[Cricket]

For those of you who take Metformin, what side effect (if any) have you dealt with? How did you overcome them?

Do you have any tips for others, such as the best timing (for taking Metformin) that has worked for you?

 

[Bunjee]

I've been using Metformin for 6 years. When I first started, I had some issues with diarrhea. Then no problems for about a year. Then I started getting gut pain. It felt like I was punched in the gut. After a couple weeks of that, doc cut my dose from 2,000 to 1,000. About 4 months later, I had the gut pain again. He switched me to 1,000 mg. metformin ER (extended release). No problems for several years until last Fall and the gut pain came back. In January, I switched back to the regular metformin (still 1000 mg.) and am doing fine with it. The writing is on the wall though - not sure how much longer I will be on metformin. I'm willing to try this switching though - cost, convenience and effectiveness has been good.

 

[PennsyGirl]

I'm was moved to generic Met ER in September 2015 and by March I had severe insomnia. This was very unusual for me but another post on this forum alerted me to the possibility and I went back on bolus insulin for a month and felt better. I just started a generic Met ER by a different manufacturer and so far no problems. Time will tell if this is a good fix for me. Other than that I notice if I have extra carbs I will have problems later but that's easily avoided by not having the extra carbs in the first place.

 

[MaJoie]

I got diarrhea when I first started taking it, 500 mg once a day. I stopped it for about a week and then started back with 1/2 tabs. It has gradually been increased over the years to 1000 mg twice a day (I take it after BF and dinner) I don't have any trouble with it any more.

 

[Cricket]

I had a pretty rough start with Meformin. Initially it made me feel horrible and definitely caused diarrhea. It helped when I switched to Metformin ER and got 100% better when I started experimenting with taking it at different times, with and without food, etc. In the end I found that (for me) it was definitely best to take it with food and I divide my dose between morning and night.

Now days, unless I mess up and eat too many carbs, I really don't experience any side effects.

 

[Wintercarlyle]

I tried met last year for six months. Nausea and diarrhoea til lunch time every day. I walked up my dose very slowly. Managed to get to 1500mg but was chronically ill and there was no effect on bg or a1c. Switched to ER 1000mg. Same stomach issue, same lack of any effect. So after a six month break I'm starting met ER again. 500mg at night.

 

[Katieboosmama]

Dr switched me to generic Metformin 1000 2x day. I usually have diarrhea in the morning, no cramps or pain or anything just really water poo. (not to be crude, but don't trust a fart lol) I am a home body so not really that inconvenient, to stay close to home. I don't know why the morning dose doesn't give me a problem later in the day, but it doesn't

 

[Wintercarlyle]

Hahaha...I'm with you there. I'm two days into Met ER 500mg at night. Both mornings I've had the usual poop effects, no nausea. At least it's a nice change from constipation.

 

[j2048b]

Not to bring up an old thread but what do u do if met causes u dizzyness, but uve always been dizzy or at least for tge past 10 yrs? Could it be the timing of met er? Gotta start 1/2 tab so 250 mlg per day till i work my way up,

Can u eat carbs with met or what? So many different answers,

Best to try it at night w bed?

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[VeeJay]

It's best to keep carbs low when taking metformin - I've read that a lot of carbs can increase the stomach issues. And it helps to take it with a meal.

Have you started the met yet? 250mg/day is very low so if you have any side effects they probably wouldn't be that bad. Don't know about dizziness as a side effect of met.

 

[LizGray1984]

When I used metfromin I faced with diarrhea side effect. Not the best experience.

 

[mbuster]

Sorry to hear that Liz, have you tried the extended release version. It is said not to have those side effects. Also it helps to start out on a lower dosage of metformin and titrate up to the prescribed amount.

 

[j2048b]

Ok so quick q, is it safe to use for ur first time er met at night before bed? Im afraid of goin hypo or somethin in my sleep and gettin hurt,

Also take w food, after food? Before food? When,?

Lately morning dawn phenom is not wearing off 110-120 almost all week each morning

I dont have diebetus, nore do i have high hba1c, just morning high bg

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[mbuster]

Metformin works to lower your BG by affecting your liver's ability to process glucose to glycogen and back to glucose, and should not be the cause of one going hypo.

I take regular metformin with food, split into two doses a day. Never tried the ER version, but hear it is more "User Friendly" than the regular met.

