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Metformin

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mollie1

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Type 2
Hello all, im new to the forum so here goes. I was diagnosed with diabetes last may and although one GP told me i would be diet controlled the next GP i visited told me it would be medication so i am on 500mg x daily. The question is, i lost 2 stone in weight and although i cut out the sugar i continued to eat the same but kept losing the weight, rightly or wrongly, it was great. Just recently i have started to put weight back on, it did not concern me at first as i did want to gain a little weight due to the fact that it was coming off my face and i looked "gaunt" a lot of my closest friends commented. I cannot seem to lose any weight now. Is it the Metformin?. Any advise would be great
 
Hi Mollie, welcome to the forum 🙂 I'm not personally experienced with metformin, but I don't think it would have such a pronounced effect on your weight, especially as the dose you are one is (I believe) low. I would suspect that it is the other changes you have made to your diet that has had a bigger influence. How have you been feeling generally? Do you test your blood sugar levels?
 
Welcome to the forum mollie1 🙂
 
Hi
I feel absolutely fine, if i did not take the Metformin tablets i would not know i was diabetic. I usually do my blood sugars once a week and they are around 6.2 - 6.8 an hour after my metformin. It's just that i lost a lot of weight to start with and my Dr was a little concerned but i thought it was fantastic as i was quite overweight, i continued to eat what i wanted although i cut out the sugary stuff like chocolate and lucozade and still lost weight. All of a sudden i have gained weight and cannot lose it so was wondering if its my body getting used to the Metformin
 
hello and welcome molly :D.......i take 1000mg a day and found that i lost weight...i am at a steady weight now but have not put more weight on after getting used to the drug.....maybe a visit to the docs are in order if you are worried?
Good luck and once again a big warm welcome x
 
Welcome Mollie1, I found your predicament of interest as I to am on metformin (1000mg twice a day), have lost a pound a week since being diagnosed T2, having stopped most sugar intake and crisps! So after a little research on google came up with this:- http://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pubmed/22179955
The conclusion on this small trial of 16 people (as I understand it) is that genetics plays a part in the ability to keep the weight off!
This may mean more exercise after a while and /or smaller portions!!
 
Thanks for that JohnCo. When i first started gaining weight i was quite happy as it did seem to come off my face so i wanted to re-gain some weight(only a little though) to look healthier. I was losing like 2lb a week and if i gained a 1lb, the next time i got on the scales, i had lost that and 2lb more. Strange. I must correct my dosage of Metformin, i take 500mg 2x daily.
 
Hi Mollie, Metformin is supposed to help with weight loss, but I didn't find that, only eating too much put on weight. P.S. Metformin is very long acting and it's not much use taking your bloods an hour after taking your metformin it won't act that quickly, in fact it can take days before there is any change to blood sugar levels after a change in the amount of metformin (either up or down).

I presume you took your metformin with a meal so getting 6.2-6.8 and hour after is very good and you shouldn't be increasing the dose. What does your GP/DSN say about your levels.
 
Sorry to confuse you, i was relating to my 1st post, i said that i was on Metformin 500mg x daily i meant to say 2x daily. My GP is very happy with my levels. They have come down from 97 to 42 so thats just under half. Im disappointed that my weight is climbing back up though, i dont stuff my face with chocolate or sugery things but i do have a couple of takeaways during the week due to long shifts at work. Even eating the takeaways i continued to lose a couple of pounds a week but now it's going back on. I know, i know i have to stop the takeaways.
 
mollie1 said:
Sorry to confuse you, i was relating to my 1st post, i said that i was on Metformin 500mg x daily i meant to say 2x daily. My GP is very happy with my levels. They have come down from 97 to 42 so thats just under half. Im disappointed that my weight is climbing back up though, i dont stuff my face with chocolate or sugery things but i do have a couple of takeaways during the week due to long shifts at work. Even eating the takeaways i continued to lose a couple of pounds a week but now it's going back on. I know, i know i have to stop the takeaways.
Click to expand...

Hi Mollie, remember that diabetes is not just about chocolate or sweet things - all carbohydrates will have an impact, so potatoes, pasta, bread, rice etc. It might be worth looking at your overall carb consumption by keeping a diary for a few days - you may be surprised at the amount you are eating. Many people find that reducing their carb intake helps with weight loss.
 
Hi Mollie, it's a simple formula, energy input less energy output=weight gain. Easy to say, hard to do. As well as monitoring your carb intake (sugar, bread, rice, flour products etc) you need to do a quick totup of your daily intake of calories and see how that compares with what you should be eating for your BMI/age/sex etc. Takeaways can be bad for you as you tend to eat more than you should (i've paid for it so I'm going to finish it syndrome) and they tend to be the wrong kind of high calorie stuff.

Most of us on diets find that we plateau at times, I am at the moment and not sure how to get the weight loss going again.
 
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