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Newbie struggling, metformin alternative?

G

Ginger36

New Member
Relationship to Diabetes
Type 2
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She/Her
Hello
Diagnosed february, out of the blue no apparent symptoms came as a big shock
Hc1a 98
Last blood test 77, next one end May
Taking glycazide, unwell with side effects for a couple months
Also diet, exercise completely changed
Started metformin, violently Ill despite slow release 500mg taken with food
Need to find alternative to metformin as can't function
Have arranged private appointment but it's not for a few weeks

Advice on metformin alternative please?
 
Are you in the UK? In the UK metformin is what they start type 2 on. It is cheap and generally effective. I went up to four but following week started on an SGLT2 and d metformin reduced to two. If you have had such a violent reduction your doctor will consider an alternative
 
Ginger36 said:
Hello
Diagnosed february, out of the blue no apparent symptoms came as a big shock
Hc1a 98
Last blood test 77, next one end May
Taking glycazide, unwell with side effects for a couple months
Also diet, exercise completely changed
Started metformin, violently Ill despite slow release 500mg taken with food
Need to find alternative to metformin as can't function
Have arranged private appointment but it's not for a few weeks

Advice on metformin alternative please?
Click to expand...
I was ill taking Metformin and Atorvastatin, so decided to eat low carb rather than suffer the effects - I do need to eat quite low carb - 40 gm or less but it seems to have done the trick.
I started out at 50 gm a day and got down to normal numbers in 6 months. I tested my blood glucose to see what I should or should not eat.
Although Metformin is prescribed pretty universally it doesn't suit quite a few people, and it can induce depression for some, I suspect. None of the dreadful side effects were ever recorded in my files - so - safe and effective, no problems, follow the script when giving advice and bury the evidence.
 
Answer to the question in the title: diet.

A healthy diet of protein and non-starchy vegetables, for example.
 
Sorry to hear you’ve had a nasty reaction to the medications you have been offered so far @Ginger36

But great to hear that the dietary changes you have been making have reduced your HbA1c. Interesting that you seem to have had 2 checks already since Feb. Usually Drs like to wait for 3 months between HbA1cs as that is approximately the lifespan of red blood cells so there will be little or no ‘overlap’ between samples if they are 3 months apart.

In terms of medication alternatives, this is a flowchart for Drs published by NICE which suggests possible medications depending on how a person’s blood glucose management has been responding.

 
Metformin will only make a small difference and diet is just as important if not more so.
Many have found a low carb approach successful even from quite high HbA1C results. Gliclazide encourages the pancreas to produce more insulin so people should not have too few carbs but the Freshwell program is based on 130g per day not NO carbs. https://lowcarbfreshwell.com/
Have a look and see how that compares to what you are currently doing as there may be some changes you can make that will reduce the need for the medications which do not suit you.
 
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