Upset by Metformin

[RachelT]

Um you can get Metformin liquid fairly readily, but i've never seen a powder. (I work in a hospital pharmacy btw). I wouldn't recommend you crush tablets without consulting your pharmacist though. But you've got a very good point those slow release/modified release glucophage things are massive...i don't think i could swallow one, it took me a while to get the hang of the regular tablets. I do still get the runs from time to time, but luckily no other side effects.

Rachel

 

[Steff]

Um you can get Metformin liquid fairly readily, but i've never seen a powder. (I work in a hospital pharmacy btw). I wouldn't recommend you crush tablets without consulting your pharmacist though. But you've got a very good point those slow release/modified release glucophage things are massive...i don't think i could swallow one, it took me a while to get the hang of the regular tablets. I do still get the runs from time to time, but luckily no other side effects.

Rachel

yes rachel your quite right it is a liquid infact and not a powder thats me piping up again on things i know nothing about

 

[Ghost Hunter]

Thats very interesting thanks. How is the liquid taken? Like any other medicin via a little plastic dosage cup / spoon? Also how does it differ to the tablets (other than ones solid the other liquid obviously)?

Sorry for so many specific questions related to the stuff but I am struggling to take my other various tablets at the moment and am having a mental block when it comes to swallowing them! Strange for me really as I have generally been good with swallowing tablets but I know a lot of folk have trouble.

Not started taking the new SR Metformin yet but I wondered if anybody has notice if they have a 'break line' to cut them in half making it simpler to swallow 2 smaller pieces?

Just the thought of swallowing something so big is making me gag now 😱

 

[C*5_Dodger]

Thats very interesting thanks. How is the liquid taken? Like any other medicin via a little plastic dosage cup / spoon? Also how does it differ to the tablets (other than ones solid the other liquid obviously)?

Sorry for so many specific questions related to the stuff but I am struggling to take my other various tablets at the moment and am having a mental block when it comes to swallowing them! Strange for me really as I have generally been good with swallowing tablets but I know a lot of folk have trouble.

Not started taking the new SR Metformin yet but I wondered if anybody has notice if they have a 'break line' to cut them in half making it simpler to swallow 2 smaller pieces?

Just the thought of swallowing something so big is making me gag now 😱

Dear Ghost Hunter,

All slow release medications rely on the fact that they are not broken for their action. If you talk to your GP or pharmacist you will get a definite "NO" on breaking them up.

Warmest Regards Dodger

 

[lynwill53]

I can understand where your coming from Steph.

Im not a regular eater I must admit, I seem to miss the hunger signs if im not hungry so dont eat. Most days I eat in the evening for the sake of having to eat or I would go a day without. On the other side if I dont eat I can get moody and irritable! Ive been on DESMOND course and Food For Thought course and know the principals of healthy eating etc but I just cant seem to make the good routine last. I also have a naughty habit of snacking in the evening after my dinner (which I can actually avoid so more of a routine than a bad habbit) and addictive as the more sweet food I eat the more I want but I do stop myself with cravings as I recognise the spiral.

I just wonder if there is there any help I can get from my non existing support team to help me become a regular eater?

Thanks

I too, Ghosthunter, am having big problems with eating patterns, and even bigger ones with Metformin. I have to force myself to eat when I am not hungry so I can spead the Metformin doses across the day, and this often triggers a binge when I wasn't even hungry to start with! Also, always been a midnight snacker as worked nights for many years and 2pm is still my natural lunchtime. My sweet food cravings have got even worse since my diagnosis (Nov 08 - type 2).

As for the Metformin, I am at the end of my tether. Started on 1 x 500mg, then 2x, then 3x, still were not doing the business with the sugar levels, and stomach upsets a problem. Then they put it up to 4x 500mg a day and my bowels went into meltdown! GP said stick with it, it will get better. NOT!!

Then the hospital diabetic clinic decided that, as 2000mg a day still wasn't doing the trick with the sugars, I would change to 850mg tablets, at 3 a day! By now I, already having a problem with socio/agoraphobia, was staying permanently close to home, following a few embarrassing diarrhoea incidents. Their solution to this was to prescribe Immodium, up to 8 a day as necessary!

After 3 weeks on the 850mg Metformin, plus Immodium, the current situation is that I feel constantly unwell, nauseous, bloated and farting like a camel, no energy, and mentally rock bottom. The diarrhoea is still not really under control because I fear overdoing the Immodium and getting bunged solid!! My fear of cr@pping myself has put paid to my daily walks. So bang goes the exercise regime.

