New to Metaformin, feeling rough!

[BOY14]

I have read your post with interest as I have upped to two Metformin a day this Tuesday gone. I am now starting to feel rough, have changed my diet. Will persevere with it though. One thing I don't understand is a lot have said with diet and Metformin they have reversed type 2, but how does a doctor know to take someone off Metformin surely it was that medication lowering the sugar also.

 

[Resurgam]

@BOY14 Metformin has not been noted for its ability to reverse type 2 diabetes in the past, the new factor, slowly dawning, is that for a long time people have been reversing diabetes by eating low carb like they used to do before medication was introduced. Dr Atkins saw and wrote about low carbing reversing diabetes back in the 1970s, and for the next 30 years, whilst some who should have known better put their hands over their ears and sang la-la-la very loudly.

 

[JoKalsbeek]

I have read your post with interest as I have upped to two Metformin a day this Tuesday gone. I am now starting to feel rough, have changed my diet. Will persevere with it though. One thing I don't understand is a lot have said with diet and Metformin they have reversed type 2, but how does a doctor know to take someone off Metformin surely it was that medication lowering the sugar also.

Just a little bit. It doesn't do particularly much about the carbs you ingest, after all... Just suppresses appetite, increases insulin sensitivity some, and tells your liver not to dump too much glucose. It's all little bits of this and that, not a cure-all of anything, really. It can help, yes. But it doesn't make the dent a diet does. If you overhaul your diet entirely, and cut out carbs for the most part... That's a lot more effective. I haven't been on any medication for 5 years now and still remain in the normal range. Same is true for many here. (And in my book, you haven't quite reversed anything if you're still on medication. To me, and that's personal, reversed is being a-symptomatic and unmedicated. Though some might take metformin for other health benefits though, as it's supposed to be good for a number of things aside from diabetes management)

 

[Debmcgee]

Metformin is a bit of a trickster. It removes the glucose in the blood stream and moves it to the organs so yes, it does reduce BG BUT it just moves the problem elsewhere. It will not deplete stores of glucose nor will it enable people to eat whatever they want.

The true way of beating diabetes is to treat the root cause and not the symptom. Docs seem to focus on the symptom - higher BG - when actually the root cause is poor diet with too many foods that metabolise as glucose. Our bodies do not need glucose at all - it is not an essential macronutrient. Fat and protein are and that’s where the magic happens. Reduce the carbs SIGNIFICANTLY and Over the next few months, blood glucose will fall. Add exercise and the body will clear out the glucose faster.

There is no magic pill. It’s a lifestyle disease which should be treated by improvements in lifestyle and not medication which only delays the progress or leads to other complications like heart and kidney disease. I know I’d rather sort my lifestyle out over meds.

Having said that, I’m human and I’ve just started met as I’ve really let it all go but am on week three of keto and walking. I hope I can come off met in six months to a year and stick with healthier life choices. I need to stay on this wagon.

 

[Iswole]

I don't seem to understand metformin again. Take it at night, the following morning the BG still reads like 6.something

 

[Ianbn3]

Diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes this morning, took first tablet at lunch time on an empty stomach, didn’t eat lunch. I know, shouldn’t have, and won't do again. Now, about 7 hours later feeling dizzy and nauseous. Not sure if that's just the drop in sugar levels. The nurse I saw warned me I'd feel weird until I got used to the lower blood sugar levels. But how long does it take to get used to the drop in levels? I'm going on holiday in 3 days! Help! Just nearly lost my dinner, not sure how I'm going to cope with travelling.

I've been taking metformin for last 18 months no problems at all

 

[Anarchy77]

I've been taking metformin now for 9yrs it has steadily went up from one per day to now 4 per day (2 in morning and 2 in night) also take a number of other meds with it. With metformin my stomach was a bit funny but it eventually got use to the meds. The one I had trouble with increasing from 1 to 2 tablets was Gliclazide but I'm taking this twice a day now too. Sometimes your stomach has to adjust to get use to meds I think it's part of the process. Also definitely have something with your meds. I would never eat once taking my meds and it's not great throughout the day having nothing to eat.

 

[Zilsniggy]

Many thanks for the replies, feeling a little less in shock today! So today I took the Metformin with breakfast as I should and have been feeling much better. Slightly upset tum over night but fine all day today. Hopefully a result of taking meds as instructed with food. Let’s see how it goes tomorrow when I go from one tablet to two... I'm going to Scandinavia, driving (well husband will be driving) so hopefully I'll continue feeling OK. If not, then I'll just have to be ridiculously strict with the diet instead. I had this conversation with the nurse yesterday.

