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Will Metformin allow me to eat more carbs

P

Pasha

Expert
I am prediabetic and control my BG values by eating only 20 grams of carbohydrates per day. I was wondering ,if I took Metform ,would I be able to eat more carbs and still maintain good BG values.
 
I'm not sure your GP would prescribe it for you as a prediabetic. Mine says he can no longer give it to me because my HbA1c is down to 42 (from 49) At a guess I would say you could possibly eat a very little more but metformin doesn't reduce BG's by very much at all (sorry no figures to hand)
 
No. The 20g of carbs is your personal preference up to now and I expect you would be able to eat more carbs (dependant on which ones of course) without difficulty. You will, however, have a few days of erratic/spikey BG levels after the uplift before it settles. I found about 100-150g a reasonable amount for me and gave me a lot of flexibility
 
Pasha said:
I am prediabetic and control my BG values by eating only 20 grams of carbohydrates per day. I was wondering ,if I took Metform ,would I be able to eat more carbs and still maintain good BG values.
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I don't believe Metformin is licensed, in UK, for prediabetes. It is used for non-diabetic ladies with PCOS, but by the very fact you're a gentleman, it probably means you wouldn't qualify on those grounds.

I understand Consultants can prescribe it, if they can justify it, but unless you're already being looked after by a specialist, there would be a few hoops to jump through. 20g carbohydrate a day does seem quite spartan.
 
Pasha said:
I am prediabetic and control my BG values by eating only 20 grams of carbohydrates per day. I was wondering ,if I took Metform ,would I be able to eat more carbs and still maintain good BG values.
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Uless you are need to loose a lot of weight 20gms of carbs is very low for a prediabetic
 
Metformin never made a detectable difference to my sugar levels so I don't think it will help.

I am a bit puzzled. Have you seen your doctor about this and been given a diagnosis of pre diabetes? I remember a poster on here once took matters into her own hands. She was so successful that when she finally went to see her doctor he told her that her numbers suggested that she was not diabetic.

What sort of numbers do you get if you eat "normally".
 
@ Squire Fullwood

FBG is 96 mg/dl.........or 5.33 mmoles /litre initially diagnosed almost two years ago with 119 mg/dl or 6.6 mmoles/l

PP [ 2hours] are around 100 mg/dl ie 5/55 mmole/l
 
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Pasha said:
@ Squire Fullwood

FBG is 96 mg/dl.........or 5.33 mmoles /litre initially diagnosed almost two years ago with 119 mg/dl or 6.6 mmoles/l

PP [ 2hours] are around 100 mg/dl ie 5/55 mmole/l
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What BMI are you, and what were you like at diagnosis. If you are LCHF, why do you want more carbs?
 
@ Keep Calm and breathe.

That in itself disturbs me a bit. I was tagged with pre diabetes on the basis of two readings, FBG of 119 mg/dl and a HBA1c. of 6.1% My Gp immediately offered me Metformin, I declined because she more or less said I was a fat slob and deserved what I got. This made me determined to go it alone and get rid of the symptoms via LCHF. Maybe I should see a specialist ?.
 
@ Douglass99. now 22.5 BMI was way overweight at diagnosis BMI about 35. In the meantime lost 40 Kg or 88 lbs.

I would like more carbs to increase more vegetables and consequently micro-nutrients. I do take a multivitamin pill each day.
 
That is an excellent weight loss.
Congratlations.

Have a look at the link in
http://www.diabetes.co.uk/forum/threads/prof-taylor-lecture-on-reversing-type-2.65495/

Personally I would try to introduce more carbs, building slowly, and testing as you go.
If you haven't a meter it's worth investing in one.
Vegetables are normally ok for most of us on here, but bear in mind if you have been low carb for a while, your BS will take a while to settle down again after you re-introduce more carbs, so don't be put off in the first few days

edit - with those numbers, and that weight loss, I doubt if metformin would be required, or even beneficial to be honest.
 
Pasha said:
@ Keep Calm and breathe.

That in itself disturbs me a bit. I was tagged with pre diabetes on the basis of two readings, FBG of 119 mg/dl and a HBA1c. of 6.1% My Gp immediately offered me Metformin, I declined because she more or less said I was a fat slob and deserved what I got. This made me determined to go it alone and get rid of the symptoms via LCHF. Maybe I should see a specialist ?.
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If you really want Metformin, then go back to the original Doctor and ask her for the Metformin she prescribed for you, whenever that was, then take it from there. I hate to sound unhelpful, but I think you might have a bit of a fight on your hands to get a Consultant referral as pre-diabetic without (as far as you've said so far) any other complications.

If that's the route you want to go down, I'd carefully work out my negotiating stance before I got anywhere near the appointment, but a starting point of, I'll have now what you offered me then seems a decent starting place.
 
I really would suggest you try to increase your carbs without metformin, and see what the results are first.
I suspect the weight loss with have altered your metabolism significantly, and you should give it a try first, and only after that be re-assessed for the metformin if you need to be.
Bear in mind though, as you have been very low carb for a long while, your BS will read high, until your body re-adjusts to an increase in carbs, so you will have to give it a week or so after any change to settle down again.
 
@ Keep calm and breathe.

I have had heart disease for 25 years, heart attack, bypass surgery, Atrial Fibrillation and just recently diagnosed with Pulmonary hypertension.

I am 71 years old and so cant complain too much.
 
Thanks very much for the answers so far, I think I shall take the advice and do a step wise increase in carbohydrates , waiting for a set of stable results before lifting the bar each time .
 
don't forget that as you raise your carbs you need to lower your fat or you will put on weight.
I reasonable ratio is 2:1; so if you are increasing your carbs by 100g then you need to reduce your fat intake by 50g
 
Yoy may be able to increase with Metformin, but I find that higher carbs with my Met gives me unpleasant gastric side effects so I try and keep my levels doen (but not as low as yours)
 
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