[foxl]

For 2.5 yrs I have been recommending that my husband request metformin from our internist. Well, he finally did, yesterday!

He has a strong fmaily history of diabetes, he is obese, but the only time he has measured high (other than a home meter) was an A1c of around 7 when he had a massive infection. The doc seemed puzzled about why he has even been checking his blood sugar (it wasn't ME, he has been testing for about 7 years, sporadically, and in fact that is how we confirmed I was diabetic!).

Anyhow, on the theory that hyperinsulinemia is driving his weight gain, I have pushed giving met a try, and he is starting it tonight.

He eats low carb in front of me, but has always been prone to carb bingeing, and I suspect has "cheated" behind my back a fair amount, most likely in those same binges. Per his meter his carb tolerance is much higher than mine, so he sees nothing (immediately) wrong with eating them -- basically he thinks he can get away with them.

He's 5'7" and 260 lb! And has OSA and has effectively used a CPAP for 15 years or more.

So ... we will see if met helps him. He got the regular, not the XR formula.

Does anyone here know of non (ie, not-yet) diabetics, using metformin successfully for weight loss or control?

 

[Daytona]

On other forums I know some people who have used metformin + low carb (especially gluten free) to help with PCOS and weight loss. I think it's a good combination especially if just diet alone isn't enough to get motivating results.

 

[jwags]

I do know they use metformin for PCOS patienets that are not yet diabetic. It would make sense that if you suffer from hyperinsulmenia that metformin would help you become more sensitive. I've been trying to get my husband to switch from Actos to Metformin. But he feels the Actos keeps his HbA1c's in the 5's so he doesn't want to switch. He sounds like your husband, he eats low carb because that is the way I cook but I am sure he binges when I am not around. He is still overweight (215-220) but since he exercises 6-7 days per week he is not obese. I think the metformin would help him and it is so much cheaper. I was always a carb addict before diabetes and although not really overweight I had that carb belly which should have been a sign to me to stop eating carbs.

 

[wdmama]

My darling husband is 6'3" and 330lbs. Man can eat all the carbs he wants and never goes over 120. It's very frustrating for me! LOL He always throws the health people for a loop b/c every year his company does a full health screening thing and all his numbers are perfect... they're like, how can such a big guy be so healthy??? LOL

He wants to lose weight, so he does mostly low carb.... but he does carb binge sometimes like eating a whole bag of licorice at work. He's gotten better about it though.

I was given Metformin way before I was diabetic, but it was because of PCOS. I can't say it helped me lose weight, because I'm pretty sure Atkins alone did that. Make sure he takes a B12 supplement or at least has his levels checked while on it. I'm not a fan, but just because it gave me major stomach pains after a few months of taking it. Hopefully it will help!

 

[Shanny]

It's very frustrating for me! LOL He always throws the health people for a loop b/c every year his company does a full health screening thing and all his numbers are perfect... they're like, how can such a big guy be so healthy??? LOL

And I hope it never comes home to roost! Twenty-five years ago I was the same as he - 5'4" and 200+ lbs. Any new doc would see me coming & think "here's a fat old woman - there must be all kinds of things wrong with her." So they'd run up hundreds of dollars of tests & then call me back in to say nothing found. One dizzy old doc even decided he'd found fibroids & I told him there were never any before . . . truth be told, nobody else ever found any afterward either.

Not that I'm not still in pretty good shape for the shape I'm in, but it takes a little more effort to maintain that shape!

 

[Strawberry]

I do know they use metformin for PCOS patienets that are not yet diabetic. It would make sense that if you suffer from hyperinsulmenia that metformin would help you become more sensitive. I've been trying to get my husband to switch from Actos to Metformin. But he feels the Actos keeps his HbA1c's in the 5's so he doesn't want to switch. He sounds like your husband, he eats low carb because that is the way I cook but I am sure he binges when I am not around. He is still overweight (215-220) but since he exercises 6-7 days per week he is not obese. I think the metformin would help him and it is so much cheaper. I was always a carb addict before diabetes and although not really overweight I had that carb belly which should have been a sign to me to stop eating carbs.

I don't mean to hijack this thread and my apologies to the OP, however I've never heard the term "carb addict". It applies to me 100%, even after diagnosis. Jwags.....however did you break the habit? Although different than you because it seems as though I've been overweight my entire life, I'm definitely a carb addict. I would like to break this habit of mine. If moderators want to split this post to a separate post, it would be fine with me. I need help and I think this forum is the place to get it.

 

[foxl]

Strawberry, spealing as OP, this post IMHO is absolutely relevant to this thread!

I had a starch addiction, and toward the end I also craved sugar like mad!

