Metaformin and food

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saffron15

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This is probably a niche question. I took first ever dose of Metformin ( 500 slow release) Thursday evening with food. Second dose last night. Today had a cup of tea and now realise I haven't had breakfast and I'm due to have lunch with sister at 12.30.Doesn't seem any point eating now. Have usually had porridge or yoghurt with berries sometimes seeds or nuts. I don't generally miss food maybe the metaformin is dulling my appetite.
Is there a problem if you miss a meal?
I say it is niche because next Thursday I will take a tablet at Breakfast time.

I supposed I could ask if next week skipping lunch would be a problem. I'm not planning too but just checking.
 
No problem missing a meal with Metformin. The important thing is to take them with food when you take them to prevent digestive upset although I think with the slow release this is less of a concern but still better safe than sorry.

Have you tested porridge to see if your body/diabetes copes with it OK? It is like rocket fuel for some of us but lives up to it's slow release reputation for others, so it will depend on your individual digestive system. I would be careful about assuming porridge is a good breakfast choice if you haven't tested it as it is quite high carb.
 
I haven't yet worked out what to do. If I make porridge I use water then add a dollop of milk. I went 8 weeks knowing blood sugar high but not having a clue which carbs may make it worse. Diabetic nurse told me not to test. I mentioned to her after a meal I sometimes sweated a lot on face and neck usually 20 mins after. I particularly noticed it when I had eaten a small apple. I haven't had porridge for several weeks I will take note of how I feel.
 
The only way you will find out if those sweats are related to what you eat and if it is caused by your diabetes is if you test when you feel like that. Likewise, testing will enable you to see which foods raise your blood glucose levels too much or what portion size of them you can tolerate and which foods are better avoided. Or it may even be that those sweats are caused by your levels going low.
Sadly many nurses advise against testing simply because, either they cannot prescribe test strips or they do not have any real understanding of how helpful systematic testing can be for people who are trying to manage their diabetes through diet. To me, testing allows you to "see" your diabetes in numbers. I accept that some people do get anxious about it but knowledge is power and without the information that testing gives you, you are working in the dark. If I can see where I am eating the wrong things and levels are going too high then it helps to discourage me from eating those things and if I can see when meals are giving me good results, that can be really motivational.
 
rebrascora said:
The important thing is to take them with food when you take them to prevent digestive upset although I think with the slow release this is less of a concern but still better safe than sorry.
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Slow release metformin can be taken all at once, any time of day, I have no problems taking them without food. Just take them with your evening meal each day instead of with breakfast if you don’t always eat breakfast, so that you’re in a routine of when you take them
 
Lucyr said:
Slow release metformin can be taken all at once, any time of day, I have no problems taking them without food. Just take them with your evening meal each day instead of with breakfast if you don’t always eat breakfast, so that you’re in a routine of when you take them
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I second this.

I have issues with bloating even on slow release, and my GP advised me to take them all at once with my evening meal, and that has helped.

Taking half my day's metformin at breakfast meant that I felt rough all day with bloating and feeling sluggish, so even though I still get some bloating/wind taking it in the evening, it's less of an issue as I'm not on the go so much.
 
I would prefer to take together as I'm not always organised with breakfast. So far only on one tablet. I am pooing more but not yet a problem. As someone who got travel sick as a child and remember Mum threatening to poke the tablets down my throat ( every time I swallowed they were still there) I was appalled when I saw the size of the pillsThe brand I have got us sukkarto but I am managing to swallow them but at the moment it's only one a day.
 
My gastric has never got used to this awful Metformin I hate it. I take 2000mg with my main meal which might be after 4 or at lunch time depending on how I feel. Regardless of when I take it. Guaranteed next morning I will spend several visits having loose bowel loo visits for first two hours. I'm sick of it and will soon be telling my diabetic nurse that I am not willing to put up with this. I have twice before come off metformin for the same reason. Incidentally I am on slow release too. I think the only reason all type 2s are put on this drug, being a cynic, is because it is cheap costing only mere pennies it's the cheapest. I have never been given a med for type 2 that has not caused me severe side effects.
 
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