The last time I felt well and relatively happy, was before my diagnosis. I had a minor problem with septic spots in my armpits, and a lump on the back of my neck, which was why I saw the Doc and they tested for diabetes. I may, at the time, have been technically unwell with Type 2 Diabetes and high blood-sugar levels, but I felt a damn sight more healthy then than I have at any time since!!!

I feel so unhappy, it's tempting to just give up the treatment and take my chances. At least I might feel I had a life, albeit a shorter one!😡

 

[Steff]

thats very upsetting to read i also have had issues i have had a bad tummy since 5 o clock this morning im putting it down to my metformin i started on 1 x 500mg of metformin then i was put up to 2x , as well as the fact there totally humoungous in size they also cause me to have terrible wind and i get quite gassy as well when belching i did have heartburn very rarely before dignosis and i put that down to my gasineess but i have not had heartburn for ages , one thing i would say lynwill is dont just stop taking any of the medication id talk to your Gp firstly
Good luck with it all hope you feell better soon x

 

[Northerner]

...I feel so unhappy, it's tempting to just give up the treatment and take my chances. At least I might feel I had a life, albeit a shorter one!😡

I'm so sorry to hear this Lyn. I would have thought that you were now a candidate for insulin therapy, as the tablets (even lots of them!) do not appear to be doing the trick, and they are ruining your quality of life. I went through a period of constant sickness after diagnosis due to side-effects from some of the tablets I was taking, and I kept on and on at my GP until I was able to regain my appetite and not spend every waking hour feeling dreadful. There must be alternative drug therapies they can try. I appreciate that you are feeling very down and possibly not up to an extended period of visits to your GP, but their job is to find ways to treat your condition and allow you to live as normal a life as possible. It is very draining, I know. Feeling poorly for a couple of days, but knowing it will pass is one thing, but constantly feeling this way can feel intolerable.

Please see your GP - if the normal one can't help ask to be referred for a second opinion and see another. There are some very good doctors but, unfortunately, some very poor ones. I wish you well and hope that a better solution can be found soon.🙂

 

[lynwill53]

Hi steff, if you think the 500mg tablets are big you wanna see a 850mg one!!!!! But getting them down is not really a problem, just takes a HUGE swig of water!

The trouble with the Immodium is that you think it has done the trick when your tum troubles seem a bit easier, so you don't want to keep shovelling them down and stop your digestion in its tracks, so you ease off and things seem ok, and then you think you can risk a trip to the shops.........and suddenly you are running for the loo again with a wind-propelled disaster imminent!!!! It is proving very difficult to find a dosage level which keeps things on an even keel.
I already had an overacidic stomach problem and have tablets for that too, which were working ok until this monster Metformin dose thing started. Now I am having trouble with that again! And having stomach pain as well as the griping wind spasms in my bowels!
Since I was diagnosed I have lost nearly 2 stone but it doesn't show cos I am like a Michelin Man with all the wind (and extremely unpleasant to be around!)
I am soo reluctant to go back whinging to my GP, as he seems to take the view that this is what I must endure in order "not to die of Diabetes", and to complain that it makes life almost intolerable is a very ungrateful and unhelpful attitude.

 

[Steff]

well therefore he should not be a gp there job is to show compassion and be there for their patcient i am sure if he is a gp worth his salt he would prefer you there then in a hospital bed because of hs bad attitude.The wind problem drives me mad i feel really bad when im sitting indoors and my OH and son have to endure this .

 

[lynwill53]

Thank you Northerner for your input. I know I must bite the bullet and tackle my GP, even though I know he (and his colleagues) will be unsympathetic. This is because I have been unable to give up smoking due to the increasing stress of this diabetes business, and they take the view that as long as I continue to smoke I am refusing to help myself, and therefore a bit of a lost cause.

 

[Northerner]

Thank you Northerner for your input. I know I must bite the bullet and tackle my GP, even though I know he (and his colleagues) will be unsympathetic. This is because I have been unable to give up smoking due to the increasing stress of this diabetes business, and they take the view that as long as I continue to smoke I am refusing to help myself, and therefore a bit of a lost cause.

Well, that is such an unhelpful attitude by them. As an ex-smoker myself, I know just how difficult it can be to quit, especially when you are dealing with other life-changing conditions. You need a great deal of strength and resolve - nicotine is a powerful drug, and when it is one of your few sources of comfort, stopping the 'habit' of smoking is also very difficult. You need to be able to take things one step at a time. I think that, at the moment, you are feeling overwhelmed by everything, so you need some successes, however small, to give you encouragement and motivate you.

