How long does it take for Metformin to work??

[dellie]

I am posting on behalf of my DH who has recently been diagnosed as diabetic, the gp has put him on Metformin 850g 3 x daily. The gp would have liked ideally for DH to go straight onto insulin as his blood sugars are quite high. they spike to 17+ after a meal and his a1c was 10.5, but DH wanted a trial of the tablets first as he is terrified of needles!!! He has been on the Metformin for 2 weeks now and although there has been a slight improvement, his numbers are not coming down substantially. I have read that Metformin takes a while to work, but would you think we would have started to see an improvement by now or is there still hope yet?

Thanks in advance!!!

[mg_2204]

Hello! Metformin really started to kick in after 6 weeks. It's then I saw results only.

[trpack]

Hi and welcome,
My first A1c was 13.5 and all of my numbers were very high. I also wanted to avoid the "needles" at all cost. My doctor explained that I would see a little improvement at first with diet but it would take any of the meds 4 to 8 weeks to kick in and really start to do what they were meant to do. The diet and exercise are a real important part of controlling with meds only. I feel that if I can succeed with this part it will make things easier down the road. I also spent a couple of sessions with a diabetic educator, who is also a registered dietician and that was really helpful. I was told by someone else here that slow and steady is the name of the game and that seems to work the best. Good luck

[Peter Lee]

It was 8 weeks before I saw a steady downward trend and six months (and additional medication) before I arrived at normal and then 9 to 12 months before I regarded myself as stable.

For some people it can be a hard fight.

There have been a few threads in the past on the side effects (gastro intestinal) of metformin. You will find these using the Search button.

For people who are very high and also spike after a meal, doctors seem to generally want them to go straight onto insulin in order to get a quick reduction in sugar level. I was under the same pressure, with worse figures than your DH. However, in my case the oral medication worked. Hopefully, it will for him.

One thing to bear in mind. The complications of a persistantly high sugar level are so seriours that in my mind they completely outweigh any fear of needles. :ridinghor

[labob]

OK, I'll ask: what does DH stand for?

Second, while my medical team is still trying to figure out what type of diabetes I have (to the extent that labels matter), I think "DH" should be encouraged to do whatever is necessary to address his high glucose levels -- even if that means taking insulin. It might be that he'll need to take insulin for just a short period, then rely on oral meds. That has been my case. I was diagnosed in December 2005 with an A1c of 13.4 and a random glucose reading of over 1,000 mg/dl (kind of an overacheiver in that regard). My doctor put me on two kinds of insulin right away, in addition to some pretty heavy doses of glyburide. I stopped using insulin after three weeks, and eventually swapped out glyburide for 15 mg of Actos, but I would have done anything to treat the symptoms I was experiencing when I was first diagnosed. This plan has worked, at least for me, at least for the time being: my last A1c (July 2006) was 4.9. We'll see what my next test in October brings.

So while I'm doing pretty well now, my medical team keeps warning me that I'm probably in a "honeymoon" period and that I'll be back on insulin eventually. I say fine. If that's what it takes, that's what I'll do. Insulin is not that scary once you use it.

[Peter Lee]

OK, I'll ask: what does DH stand for?

I assumed it is 'Dear Husband' I'll be interested to see what the reply to your question is.

It's good that the regime worked for you.

[Michele]

I've been on metformin for 5yrs, I believe it was about 2months for me before it started doing what I needed it to do. Taking it before meals and everyday at the same time has helped as well. I know taking it at the same time can be hard but I do try and usually Sunday is the only day I'm off. I hope it starts working for your "Darling Husband" soon. But needles aren't that bad, been doing shots for almost 2months now. I acctually think sticking my finger hurts worse. :egg:


Michele :)

[dellie]

Thank you for all your replies, sorry I have not replied sooner but unfortunately my computer was wiped out by a virus, only got it back today!!

DH does stand for Dear Husband!!

Pleased to report that the last few days we have started to see a downward trend in 'Dear Husbands' blood sugars, not quite where they should be but definately getting there!!

[Lex4153]

The first few months after a diagnosis can be rough. There are different type of pills to try. One may not uniformly work for everyone. I know Metformin didn't work for me but Byetta and Glimepride (Amaryl) did. Some people are lucky to find the right meds/dosage right away, but I think it's more typical to have to wait and "tweak" things until it gets right.

Good luck to and your DH!:T