A1c is usually one of the last things to indicate whether or not one is becoming diabetic. Are you testing before and after meals, it will tell you more about what your BG is really doing?

 

[Bunjee]

When I first started metformin (7 years ago), I did fine. We stepped up the dose every week and I didn't have any of the gastro problems. About 7 or 8 months later, I started getting gut pain (like someone socked me in the belly). First lowered dosage to 1000 mg. Still got gut pain. Switched to metformin ER. No problems for about 3 years and then gut pain returned. Gave it a break for 6 months (twice), went back (1000 mg) and gut pain began again about 3 months later. Dropped it and of course, blood sugar went up so had to raise basal insulin.

Now, one HUGE advantage of metformin that my primary didn't understand was that my knees never hurt AT ALL when taking metformin. I only found out about 2 years ago that this is because metformin reduces inflammation. Now that Fall has arrived, the knee problem is back, so I plan to discuss with the endo whether it is reasonable to try 250 mg. metformin just for the anti-inflammatory effect (in the hope that the gut pain doesn't return). As far as I know, the smallest metformin ER is 500 mg. so not sure ER is going to do it for me.

 

[ObiJonKenobi]

I have been on metformin for 3 months, 1000 mg 2X per day. I always try to eat a little when I take it and have had no adverse side effects, since the initial stomach flu like symptoms the 1st 2 or 3 days I was on it. My question is that my physician stated that he usually only sees a 1% decrease in A1C from patients that just take the medicine and don't alter their diet to a more diabetes friendly one. How significant is 1% and do we just take this because it is the most affordable medication?

 

[VeeJay]

Is your doctor is referring to the A1C, which is in percentages? If one starts off with a high A1C (percentage), then 1% isn't very significant (i.e., 9-14% down to 8-13%). If, however, your A1C is in the pre-diabetes range (approx. 6.4%), then a 1% reduction down into the 5% range would be significant.

Metformin works primarily on reducing the liver's ability to store excess glucose as glycogen - which it uses to add glucose into the bloodstream for various reasons, one significant reason is during the waking up process. Using metformin can reduce the rise in BG in the mornings (called Dawn Phenomenon), since T2 diabetics don't have much of an insulin response to this, if at all.

The fact that metformin is relatively safe and inexpensive is just a bonus.

 

[Bunjee]

This is your doc's experience with HIS patients. I can tell you that both my late Dad and my bro went from unstable 300s down to stable numbers under 200 with metformin and they had not changed their diet. That's more than 1% decrease.

The med works even better if you control your carbs and/or increase exercise. For many, walking 10 minutes, 2-3 times a day will make a difference if they have previously been sedentary. Taking your A1C from say 7.2 to 6.2 is HUGE. A1C is essentially a logarithmic scale so small changes are a big deal. That's why we tell you that your day-to-day changes for BG are not a big deal, but the trend is more important.

 

[mbuster]

I have been on metformin for 3 months, 1000 mg 2X per day. I always try to eat a little when I take it and have had no adverse side effects, since the initial stomach flu like symptoms the 1st 2 or 3 days I was on it. My question is that my physician stated that he usually only sees a 1% decrease in A1C from patients that just take the medicine and don't alter their diet to a more diabetes friendly one. How significant is 1% and do we just take this because it is the most affordable medication?

It is affordable, but it works and has other benefits besides helping our BG.

 

[Chaidragonfire]

When I used metfromin I faced with diarrhea side effect. Not the best experience.

Oh YEAH! When I was diagnosed, they put me on Metformin and I was literally in the bathroom 75% of the day!!! And it was VERY difficult, because I was a bus driver at the time and finding a place with a clean restroom to stop at was difficult.

Basically I just didn't eat during the day. If I didn't have anything in my stomach, there was nothing to ......uhmmmm.........process.

I lost weight on Metformin, but after a year, I couldn't deal with it anymore and had the Dr put me on something else. I've been on Januvia since.

Januvia works, but I have not been able to lose any weight at all. I've gained 10 pounds over the past few years and now I've stagnated at 300 pounds. I asked the Dr for something to help me lose weight, but he said everything for weight loss is a stimulant, which diabetics aren't supposed to have.

I saved up some money for liposuction, as I read an online article that said diabetic patients who are overweight and had lipo have had their meds reduced by half or their diabetic symptoms went away.

But I had to end up using my lipo savings for vehicle maintenance this year and it ate it all up. Now I'm having to start over again.

Ugh.