is fine.

Meds = 1 x 80mg Gliclazide before breakfast, 1x 500 Metformin after breakfast, 1 X 500 Metformin after lunch, 2 X 500 Metformin after evening meal.

Walk a lot for exercise. 11.2 stone now (stable) (down from 13 at diagnosis in December 2009).

Any ideas please? :roll:

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I would say if you cut down your carbs, you could probably cut down your medication ( on Dr's advice) which would cut down your gassy effects