It would be interesting to know what dietary guidelines your nurse recommended.......

 

[micmc47]

Type 2 Diabetes for several years now, and on initial diagnosis, found that the standard Metformin was giving me digestive problems. Switched to Metformin SR (slow release), and now have no side effects. Also, after significant weight loss and careful attention to diet, I am now marginally diabetic. Hoping to be able to do without the tablets soon.

 

[Zilsniggy]

So now 4 days in and 2 days into taking 2 tablets per day the side effects have hit. I'm now sitting on a ferry waiting to disembark and start driving up through The Netherlands, Germany, Norway, Sweden and Denmark over the next thee weeks.... After a night on the ferry with completely liquid diarrhoea and facing several days in the car I didn't take the dose this morning. It's going to need to be a very careful diet and start again when I get home.

I think in your circumstances, I'd go back to basics, stop the metformin now, eat as low carb as you can, if you have a meter to check your blood glucose, please do so, so that you can see the effects of what you eat on your sugars, it can sometimes be surprising!

Sometimes if you take metformin, yet carry on eating the same fairly high carb diet, it has these undesirable effects. Don't ruin your holiday. Eat what you want but don't go mad.......

When you return, explain the circumstances to the prescriber and ask for the prescription to be changed to a slow release metformin, this certainly helps most people with any gastric issues.

 

[Zilsniggy]

Six months on Metformin and low carb eating and I had lost 25kg and was no longer diabetic so could come off the Metformin. 9 months on from that, I’m still in remission, and eating a more normal diet. Lowish on carbs but allowing the occasional treat. Yippee!

Well done on your recovery. Was following your progress but didn't notice the dates were over a year ago! Duh!

 

[Mamalaine]

Metformin is a bit of a trickster. It removes the glucose in the blood stream and moves it to the organs so yes, it does reduce BG BUT it just moves the problem elsewhere. It will not deplete stores of glucose nor will it enable people to eat whatever they want.

The true way of beating diabetes is to treat the root cause and not the symptom. Docs seem to focus on the symptom - higher BG - when actually the root cause is poor diet with too many foods that metabolise as glucose. Our bodies do not need glucose at all - it is not an essential macronutrient. Fat and protein are and that’s where the magic happens. Reduce the carbs SIGNIFICANTLY and Over the next few months, blood glucose will fall. Add exercise and the body will clear out the glucose faster.

There is no magic pill. It’s a lifestyle disease which should be treated by improvements in lifestyle and not medication which only delays the progress or leads to other complications like heart and kidney disease. I know I’d rather sort my lifestyle out over meds.

Having said that, I’m human and I’ve just started met as I’ve really let it all go but am on week three of keto and walking. I hope I can come off met in six months to a year and stick with healthier life choices. I need to stay on this wagon.

 

[whiteorchid]

How long are you away for and where are you going...?
In your shoes I might think about delaying starting the meds until after my hols (with your nursies permission of course).
I had sone very unpleasant gastric experiences when I started metformin so I couldn't really recommend starting them when away from home or not close to a very comfortable toilet.!
I made my own decision to stop taking them after 3 weeks because of it and changed my diet instead.

I was told to avoid fruit juice and eat the fruit instead. I had a bad reaction to Metformin (and everything else!) so I am on slow release. It takes time to get used to new medication and you do need to be near a toilet for a while with Metformin.

 

[Mamalaine]

I read your comment with interest I was put on Metformin and took it for a few years I was told I was pre diabetic I had no problems for a few years I had started walking and lost a bit of weight but it caused me many problems I had the worst muscle fasciculations in my legs and sometimes arms it was like watching a snake move round it resulted in 3 different MRI scans as they didn’t know if it was related to Transverse Mylitis I had 29 yrs ago it wasn’t one day I noticed they got worse after taking metformin against the doctors wishes I stopped them it took about a week but everything stopped I’m not on anything now as I lost weight just cutting sugar they now have me down as allergic to metfomin but I doubt it more than likely if you read up on it if your sugars are low enough I obviously didn’t need them anymore even though the GP thought I did what was happening my body was drawing glucose from my muscles the moral of this is anyone who believes they have there sugars under control they may not need to stay on them I’ve been off them for about 4 yrs and managing it by diet I had a patch of illness I couldn’t excercise so my sugars went up they wanted me on Glicaside not sure that’s spelt right but they can cause hypos so I refused and tried harder to lose the bit of weight which I did I think sometimes I know diabetes type 2 can cause serious problems but bloods should be monitored more and if you don’t need the tablets why stay on them I’m definitely not saying people should stop them not ever but they should keep a keen eye on blood results and if they had symptoms like mine should definitely tell their GP although they didn’t really believe me but it worked for me as never had the severe fasciculations again .

