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Metformin side effects

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Beck S

Beck S

Well-Known Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
Hello

I've been on 500mg of Metformin since my diagnosis a week ago, taken with breakfast, which the nurse upped to one with breakfast and one with dinner on Tuesday (which I then forgot to take). Yesterday the doctor told me to up it to two with breakfast and two with dinner. I haven't had any of the mentioned side effects yet, but I'm a bit concerned that such a jump will have some kind of effect. Do the side-effects last long, or does your body get used to them eventually and calm down?
 
Hi. I never had any side effects while on Metformin, hopefully you will be lucky in that respect too.
its been many years since I was started on Metformin, so I'll leave your question about the speed of the increase up o others.
 
Yes, I had some unfortunate side effects, and I realised why people call it Metfartin! They lasted quite a few weeks, and I was very glad when they faded away.

I was even more glad that my GP stopped prescribing it when my control remained good, and I've been off medication since January 2016 🙂

As I recall I remained on two tablets (one in the morning, one in the evening) per day, so I can't speak to the effects of an increase.
 
I was started on metformin about three weeks ago first at one tablet twice a day then increased in the second week to two tablets twice a day, a few days after I started and a few days after the increase I had a bit of ...whats a polite way of putting it... the trots
anyway it only lasted a day and then resolved itself but I do tend not to suffer for long with such things
fingers crossed you don't get any side effects
 
I was diagnosed in July and put on one 500 mg Metformin a couple of weeks later, maybe the start of August, it was then increased at the start of September, I had less than one day of very loose bowels which then settled down. The only thing you can do, in my opinion, is try it out, expect the worst hope for the best. That is how I look at most things in life, then when things go well, it extra special surprise! 🙂
 
As many already know, if you have problems lasting more than a few weeks do ask for the Slow Release (SR) version. It costs the NHS only a little more.
 
Thanks all. I'm taking it and hoping for the best. So far, so good!
 
Not everyone gets the side effects - I did and they were dreadful, and only got worse, just going from one to two was dire. Hopefully you are one of the lucky ones.
I needed to buy a professional carpet cleaner.
Thankfully I found that they were of no obvious benefit when stopped them, and the Atorvastatin too. The doctor who tried to persuade me to start them again was such a drama queen about it. You'd think I would be dropping dead in weeks without the medication.
Still here and doing very well.
 
Drummer said:
Not everyone gets the side effects - I did and they were dreadful, and only got worse, just going from one to two was dire. Hopefully you are one of the lucky ones.
I needed to buy a professional carpet cleaner.
Thankfully I found that they were of no obvious benefit when stopped them, and the Atorvastatin too. The doctor who tried to persuade me to start them again was such a drama queen about it. You'd think I would be dropping dead in weeks without the medication.
Still here and doing very well.
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Ouch, doesn't sound good. Glad its working for you now!

I can definitely feel them working, my symptoms have all but disappeared and since I upped to four a day my average BG readings are down. Have felt slightly queasy, but if it stays like that I can cope.
 
Beck S said:
Ouch, doesn't sound good. Glad its working for you now!

I can definitely feel them working, my symptoms have all but disappeared and since I upped to four a day my average BG readings are down. Have felt slightly queasy, but if it stays like that I can cope.
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It's good to hear they are working. Fingers crossed your Metfartin symptoms get no worse.
 
I tolerate Metformin well ..but they do make me ✻windy✻ ..the Prolonged Release versions a little less so.

My physician also prescribed Peppermint Oil capsules ..and these have probably prevented any digestive problems.

Metformin is a good medication for me ..and I dread to think how I'd have ended up without it.
 
Hmm. Turns out I was wrong.

EDIT: I read somewhere else on the forum that the more carbs you eat, the more likely the Metformin side-effects are. Is that right?
 
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I have read that too - I was eating very low carb during the worst days but it did not help at all.
 
Hmm. Turns out I was wrong.

EDIT: I read somewhere else on the forum that the more carbs you eat, the more likely the Metformin side-effects are. Is that right?
Click to expand...

I was eating a fair amount of carbs when I started on metformin and I only had the couple of little blips like I said so I'm not sure that's accurate, what I had heard was that you gained weight on metformin if you ate carbs but according to my nurse that's a myth too
 
Blimey, who knows!

The good news is that I spoke to one of the unit nurses and they agreed that the registrar shouldn't have increased my dose by so much so quickly. I'm back down to one in the morning and one in the evening for a week, and then up my evening dose to two for a week and see what happens. So far so good.
 
I wouldn't worry about upping the dose too much - the only thing they gave me was the side effects and I felt so much better when I stopped taking all the medication and just relied on low carb foods - my BG readings didn't change at all.
 
I'm generally hoping to get to that point, at the moment it's all very experimental so I'm happy for the metformin to do it's job and let me try stuff out while at a lower level. In two weeks my levels have dropped from the 18s, 19s, and 20s, to the 7s, 8s, and 9s, so I'm sticking with it.
 
I have been on the morning and evening routine since Feb 1000Mg total a day. I can say that apart from being really sorta "loose" now and then, no real side effects.
 
Having searched for the side effects I have found this thread, so a further question. I started on the slow release ones last Thursday evening, took one Friday morning with brekkie, forgot it at dinner time, had one this morning, had two relatively urgent trips and then a third time and let's say I didn't quite make it! I've read a couple of you saying you had one day of problems and then it settled down so I'm hoping for that, but would just having three tablets have worked that quick? Don't have to go out for the next couple of days so will bear with it and hope for the best.

Have just been doing some reading of other threads and sites to do with this. Does anyone take long term Imodium to help with the symptoms? My pharmacist said you shouldn't take it for more than two days but when I had gall bladder problems years ago I took it every day while waiting for my op to have it removed. And I just read an article which said people should be prescribed a low dose for a while and then up it so I am going to only take it once a day and see how I go. What do others think?
 
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I know metformin is fast acting, so it might be that its also fast acting with its side effects. Its reacted with me a couple of times, about a week apart. My stomach often feels unsettled tho without anything bad happening. I'm hoping it goes away though. I have taken imodium but only short term.

Hope it gets better for you soon.
 
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