I am not sure if it was the metformin, the low-carbing, or the sheer terror that decreased my, ummmm interest in carbs, or was it all 3?

Jeanne, what helped you?

 

[Strawberry]

Strawberry, spealing as OP, this post IMHO is absolutely relevant to this thread!

I had a starch addiction, and toward the end I also craved sugar like mad!

I am not sure if it was the metformin, the low-carbing, or the sheer terror that decreased my, ummmm interest in carbs, or was it all 3?

Jeanne, what helped you?

I honestly don't know what has happened to me lately. This carb addiction is almost like being an alcoholic. I don't drink and never did...but...I've heard many people say that smoking and drinking are very difficult to quit.

 

[moon]

My name is Moon. I was a major carb addict. Severely restricting them - knowing I didn't have a choice, it wasn't just about weight - is what broke its back.

The last years I think it was my insulin resistance that fed the beast and made me so out of control, and this is true for so many undiagnosed diabetics. I always thought it was a psychological addiction, diabetes made me realize how physiological it really was. The more carbs I ate, the more I craved.

Eating low carb and controlling my blood sugar put the brakes on - but I'm a type 2 and just how it worked for me.

 

[Strawberry]

Your last sentence might be the key to my particular problem at present. Obviously I haven't been eating lo-carb and as a result my blood sugar, while not terrible, is definitely NOT good! Thank you for sharing, I really appreciate it.

 

[ColaJim]

Strawberry

Strawberry,

The way I use to break my incessant carb addiction when it occurs is to eat no carbs at all and eat 2 to 4 oz of cheese which has saturated fat in it that causes satiation. It works for me. It seems to me that when I eat carbs the insulin removes all the fat in my blood and that is what makes me hungry (the lack of fat, not the lack of carbohydrate makes me crave carbohydrate).

ColaJim

I don't mean to hijack this thread and my apologies to the OP, however I've never heard the term "carb addict". It applies to me 100%, even after diagnosis. Jwags.....however did you break the habit? Although different than you because it seems as though I've been overweight my entire life, I'm definitely a carb addict. I would like to break this habit of mine. If moderators want to split this post to a separate post, it would be fine with me. I need help and I think this forum is the place to get it.

 

[foxl]

Thanks for that reminder, ColaJim -- my husband eats meat but not really that much other SF. I need to get him on coconut oil supplementation! He has reflux and is reluctant to try it, despite the improvement in his reflux when I first started low carbing!

 

[jwags]

The low carb diet definitely diminishes the carb addiciton. But I find when I slip up and start eating carbs like crackers or chips, the addiction returns with a fury. So I do think it is like being a drug addict or alcoholic, there are some of us who need to steer clear of carbs forever. I know some people who can eat one chocolate chip cookie and be satisfied. When I eat one cookie, my body just wants more and more.

 

[foxl]

So he started trying 500 mg, at bedtime. And whaddya think? He is running HIGH during the day -- not super high, but 110s, which for him is unheard-of. He's not hungry, though!

 

[foxl]

Well he has taken the met since Friday night so ... 5 days. Some GI symptoms, but he says he is enjoying the reduced appetite so much, he will put up with it! In fact yesterday he took 2 x 500 ...

I am amazed ... I hope it's not just a fad or placebo effect that will wear off. Seems like it is awfully early times for it to be so effective.

 

[Shanny]

Well he has taken the met since Friday night so ... 5 days. Some GI symptoms, but he says he is enjoying the reduced appetite so much, he will put up with it! In fact yesterday he took 2 x 500 ...

I am amazed ... I hope it's not just a fad or placebo effect that will wear off. Seems like it is awfully early times for it to be so effective.

What's that old saying? Don't look a gift horse in the mouth?

I'm delighted that he's actually taking it!

 

[foxl]

You and me both. I know he cannot lose weight on willpower alone. But he is also not willing to do any surgery for it. It took me almost 3 yrs to talk him into it, though!

I pointed out today ... he would not want me raising these kids alone -- I'd SPOIL them! I think that was reinforcing ...

 

[foxl]

Well now ... we know why his BG was high -- A1c (BEFORE metformin) was 6.4.

 

[aimster1mo]

The low carb diet definitely diminishes the carb addiciton. But I find when I slip up and start eating carbs like crackers or chips, the addiction returns with a fury. So I do think it is like being a drug addict or alcoholic, there are some of us who need to steer clear of carbs forever. I know some people who can eat one chocolate chip cookie and be satisfied. When I eat one cookie, my body just wants more and more.

Ain't that the truth!

 

[Patdart]

Glad he's doing the met and is having no problems. A friend's doctor put her on it for weight loss and she did well. Maybe he will succeed and lose the weight and have dodged the bullet for a while anyway!

Good luck,