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WOW Metformin actually INCREASED my Blood Sugar

J

john5220

Well-Known Member
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57
Unbelievable yesterday I took metformin 30 minutes after I ate last night 8 PM and it was working great my sugar after 2 hours of eating roti and sardines was 140 when I woke up today and took a fasting test 12 hours not eating it read 143 and when I eat a roti and sardines it read 240

WOW this is worse than when I didn't even take it.

Yeah I know I have to go to the grocery and get low carb stuff BUT before I even do that I needed to know if and how metformin works with a normal lifestyle and turns it it is WORSE than when I wasn't even taking meds the only other tablet I take besides metformin is Atenolol

I was prescribed 500mb regular metformin
 
I am thinking a couple things

1) maybe it takes a week or more for metforming to actually start working?

2) The metforming worked great within the first 6 hours and then after 12 hours my sugar started reading as if I don't even take metformin.

My doctor said the special thingy in the blood test was 9% and it should be <7%
 
Metformin takes weeks to reach therapeutic dose in your system and did not make your blood sugar higher. Just because two things happen at the same time does not mean they are related. Metformin works to make you more sensitive to your own insulin and helps prevent the liver dumping glucose into your system. It is not a pill that has an immediate result on the meal you just ate. The reason your blood sugar went to 240 after pasta is that you are diabetic and need to cut back or eliminate pasta. If I was getting that kind of number I would eliminate it from my diet, and I have.
 
Metformin does not work very well compared to low carb. Please ditch the carbs ASAP. Just throw them out and buy fresh meat, fresh seafood, and fresh non-starchy veg.
 
I have to agree with @chalup that if you have just started taking Metformin then it won't be having anything like the effect you suspect.

It takes weeks to build up to an effective dose, and the reason it is taken with meals is that it is easier on the guts that way. The dose doesn't affect blood glucose after a specific meal.

Probably better to think of it as a background medication, working away in the background all the time (once it has built up to an effective dose). Look at it this way, Metformin will lower your blood glucose a bit. Depends on the dose, and how effective it is for you personally (we all vary) say (I am guessing) 20-40 American units.

But that lowering effect is all the time, it doesn't iron out peaks, it doesn't react to eating lots of carbs, it just lowers all your readings a bit.

To get proper control of your blood glucose I suggest carefully assessing how the carbs in your diet affect your blood glucose, and then reducing them appropriately.

Hope that helps.
 
Hi John5220

It's certainly not unusual for the blood sugar to be high in the morning, especially for Type 2, although I believe Type 1's can have this too.

Many of us will wait until lunchtime before eating, waiting until the blood sugar has come down again. If you are doing LCHF, a coffee with cream is often the choice thing to have which will then often trigger the blood sugar to come down again.

I won't go into further details regarding this just now as you probably have enough to be thinking about but suffice to say when your blood sugar is high in the mornings, it's best not to eat any carbs which will then increase the blood sugar further. Eat something very low carb so that your body knows food is available and should settle down re blood sugar.

I probably haven't explained that well but that's the gist of it anyway. Good luck
 
Hey guys I am back, so I went to the grocery today and I bought items based on the low carb meal plan. I bought local chicken breast like 3 packs and I bought 3 tins of black beans we have excellent healthy stuff in the Caribbean here its much healthier than imported American meat. I also bought some broccoli and I planted 100 Okra trees in my garden. (My mother has 2 Acres of land So I spend a lot of time in the garden now to get exercise and to plant stuff to cut back on my grocery bills as much as I can.

I have completely eliminated all Wheat and Rice from my diet. I hear parboiled rice isn't that bad am cutting it out just in case.

Now I plan on grilling this chicken with Bar B Que sauce in the oven and eating it with Black Bean stew but will put it in the fridge and warm up to eat for 3 days because it isn't too feasible to run an oven everytime just to cook a piece of meat.
 
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Chicken breasts, okra, and broccoli are great choices for most people with diabetes.

Black beans are hit or miss. Pulses (beans) are good for some - but they are pretty high carb, so test and see how you react. I can eat some beans, as long as I don't go overboard. (1/2 of a cup would be the most I could tolerate - around 130 grams)
 
^ Thanks I figured out that the Metformin currently has zero effect on me even on the second day, so I will await a week or 2 again to see if it kicks in. I hope I don't have type 1 diabetes here the doctor said its type 2 but he gave me additional Gliclazide tablets to take but I am afraid to take it, he might yell at me for not taking it when I go back LOL. He said my pancreas is probably operating at 50% effeciency which is why he gave me it.

But I don't wanna overwork and force my pancreas when I could probably control this through diet and exercise you know what I mean?
 
Check the bottle of BBQ sauce, most of them are just red sugar.
 

I'm very cautious about Gliclazide (or any sulfonylurea). There are some studies that suggest that sulfonylureas wear out the beta cells in the pancreas (either temporarily or permanently) - so while you wouldn't become dependent on them, they might move you to insulin faster than not taking them. They also put you at risk for hypos if your carbs are too low - so it interferes with your ability to control your BG with diet since you have to eat a certain number of carbs in order to prevent hypos.
 

Hi there thanks

I am happy to report I have successfully cut out all rice and wheat from my diet, I have moved to barb b que chicken and black beans. I am happy to report after eating black beans, bar b que chicken and a glass of full cream milk while doing exercise earlier tonight my blood sugar read 130 two hours after my meal.

Metformin is not working for me as it needs 3 weeks and I only started using it 3 days now. So by simply switching around my diet and getting some exercise I have cut my sugar by 100 points it was usually 240 on average after eating.

I am also losing weight and I feel great. This is a remarkable turn around for me I could only imagine if the met formin was actually working? WOW it would have been like 100 reading or 90?

Who knew Diet and Exercise could do such magic? ****
 
Wow you are doing fine .Good to read you are doing so much to get control . The metformine is not much more than a stick to lean at 90% of good diabetic treatment is the right choice of foods and very often smaller portions
good luck with your Way
 
Fantastic job!

(But, as Freema said - don't count on a big boost from Metformin. It's likely to keep your average a bit lower, but not have much impact on the post-eatng readings).
 

I have been much the same - started on Glyclazide then added metformin, then just 500x2 daily metformin for the last seven years. Got my HBa1c down to just below 6 (old money!) over a year ago and from that point it has just crept up and up to 7.4 so I was put on M/R Metformin 2000 once daily. No change in the last few months I have been on it - lowest reading 6.5 and highest 15.6! What is going on? My diet hasn't changed - Mediterranean/Low Carb and my BMI is well within Normal.

Someone point me in the right direction please?
 
It may be time to ask your doctor about a c-peptide test. If your insulin levels have become very low then it may be time for insulin. We can't speak to your diet as everyones idea of low carb is different. Could you post a typical days food? 15.6 is very high for someone low carbing.
 
Recently I diagnosed with diabetic. So my doctor told lets start with metfromin 500 mg morning. When i did my routine checkup last month, i found it is managing blood sugar levels(117-before food,158 - after food)

but one day I suddenly saw my blood sugar shooter to 250 in the glucometer test at home. So i ran to lab next day and did a blood test to know accurate. Then i see it 137 before food and 198 after food. What happened in a month. Metformin stopped working? Or is it a temporary one due to some stress hormones. I dont wanted to overload with medication. I am 30 year old and physically active by home workouts gym walking etc. please help
 

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