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Puzzle with Metformin??

Beshlie

Beshlie

Well-Known Member
Messages
277
Location
Devon
Type of diabetes
Treatment type
Tablets (oral)
Can MetforminSR raise your BG? The reason I ask is because, about a couple of months ago I had to stop taking them because they were making me so unwell I became housebound. I felt much better without them and have been keeping my BG within the non diabetic range. A few days ago I thought I would try them again to see if I could tolerate them after having a break. I'm not eating differently and yet my 2 hr after BG reading has been in the 9s and 10s. Why would this happen, does anyone know please? I'm confused!
 
I took Metformin last year for 2 months. Made me feel awful, was caught short on several occasions and had terrible tummy pain so I stopped taking them as I couldn't go on like that. I can honestly say I didn't see a difference in my BG at all during those 2 months. I visited the practice nurse last week and she tried telling me that Metformin wont make you ill and will lower BG - not in my case and by the sounds of it, not in yours either. I have refused any more doses of Metformin.
 
I had terrible problems with Metformin. I take a 500mg chromium supplement (you can get them from amazon at a good price) with 1/2 a tsp of cinnamon every day. This combination has been show to be at least as good as metformin at reducing insulin resistance.
 
I went from 3 x 850 mg regular metformin (taken 3 times a day) to 2 x 1000 mg glucophage SR (taken once a day) and found that I was getting significantly higher levels. I concluded that my stomach was too fast for the slow release and they hadn't done their work in time. I then went on 4 x 500 mg regular metformin (taken twice a day) and found that my levels were back to normal. I'll never know if 500 mg tablets of the SR version would have been better as the 1000 mg ones were huge.
 
Hi. I think the HCPs rely too much on Metformin as it's cheap and has few problems. It only ever reduces blood sugar by perhaps 1mmol and of course many need the SR version to avoid bowel problems. Metformin is most useful for those who are overweight and have insulin resistance. I've never been overweight yet was prescribed the full dose and my DN asked me to continue it even though on insulin 'as it helps protect the heart'. So, it does help a tiny bit and does have some protective properties. I've never heard of it increasing blood sugar before but anything is possible!
 
I'm glad I read this post coz last nite re started s/r metformin & this morning my b/g was really high this am up to 12.3 normally around 8 or 9 :banghead:
 
Thank you for all of your replies. We are all different and I guess no one drug suits everyone. I have another problem which affects my stomach and it is just too much with Metformin as well. Pity they don't make it in a transdermal patch where it would bypass the stomach as I know there are some benefits from taking it.
 
I was changed from 2 x 500mg ordinary to 1 x 500mg slow release. I started the new regime last Saturday evening and my bg level each morning has been around the 4.9 mark, slightly lower than before.

I guess everyone is different. Different sizes, different diets, different moods, different exercise regimes. They all play their part.


Sent from the Diabetes Forum App
 
I've recently started taking 2x500mg SR metformin instead of 3x500mg a day, and I've notice that my blood sugar goes down quite a lot 3-4 hours after taking the tablets in the evening, but it goes up again in the morning and is staying that way most of the day... Not quite what I was expecting to happen!

Robbity
 
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