When to take metformin

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JhnBssll

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Type 3c
I'm currently taking 500mg with breakfast, lunch and dinner as instructed by my doctor when he originally prescribed the medication. When I saw the diabetes nurse last week she mentioned I could perhaps take 2x500mg at breakfast and 1x500mg at dinner so I don't have to carry them around with me to take at lunchtime. Is this sensible?

As I understand it, taking it with food is only to minimise the risk of stomach trouble and the drug works by building up in your body rather than individual doses doing the work - so in theory as long as the daily dosage remains the same, it doesnt matter what time I take it, right? Presumably 2x500mg tablets is more likely to annoy my guts though...

What are you guys doing? I've bought a little pill container for my keyring but thats no good when I forget to put pills in it, which I've already forgotten to do twice in the 3 weeks I've been taking them. That doesnt sound too bad, but in those 3 weeks I've only been out at lunchtime 3 times... :rofl:
 
Do you not have other medications to take if you are eating food like your Creon which I believe was mentioned in your other thread.
I also assume you will be taking your blood glucose testing kit as well so having the metformin as well shouldn't be too problematic. I assume you are not yet taking insulin.
 
I don't need creon currently and have a libre patch for the moment. I'm sure I'll get in to the habit of remembering them, just wondered if it made any difference. Would be useful to know in case any situations arise which would make it difficult to have a dose at lunch time.
 
JhnBssll said:
I don't need creon currently and have a libre patch for the moment. I'm sure I'll get in to the habit of remembering them, just wondered if it made any difference. Would be useful to know in case any situations arise which would make it difficult to have a dose at lunch time.
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As the medication doesn't act directly on the food you eat and builds up in your system and persists for sometime, an occasional missed dose most likely will make no difference. But you could try the 2 tablets with your evening meal if you have missed your lunchtime dose and see if it gives you any stomach issues.
Presumably your GP thinks you have insulin resistance and the metformin will help your body use what insulin you are producing more effectively.
 
I had necrotising pancreatitis and a necrosectomy so I don't produce as much insulin as I used to, and it seems to be getting worse. Hence the metformin 🙂 fortunately I don't need creon or insulin yet but I imagine they're in my future.

I'll experiment a little and see how I get on, appreciate the info 🙂
 
Don't about 'building up the system', but it reaches a steady concentration in the blood in around 1-2 days and should start to work in that time as it enters the liver cells and starts to inhibit glucose production. It's expelled pretty quickly (Most of the dose is cleared within a day) which is why we need to keep taking the tablets to keep the concentration up. This is probably why the doses are staggered, to keep the concentration at a steady state. As we're told to step up the dose over time (1 tablet for a few weeks, then 2, then 3) this means the concentration will go up, but the drug starts working almost straight away and the effect is highest when taking around 2000mg.

It's actually more effective if it's taken before food (30 minutes, I believe) as taking it food means less is absorbed into the bloodstream.
 
Hi , that's a little different from when I should take my Metformin ( it says take with food )
 
They tell you to take it with food to prevent stomach problems. Most days I forget to take mine and take it without food and have no problems. It’s just a precautionary measure.
 
Just put a couple of tabs in the keyring box now. Then you ony have to remember to replace them as you use them, rather than remembering (or not!) to load the box only on days you need them.
 
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