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Metaformin - advice please

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Sheilagh1958

Sheilagh1958

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
I for the last 6 weeks i have been prescribed 2 x Gliclazide 40mg to get my very high BG numbers down. Which on the whole have worked well my average levels on a morning are around 10.5 ish, before lunch around 8 ish and before my evening around 6.

This morning i have received a call from the surgery and they now want to start me on 1 Metaformin each morning for the next 2 weeks. After 2 weeks they will introduce me a 2nd Metaformin tablet Nd eventually they hope to take me off the Gliclazide.

My real question is..........I am going away for the weekend and also will be working away from home Monday and Tuesday next week. Not sure how Metaformin will effect me tummy wise. I am thinking about not taking the Metaformin till I am back home on Tuesday.

Am i worrying unecessarly about the side affects or do you think this is a good idea.
 
reaction

given my reaction to metformin --- extreme need to hide in the cloakroom, I would wait for a couple of days in case of a similar reaction ---
 
Well, I haven't taken it, but from what I have read I can't imagine it will make any difference if you don't take it for a couple of days so you can relax and enjoy your weekend 🙂
 
I find it heps my system if I have a couple of ddays break from Metformin although my doctor will disagree.

On the days I am having a break from it I try to be carefull what I eat, but at least I am free of the nuclear fall out and noxious gases and can get on with enjoying things.
 
Nothing bad will happen if you hang on until Tuesday. Enjoy your weekend. Hopefully the fallout won't be as bad as you're expecting - it wasn't too dreadful for me, and soon went away (almost)!
 
Sheilagh1958 - As well as comments already, it would be worth searching this forum for "metformin" (no "a" in name) to find more tips. Good luck 🙂 Good news that you're going to start on a low dose and gradually build up - that makes serious fall out less likely, whenever you start.
 
I agree - enjoy your weekend first and then start gradually. Hope you get on okay with it when you do start.🙂
 
I would agree with the others, start the metformin when you get back. It affects people in so many ways the dia need to be by a loo or like me even after 13 years on the stuff I am still very windy, but don't need to be tied to a loo.
 
Just a point. Metformin was originally developed as a weight loss drug and it makes any carbs by-pass your digestion and pass out of (you guess). So if you eat lots of carbs your reaction will be more severe than if you limit carbs.

It also takes approx 3 weeks to soak your system to optimum effect regarding BGs so individual tablets mean little, it's the overall effect. Just try to limit carbs quite severely if you want to avoid the initial upset to your bowels.
 
That's interesting - I started on Metformin about three months ago and while not as extreme as some, the reactions were a little - ahem! - but since going low carb more I've noticed that the side effects aren't nearly so bad, although I'm still rather 'windy' at times.

They never tell you these things, do they?
 
Thank you all for comments.

I enjoyed the weekend and working away from home.

The prescription has now been picked up and is now ready to be taken in the Morning.

Lets see how things go.

Numbers have continued to drop well with the Gliclazide so hopefull the Metformin will just give me the final little tweaks that is required.
 
Good luck with it Sheilagh 🙂
 
So far so good but only taken 1 tablet with my breakfast. They are big tablets thought I was going to have trouble swallowing it but i was fine.

My numbers are continuing to drop......can always tell when they are reducing as I get an headache and feel as though my head is going to explode at the top lol
 
OMG just had a number i have never had before 4.6
 
Feeling pretty strange body not use to being this low so had to have a little snack.
 
That's OK Sheilagh, I mean you weren't actually clinically hypo but when you've been running high - like we all do before diagnosis! - at 'normal' levels your body thinks you are hypo so you did exactly the right thing there.

I think it's fairly unlikely that the Metformin actually did anything at this stage, so you may find it's the Glic that caused that, not the Met, esp if you are fairly low carbing anyway.

Has the time actually come where you might need to start cutting the Glic down anyway, notwithstanding the Met?

Do keep testing even if you feel perfectly OK because as your body gets used to lower numbers, you may not get particularly 'violent' warnings of lower BGs. Keep your eye on that one.

I think (though not 100% sure) that if you need to say, halve your dose of Glic, and it's only one tablet you can cut them in half if you need to.
 
The plan is to take me of the Gliclazide in the next few weeks. I have got an appointment with DSN next week.

Just hoping my number still stay low once they take me off the Gliclazide and metformin can keep me low with my diet and exercise.
 
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