Thoughts and experiences welcome!
If us, the diabetes community had the chance to create an educational series on Metformin, what would our message be?
I post and learn here because I have a T1D daughter. I myself have been insulin resistant with PCOS for decades and lots of T2D in my family. I was prescribed metformin 20 years ago and have taken it since then. It has kept my a1c in the non-diabetic range consistently. I stopped taking it while I was pregnant with my daughter, but doctor told me to keep taking it throughout my pregnancy for my son. Excellent results for both pregnanciesš. I have nothing but good to report about my experience with metformin.
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Although Iāve been re-diagnosed as LADA, I still take maximum dose Metformin. It certainly helps with dawn phenomenon!
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heh david49, question?
my morning readings are 126- 132 from wake up, no matter what hour, till around 11 AM. otherwise fairly normal reading on diet and ex. only
so i was considering metformin for the morning highs. i donāt know if this is DP, or given duration, something different
your thoughts?
Hi Frog,
That certainly sounds similar to my issues with DP. Mine actually stays high until I either eat or exercise enough to kick my pancreas into whatever gear itās capable of getting into. I donāt produce enough insulin to manage the DP on its own.
I canāt say Metformin will work for you, but it does help with that aspect for me. Itās not perfect (Iām still up around 105-110 within a couple of minutes of waking up), but itās a pretty big difference for me with the Metformin.
Iāve been re-reading Dr. Bernsteinās book, āDr. Bernsteinās Diabetes Solutionā. My husband is Type 2 and on Metformin. Iām surprised by how much I didnāt remember from the first reading.
We didnāt know a few things about the Metformin. First, Dr. Bernstein recommends taking Glucophage over the generics and mentions in his writings there are different versions, which we werenāt aware of.
Pages 318-319 Kindle version (bold italics is from the book) āMetformin has the additional beneficial effect of reducing cancer incidence and suppressing the hunger hormone ghrelin, thereby reducing the tendency to overeat. In my experience, however, not all generic metformins match the effectiveness of Glucophage, so I prescribe only Glucophage, even though it is more expensive than other versions.ā
Pages 323-324 Kindle version āIf your blood sugar is higher upon arising than at bedtime, weād give you the sustained-release version of Glucophage (Glucophage XR) at bedtime. If your blood sugar goes up after a particular meal, weād give you rapid-acting Glucophage about 2 hours before that meal.ā
I tried Metformin and it made me violently ill. Admitted to the hospital with elevated lactic acid, low potassium, severely dehdrated, vomiting, all that. Everyone was āconvincedā it was a stomach bug even though I was perfectly fine before my very first dose. 2 hours after taking my first dose of Metformin 500mg, I was vomiting. I stuck with it because the doctors assured me that this kind of reaction was so rare it just COULDNāT be it. eye roll
2 weeks in and I had constant diarrhea and vomiting.
I have since stopped taking Metformin. It is NOT for me. I also never saw a good enough decline in my GL to keep struggling through feeling like crap every day.
A lessor known, but published side effect of using Metformin. Which I feel over all is beneficial. But, it does control your liver dumping Glucose which can be good but not if you donāt need that feature. It also controls my liver from dumping glucose as it should during exercising. Which means for me. My BG would drop drfamatically during exercise. In fact at the original full dose. Even for only walking 1 mile it would drop from 120 to 60.
I stopped taking it and my glucose control during running is much better.
I never had gastric issues.
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How do I find out what my body needs? Iāve had all this blood work and many years, but I still donāt know for certain if Iām type 1, or type 2.
For the last 10 years Iāve been treated as type1. My doctor ran blood tests recently and found that I do make some insulin. So she wants to try treating me as a type 2.
I used Metformin to good effect for many years. For me the extended release version lessened the unpleasant digestive side effects.
I agree with lumi73, the extended release version of Metformin is much easier to take. Speak to your doctor about it.
I would also say that many T2s are on insulin. If it has been working well for you why not ask your dr. if you can continue.