Metformin..sneaky little med! (This is from another post I made from another blog site!)

Type 2
1
I think that I am figuring out this medicine..and how it's affecting people...well, sort of anyhow..and I know that it must affect others differently...
I just started to take it..and WHOA!!!! I have taken it twice so far..and I have noticed that each time that I took it, I got super sleepy right off the bat..and I have a bad headache!
I think that because I ate too much(I read the side affects which do NOT include getting sleepy, but, I also read the good effects which DO include losing weight!!) that when I ate too much it DEFINITELY stops you from eating too much!! AHA!!! I would NOT be able to eat or binge on foods that I love any longer!! No wonder my doctors got after me!!!
I had been gaining weight..because I DO tend to over do the food amounts..and NO, before you ask..I USED TO count out my carbs.!!.NOW,.I think that I am going to have to start all over again...(bummer..and it was sooo much fun before! !Shoot!!) but, I "knew" better..I did the wrong thing!! My body will be doing the "right thing" after my working on eating a LOT less!!! I don't like eating and then, suddenly conking out!! This is baaaaaaad!!!
What if I were trying to eat and drive at the same time..?!!! What abad deciscion!!!
WOW!!(I have not done this..but, I am just merely mentioning this because "what if!!!? Know what I am saying here? I just didn't and don't yet have good control over my sugars yet..I had a strong feeling that I was eating way over my head..in fact, when I started to eat..and was fresh from the hospital after getting diagnosed...I was on a "food schedule" as well as a 1200 calorie diet..and UGH! I hated it ..so much so, that a good part of me did NOT want to live anylonger! I can totally understand the depression!!!

YOu have to STOP eating the amount of foods that you adore....because your body cannot hack it!!
(This part is where it makes me really, really angry and then depressed!!!) I have loved and had a" love connection" with junk food and comfort foods for a lonnnnng time..and now, well, I guess that I can't do it with how I am doing it now! IT's gotta change or I die!

*frustrated*....I think that this metaformin acts fast!! Before I took this med..I "got away" with being able to eat and eat and eat and eat..and now..forget it!!
I fall asleep faster than I did without the med!!!
UGH!!!

My doctors kept wanting me to try the metformin and I kept saying I just want to use my insulin..and even though they would up the dose of the insulin..I kept right on putting on more pounds...and then, more and more recently they asked me what OTHER insulins that I was on..to which i repeatedly replied none! They would give me this odd look and then ask WHY?
I didn't get it...but, I think that I am "getting" it now!!

Maybe the way that this metformin helps you to lose the weight (and this is NOT the scientific way..that I am mentioning here) but, the way that it helps is to right off the bat absorb what you eat, right away..and when you eat too much...you get affected by the way that it takes in the amount of sugars..I was eating a LOT more than allowed..and well, I guess I feel that "Ghandi ate more than this!!"
When I first began as a diabetic..I felt that too!!
I felt that all I was was allowed to have was as much as a toothpick or a smidge more and that was that!!
What's with this diabetes and metformin, huh?
Good Grief!!

I can no longer eat and eat and eat or snack and snack and snack..and I am sorry if I sound pathetic and stupid here..but, I am realizing that even though I am going to be better off..I will have to say farewell to the way that I used to eat!!

I am so sorry..but, I know that it will eventually help me..and I WILL be better off for it..I am just sleepy and grumpy and this is just NOT a good combo at this writing!
I am tired b ecause of the high sugars still in my body...I just am more IMMEDIATELY aware of how I feel WITH the Metformin..as before I was taking this med..the tiredness did NOT affect me right away...it took a LOT longer!

One thing is for sure..my hubby is happier knowing that I "cannnot binge and I cannot get away with what I was doing before!!"
He didn't like my weight gain..He asked me how much weight had I gained after we had met..truthfully I think that I had gained like anywhere close to 20-30 pounds..and it shows...I am 5"3 and that is considered "obese" for my small frame!
It does NOT look great on me,...plus, I am NOT in shape...so, okay...,maybe I am going to be a LOT happier...but I am still going to miss eating ..but, I will learn!!


Sorry if I am grumpy...I am still feeling the new effects of this med..(not the nausea..I didn't get that..thankfully)..but, I do have a headache and the main issue is the food stuff for me! I am not used to a medicine that hits you "upside the head!" so darn fast!! ROFL!!
Peace!
luvscoco99
2

Overeating carbs or overeating any food will stretch out your upper intestines and raise your bgs. This could be what is making you tired. When I started on metformin I was 148 pounds ( 5 '3") I am now 121-122. But I do have to eat fairly low carb and do lots of exercise.

3

I just started taking Metformin yesterday. So far nothing has changed.

