On merformin/ missed period, hunger, binge eating and low bs

Hi all,

I hope you can help me.

I am on merformin for around last 6-7 weeks because of my insulin resistance. The result of my ogtt test showed that while my insulin was rising to a higher number, my blood sugar was going down rapidly. So it was reactive hypoglycemia due to insulin resistance.

Doctor started me with 500 mg x2 a day, after a month he raised it to 500 mg x3. I have not been feeling well, I have extreme hunger for last 2-3 weeks like how it was before metformin. And for the first time in my life (I am 25) my period is 20 days late (for now, seems like its not coming at all). I feel sad probably because my hormonal imbalance too. I binge suger every once in two days. Normally I am so so controlled, but those days I cannot stop myself. 3 days ago, I raised the metforming from 1500 mg a da to 1850 a day without asking to doctor, it is so hard to reach him. So it is like 850 mg in the morning, 500 mg with lunch and 500 mg with dinner. Meanwhile, I went to gynecologist, he said everything seemed ok, but he asked for hormone tests (including thyroid). I will get it done today. Yesterday I bought blood sugar testing machine; Bayer Contour Plus. Here are my results for today:

- Hunger in th morning: 91 mg/dl
---took 850 mg merformin after breakfast---
- 75 mins later than a balanced breakfast (I got so hungry and couldn't wait for 120 mins): 93 mg/dl
- just a minute after eating proper food (minced meet with aubergine-very little oil no butter) and then eating a big portion of chocolate and icecream: 85 mg/dl

I was so suprised seeing 85 after binging, so I tested it again, and it really was 85! Is that really possible? Doesn't it mean there is something wrong? I was feeling bad, used to gain weight ,and stressed before my diagnosis. After merformin, maybe as a placebo, I started feeling better, but after a month I am not well again. Please help me.

Thank you in advance to everyone.

paulus1 said:

dumb question is there any chance your pregnant. im afraid you need to see your doctor.

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I wish you'd read what I wrote before writing 'dumb' Like I said, I visited my gynecologist and he said everything seemed normal, we are just waiting for the results of other hormones. I am not that uneducated. Thank you for your answer.

wiflib said:

A couple of questions...
Why are you waiting to eat after taking metformin?
Why are you avoiding fat?
What was your balanced breakfast?

(sorry, that's three questions)

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That's totally fine, thanm you for trying to help me.

Sorry if I couldn't describe it well, I am not waiting to eat after metformin. K take it just after my meals.
I am not avoiding fat, its just that I don't like too oily foods and after my struggle with insulin resistance, I am trying to lose few kgs. But I definatelly don't avoid fats.
My balanced breakfast was an egg, some cheese, a slice of whole grain bread, 10-12 black olives, parsley and carrot. I thought it was a good combination.

Lamont D said:

There’s a reactive Hypoglycaemia forum and if you read the threads, there is some great information and advice on your symptoms and need for control.

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I couldn't see a similar story, people who has delayed or missed periods mostly have pcos, but my overs are totally healthy. I will still go and have another look, maybe repost this to there. Thank you very much.

Brunneria said:

If all your previous tests from the doctor have shown 'normal' blood glucose readings, then there is no reason to expect anything different now - and 85-93 are perfectly normal.

The thing is, if you have insulin resistance, then your body may be producing larger than normal amounts of insulin to keep your blood glucose at normal levels.

The more carbs you eat, the more insulin needed to deal with them.
The more insulin floating about, the more insulin resistance you develop.
The more insulin resistance you have, the more insulin is needed to cope with carbs.

It ends up being a vicious circle.

There are a couple of ways to break the cycle:
Reduce the carbs, which reduces the insulin needed (allowing insulin resistance to naturally decline)
and/or
Reduce the insulin resistance through exercise, drugs (metformin), and diet choices (carb restriction again)

From the reading i have done, and my personal experiences, exercise has the fastest, greatest and shortest lasting effect on reducing insulin resistance. Diet choices/carb restriction has a longterm medium effectiveness, and drugs (metformin) have least effect and require least personal effort. But i expect people vary tremendously with how far they take both the exercise and carb restriction options.

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Thank you very much for this detailed explanation. In my case it is interesting that I had been trying to follow high protein/veggies/healthy fat and low carb diet for last 2 years when I was diagnosed. It was not a very strict diet but I had been more careful than everyone I know. People even thought I was so obsessed! Problem was I was still gaining weight (despite I did calorie count in addition to nutritional details) And I have been exercising really well (combination of both cardio and resistance/weights) for last 3-4 years (4 days a week minimum). You could say I was not gaining only muscle, it was like mixture of fat and muscle due to my exercise program. I still do exercise but my diet motivation has got broken since I saw I gain weight no matter how hard I work. I tried my best for 2 years before giving up. That's when I went to a doctor and learned I had insulin resistance and prescribed me merformin. I didn't know metformin has such minimal role. At least I was expecting it to decrease my cravings I have been resisting to- but there is no affect - no side affect too. To be honest I started consuming carbs after I had started merforming -not too much, and still less than my friends and family. I just wanted to be a regular person who doesn't count everything she consumes. But obviously I don't have a choice. Maybe I should visit a diet specialist/nutritionist.

Thank you so much again for spending time on replying me!

wiflib said:

It seems you are relying on metformin to do something but I’m not sure what.

Whatever carbs you are eating, try just stopping them, go back to enjoying food. If you’re hungry eat but it’s ok not to eat if you’re hungry, despite what the diet industry and snack makers say.
There’s no need to add fat to your diet, just don’t get rid of it. Low fat items have sugar added and fat does not make you fat but it does keep you full.

Did you actually enjoy that breakfast? It was probably the bread that made you hungry.

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You are right, I was expecting metformin to make life easier for me I expected it to decrease the amount of days I felt low in energy, my fainting, cravings... I read some good stories about metformin, so I was expecting to have one of those stories. Like I wrote above, I was even more carefull about carbs before metformin- which made my life worse because it made me stressed and didn't help at all.

I read somewhere before that low fat packed foods have higher sugar/carbs, so I always check the nutritional facts of what I eat if I am going to eat something low fat.

I enjoyed breakfast. Normally I used to eat 5-6 wallnuts and 1 more egg instead of a slice of bread before. But I am so sure that it doesn't have any affect on how fast I get hungry, ot on my cravings (after hundreds of trials). I am stucked, I guess will go to a diet specialist to ask for help.

Thank you very much for trying to help me.