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Afternoon, I am a fairly new Diabetic newbie and I have been taking Metformin (2000 mg a day) for about 6 weeks, in the last 2 weeks it has started to give me stomach issues and when I have reduced the dosage the issues subside but my BG levels slowly creep up. From reading peoples Bios it seems a popular tablet, is it he best or other types tablets just as effective?
Hi, I take it and haven't had any problems with metformin, but it gives some people bad stomach/bowels, and they need to ask their GP for the slow release version of metformin as that's meant to be kinder on the digestive system.
I don't know if it's the best tablet, or the most effective, but it's the first one that doctors will give you.
If you're not getting on with metformin, it's worth going back to your GP and asking for something different. There's lots of other tablets that you can take for diabetes, the doctor will be able to advise which is the best one for you to have.
Hopefully someone else on the forum can advise what other tablets they've had instead of metformin, as it's the only one I've had.
Hope you get it sorted soon, Sarah
Hi. Yes, do ask for Metformin SR (Slow Release) which is much kinder. There are other tablets which do different jobs but the highest priority is to have a low-carb diet.
I took it in the early days when originally diagnosed as type 2. Took it for around 2 months. From memory I had stomach cramps etc, spending a decent amount of time in porcelain palace. It did start to subside after a while , then I was put on insulin so that was the end of my metformin journey. Some folks say it gets better, others can’t get on with it and do everything they can to avoid. What kind of bg numbers are you seeing Ramsey ?
Hi. Yes, do ask for Metformin SR (Slow Release) which is much kinder. There are other tablets which do different jobs but the highest priority is to have a low-carb diet.
I took it in the early days when originally diagnosed as type 2. Took it for around 2 months. From memory I had stomach cramps etc, spending a decent amount of time in porcelain palace. It did start to subside after a while , then I was put on insulin so that was the end of my metformin journey. Some folks say it gets better, others can’t get in with it and do everything they can to avoid. What kind of bg numbers are you seeing Ramsey ?
Some people find they can tolerate a low dose but when they increase the dose that is when they get the stomach issues. If you go back to the lower dose that may be all you need as you are having a low carb diet which will have the greatest impact on reducing blood glucose, the metformin just helps a bit. If you can keep the levels you have got with the lower dose I would give that a try rather than suffer the stomach issues.
Some people find they can tolerate a low dose but when they increase the dose that is when they get the stomach issues. If you go back to the lower dose that may be all you need as you are having a low carb diet which will have the greatest impact on reducing blood glucose, the metformin just helps a bit. If you can keep the levels you have got with the lower dose I would give that a try rather than suffer the stomach issues.
Yes when I cut down my dosage last week just to check if it was the tablets causing me issues I found I didn’t have any stomach issues but I found my levels crept up a little bit.
Yes when I cut down my dosage last week just to check if it was the tablets causing me issues I found I didn’t have any stomach issues but I found my levels crept up a little bit.
You say you are having a low carb dietary regime, how many grams carbs per day are you having. It maybe that by identifying any problem meals that might be a bit too high carb by testing as you obviously have a monitor you could try the lower dose and see if your meals are tolerated.
You say you are having a low carb dietary regime, how many grams carbs per day are you having. It maybe that by identifying any problem meals that might be a bit too high carb by testing as you obviously have a monitor you could try the lower dose and see if your meals are tolerated.
I don’t currently track my carbs in take I try and stay away from what I’ve read are high carb foods but there’s no science to my intake. I have reduced my portion size and eat a lot more fruit and I have lost nearly a stone in weight. I’m going to investigate how to eat better as I’d rather do that than take these tablets.
I don’t currently track my carbs in take I try and stay away from what I’ve read are high carb foods but there’s no science to my intake. I have reduced my portion size and eat a lot more fruit and I have lost nearly a stone in weight. I’m going to investigate how to eat better as I’d rather do that than take these tablets.
It would be worth your while to see what carbs you are having as the definition of a low carb approach is less than 130g per day though many people do go lower than that to keep blood glucose where it needs to be often settling between 50 and 100g per day.
Many fruits are high carb with the exception of berries in particular tropical fruits are pretty high, apples. pears, peaches, somewhere in between.
You will be surprised if you look at carb values just how high a small portion of a high carb food can be.
I recommend Carbs and Cals either the book or app or people use other apps free or otherwise as keeping track of your carb intake is important if you want to reduce the meds.
I have 70g carb per day and reduced HbA1C for 50mmol/mol to 42 mmol/mol in 3 months with no meds.
It would be worth your while to see what carbs you are having as the definition of a low carb approach is less than 130g per day though many people do go lower than that to keep blood glucose where it needs to be often settling between 50 and 100g per day.
Many fruits are high carb with the exception of berries in particular tropical fruits are pretty high, apples. pears, peaches, somewhere in between.
You will be surprised if you look at carb values just how high a small portion of a high carb food can be.
I recommend Carbs and Cals either the book or app or people use other apps free or otherwise as keeping track of your carb intake is important if you want to reduce the meds.
I have 70g carb per day and reduced HbA1C for 50mmol/mol to 42 mmol/mol in 3 months with no meds
I could not take the increased dose of Metformin - not even the SR version, so now I take 500mg Metformin (SR) and 300mg Canagliflozin. No more stomach cramps and blood glucose slowly coming down. I aim for 90gm carbs a day and use an app to measure my carbs. It did mean I weighed everything, until I got used to portion sizes, but my app helps as it gives carbs per gm
Afternoon, I am a fairly new Diabetic newbie and I have been taking Metformin (2000 mg a day) for about 6 weeks, in the last 2 weeks it has started to give me stomach issues and when I have reduced the dosage the issues subside but my BG levels slowly creep up. From reading peoples Bios it seems a popular tablet, is it he best or other types tablets just as effective?
Hi, ive been on it for 2 yrs. Initially I took it 3 times a day after meals, it played my stomach up and had diarrhoea. Someone told me to take it with my food and it helped and have no bother now .
,I will ask for those tablets.