4

hey, carly. it takes about 3 - 7 days to see definite affect from metformin and a month for max results. There are side affects. with me it was terrible dry heaves. my doc had to prescribe another med to control my vimiting. I highly recommend a medalert bracelet. Metformin is one of the safest meds available at this time, but I found out last summer the iodine dye used in am mri will react with metformin to immediately kill kidneys. I’ve been nervous about it every since…I know this is an irrational fear and I am grappling with it but a little caution is wise.
good luck
danny weems

5

This is not true - metformin can cause lactic acidosis in rare cases. If your kidneys are already compromised because of diabetes, or another reason, it can make it worse (the acidosis). Iodinated contrast is not used in MRI, rather in CT scans with contrast. After receiving iodinated contrast, you have to hold your metformin for at least 48 hours or until your renal function is deemed normal by lab work, as the metforming can aggravate lactic acidosis. It doen not kill your kidneys however. The contrast can have an effect on your kidneys. Gadolinium is used for MRI contrast, not iodine contrast.

6

This is kinda scary to me. I am no longer on metformin but recently had both a CT & MRI with contrasts and they asked me if I was diabetic (as well as other conditions) they never asked me what medications I was on. Hopefully my meds mix well with the various contrasts as they are looking at my kidneys…

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Did they test your kidney values before they gave you the contrast?

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Thanks. That is good to know. I was thinking it would work the moment I took it. Like some type of magic pill. I haven’t had any problems so far. Just one headache but, I get those normally anyway so it might not be a side effect at all. I have already forgotten to take it three times. ( I just take it afterwards )

I have a cheap drugstore alert bracelet right now. I am going to spring for a real one as soon I get all this stuff sorted out.

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hey, jennifer. I had both ct’s andmri’s. and was told I had to be off metformin a week b4 and a weeks after because the dye would destroy my kidneys. I have no medical training… I’m just a carpenter, so who should I believe?

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I’m sorry, you feel sleepy and with headache, I am, on Metformin too, several years ago and I feel tired all the time, wake up with headaches every morning. I am getting muscles pain too. The doctor says that help to loose wait, but other than
diarrhea, I have not lost any pounds, Well I am not good with the diet too. Every body is different, so, good luck, I hope
for you work well.
Feel Better.
Hilda

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Yes, they did, and they were fine. But, had I been on metformin or any other med that would react with the iodinated contrast they don’t know.

12

I’ve been on met for a couple years now and it doesn’t make me sleepy or give me a headache. everyonce in a while I get an upset stomach but nothing horrible and not even sure if I can pin that on Met. that of course is me YMMV go with what works for you.

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Met +chocolate cake or spaghetti = a very long and deep nap!

14

I was on vacation last week and wasn’t doing my regular eating and stuff so, I would take a whole pill at night (if I even remembered too) Do you think that would mess anything up?I am to take half a pill three times a day. Since, I have been back normal this past week I have taken a whole pill at once when I knew I was going to eat something bad …like pizza. ( I will be doing this on Friday.) But, I plan to take a 20 - 30 minute walk after dinner.

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I have to agree with the eating too many carbs and getting extremely tired. Wasn’t that part of the problem before we were diagnosed? Our systems couldn’t process the carbs and we were tired all the time. Metformin, like diabetes affects us all in a different manner, hopefully the one thing alike is that it can help us to control our BS’s.

I’ve been on met for about 6 months now, and haven’t had any of the nasty side affects that others talk about. I take a large dose of IBprofen for my arthritis, and was afraid that and Met would react together and create great gastric problems. No such thing happened. I have lost weight, I have controlled my sugars. But that doesn’t mean that it will do it for everyone. If it doesn’t work for you, it doesn’t work for you and that means a change in something, either how you eat, or what you take.

I hope you better days and more control. It’s “H” to be out of control and not know how to handle it.

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I am skinny with rapid weight loss from high BG, Doc put me on Metformin 2000mg/day and Diamicron 120mg/day ,I am sure thats a high dose. I have extreme indigestion, upset stomach and really scary is all of a sudden blurred vision. :slight_smile:

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Wow Diane you know your stuff, thanx for the advice, The before bed metformin not sure …i wake up and bolt for outdoors thinking i am gonna upchuck… quickly learning to hate Metformin… its wrecking my sleep time :frowning:
Ron :slight_smile:

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I have had a reaction to the Gadolinium and Metformin got really sick. I do not care what they say I will not take Metformin with sort of dye in my system.

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I’m a type 1 on Metformin (yes, we exist!) and I agree, titration is the way to go! I was on 500 mg my first week, taking right after dinner and had no probs with it at all. When I went to 1000 mg, my gastrointestinal distress (nice way of putting it!) was bad for about 2 - 2.5 weeks. When that got better, I tried 1500 mg and immediately it came back, so I’m staying at 1000 mg until I start the next bottle. I have seen an improvement in how my body uses the insulin, which is nice. I haven’t noticed any sleepiness, but I have noticed that my appetite is not what it once was. Though I can still eat a lot, for some reason it’s a lot easier for me to eat less.

I’m on the extended release version, so I take my pills at night, but I don’t seem to be very good about doing it after dinner (I usually forget) so I’ll probably do it before.

I’m glad I’m on it. The side effects have gotten a lot better in the last couple of weeks. So if you have problems with it, just keep going a little bit longer.

20

I never was able to adjust to regular met (was on it for 6 years) - was on the max does of the stuff till I asked my endro to switch me to Glumetza instead (been on it now for two years), and since then well I still have the lovely side effects its just not as pronounced as it once was (can now have a social life again).