 

[bulkbiker]

I was told to avoid fruit juice and eat the fruit instead. I had a bad reaction to Metformin (and everything else!) so I am on slow release. It takes time to get used to new medication and you do need to be near a toilet for a while with Metformin.

Personally I avoid most fruit and just have a few berries with double cream.
My view is that dietary changes are far better for us than drugs so I stopped the metformin completely when I had very bad side effects and changed what I ate instead. 7 years later still in remission.

 

[DSC53]

Diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes this morning, took first tablet at lunch time on an empty stomach, didn’t eat lunch. I know, shouldn’t have, and won't do again. Now, about 7 hours later feeling dizzy and nauseous. Not sure if that's just the drop in sugar levels. The nurse I saw warned me I'd feel weird until I got used to the lower blood sugar levels. But how long does it take to get used to the drop in levels? I'm going on holiday in 3 days! Help! Just nearly lost my dinner, not sure how I'm going to cope with travelling.

I've been on it for a couple of weeks. I was advised to take one at night with food, as it may cause nausea. Also was advised it may cause the runs. I already have ibs so not keen on this at all. I'm supposed to go up to one tab twice daily but I have not done so yet as my digestive system is not happy. I did find a drink in Lidl called ginger shot which really reduced the nausea so I'm keen to find a recipe for that. It tastes disgusting but worth it. Almost instant relief. Also as I've cut out milk and sugar in tea, I've lost half a stone easily. I've got a way to go though. I hope you are getting through it.

 

[DSC53]

I read your comment with interest I was put on Metformin and took it for a few years I was told I was pre diabetic I had no problems for a few years I had started walking and lost a bit of weight but it caused me many problems I had the worst muscle fasciculations in my legs and sometimes arms it was like watching a snake move round it resulted in 3 different MRI scans as they didn’t know if it was related to Transverse Mylitis I had 29 yrs ago it wasn’t one day I noticed they got worse after taking metformin against the doctors wishes I stopped them it took about a week but everything stopped I’m not on anything now as I lost weight just cutting sugar they now have me down as allergic to metfomin but I doubt it more than likely if you read up on it if your sugars are low enough I obviously didn’t need them anymore even though the GP thought I did what was happening my body was drawing glucose from my muscles the moral of this is anyone who believes they have there sugars under control they may not need to stay on them I’ve been off them for about 4 yrs and managing it by diet I had a patch of illness I couldn’t excercise so my sugars went up they wanted me on Glicaside not sure that’s spelt right but they can cause hypos so I refused and tried harder to lose the bit of weight which I did I think sometimes I know diabetes type 2 can cause serious problems but bloods should be monitored more and if you don’t need the tablets why stay on them I’m definitely not saying people should stop them not ever but they should keep a keen eye on blood results and if they had symptoms like mine should definitely tell their GP although they didn’t really believe me but it worked for me as never had the severe fasciculations again .

I have muscle spasms that I thought are due to fibromyalgia. I should

 

[Rupertjohn]

Diagnosed with Type 2 diabetes this morning, took first tablet at lunch time on an empty stomach, didn’t eat lunch. I know, shouldn’t have, and won't do again. Now, about 7 hours later feeling dizzy and nauseous. Not sure if that's just the drop in sugar levels. The nurse I saw warned me I'd feel weird until I got used to the lower blood sugar levels. But how long does it take to get used to the drop in levels? I'm going on holiday in 3 days! Help! Just nearly lost my dinner, not sure how I'm going to cope with travelling.

Ive just had my metaformin increased 2x500mg tablets plus 10 units of insulin the tablets give me a horrible metallic taste in the mouth is this common or can I change my tablets

 

[CHRISTOPHERLEEIDOL]

I do not take Metaformin as i am on Glacide and no affects so far, it tastee foul but it seems to do the drop much better i am lost with my rght eye i hope the left eye do not lose my sight over diabetes type 2. i wonder do anyone know where i can get a diabetes card tocarry around with me,

 

[EllieM]

I do not take Metaformin as i am on Glacide and no affects so far, it tastee foul but it seems to do the drop much better i am lost with my rght eye i hope the left eye do not lose my sight over diabetes type 2. i wonder do anyone know where i can get a diabetes card tocarry around with me,

Hello and welcome to the forums. Would you like me or another mod to move your post to its own new thread so that it gets its own attention?
What do you mean by a diabetes card? Do you mean a medicalert style card linked to your meds or a piece of paper saying "T2 diabetic". There are also cards for free prescriptions (assuming you are in UK) which you qualify for as a diabetic.