Try and tell the doctor this, and try and be firm. Decide what *you* feel would help most on your road to recovery, and insist that this is sorted out - I'm guessing it's the awful side-effects of the pills. It makes me so angry to hear of people being treated this way. There are 2.5 million people in this country with diabetes and I'm guessing only a very tiny fraction of them are suffering from their drug therapies to the extent that you are. It is up to the doctor to find a solution to this, otherwise he/she is not doing their job! I'm right behind you with this Lyn, so I hope that will give you some strength - I'd come over there with you if I could!🙂

 

[grovesy]

sorry to hear you are suffering like this I thought I was bad enough for the first few weeks on Metformin but I could not endure what you and it not doing the job it is designed to do.
Get back to the doctor could someone go with you for moral support.

 

[jerryatric]

Metformin

I had severe stomach problems from metformin . I asked my GP if there was anything that would suit me better I am now on GLUCOPHAGE SR which is Metformi n in a slow release form .This has helped quite a bit . Hope this helps.

 

[Steff]

gosh jerry they make me worse

 

[Ellowyne]

Metformin Misery :-(

Hi, I am sorry to hear of your problems with Metformin....however, equally, I am not surprised, as alot of people seem to having difficulty tolerating this medication!!

I too had terrible problems with Metformin and could not tolerate it at all! I 'Chose' not to continue with the tablets and I was not happy to take Glicazide as I need to lose weight and Glicazide is well known for
weight gain So, at this time, until my appointment with my Diabets Dr in July, I am on NO medication at all!

Please, before anyone say's so, I DO NOT ADVISE ANYONE TO STOP THIER MEDICATION.....This is just MY Personal choice at this time.

To be honest some people on Metformin have posted thier blood sugar levels here and some are still mostly higher then mine, but I'm not having to endure the problems with the medication as I'm not taking it!

My blood sugar ranges at 8-9 in the morning and at most 10' four hours after my dinner. I know these are 'high' and still need attention, but, as I have mentioned, even with the tablets some people still have higher readings than that

It is true that I am still struggling with accepting my diagnosis, but that is maybe because I have been unwell for a long time now with other, Non Diabetic problems. It's not often that a week goes by when I am not attending the Hospital or Drs for an appointment....I guess I am becoming tired, depressed and little not really caring anymore....I just don't want anymore pain or sickness and nausea and at the moment, well, I feel ok, not sick with side affects of medication after medication!!

Best thing, go back to your Dr, find the strengh not to let them 'fob' you off, boy, have I had some pretty rotten Drs and I used to take it, mind you, on bad days I still do sometimes 😱 But you know your body, it's you having to put up with all this, not them!!

Good luck!

By the way....I tried Metformin slow release, no change for me, prolonged the agony!!

 

[RachelT]

The posters above are right

You do what's best for you.
The NHS is supposed to be around for you, they can't make you take the drugs or attend your appointments.
There are a whole array of drugs out there besides Metformin, ok, they too all have side effects (and stomach problems are top of the list on all of them), maybe Metformin isn't right for you. (note: those slow release tabs are HUGE, and you can't cut or crush em (coz it ruins the slow release effect) and as far as i know, liquid Metformin has the same side effect profile as tablet metformin).
If it's any help, my Gran really can't take metformin either, she's diet controlled but took insulin injections when she was first diagnosed. It's taken 9 months for me to stop getting the runs (i've only just realised, it must be a good couple of weeks since my last really bad runny tummy...) and when i first took the stuff, oh boy....the word explosion was the best way to describe the effect... 😛. But they do control my blood sugar nicely.
If you don't get on with your GP (and let's face it, not all of us do, mine mumbles a lot and never explains anything. Then there's his alarming habit of telling you bad news and then taking your blood pressure...gee i wonder that's so high....), try asking your local pharmacist for some other drug options, they can't change your treatment, but at least you'll have some names to go to the doctor with.
Hope this helps in some way and good luck . 🙂

Rachel

 

[Vickylou]

Metformin

i want to stop metformin personally it plays havoc with me

Hi! I am also having problems with Metformin and have been on it for 8yrs,and do firmly believe it is causing my liver to swell and trying to convince Doctors about this is impossible so they say.Doctors includind Diab Specialists firmly believe it is a wonderful drug.
I am experiancing terrible effects and have been sent to a Gastrointestinal Specialist who just had a colonoscopy and gastro done on me but it has all come back clear(suggest you be careful if you need this done,as its painful and takes out all your energy afterwards) so where do we go now I wonder?
This affects the amount I can eat(very little in fact I live on a tin of soup and one jacket potato daily) and also my breathing,and I am now at my wits end.There must be something else to replace Metformin apart from Insulin as I have tried them all and have terrible side effects so thats out as well.