metformin question

[sweetcheeks]

ok, i have read several places that people wanted to get off the metformin, Im on 500mg per day in the evening, where ive been reading people say it could make my pancreas or liver stop working eventually and could be on inslulin later on

so now im freaking out on this, as i dont want to be on insulin the rest of my life, but the metformin is working very well for me
as my fasting numbers are getting in the teens now, and my daily numbers before meals are in the 90's and my after dinner numbers are no more than 150 - 160

should i worry about it if my body is getting back to normal and the metformin is working so well?

[seacomp]

I don't know where you've been reading that, I hope it wasn't this forum. Metformin does not effect the pancreas, it reduces the amount of glucose that your liver produces and increases to a small extent your body's receptivity to insulin. Metformin is not advised when there is a kidney problem and like all drugs there are some other side effects. All and all, it is one of the safest and more effective drugs around.
You are getting good results on far less than the maximum dose of the drug. That means it is likely to work for you for a long time, especially if you add exercise and diet to the mix. Very many tye 2s eventually use insulin, but metformin won't put you there, rather it will less that possibility.

[trpack]

I agree with Seacomp, it has given me the fewest side effects of any of the meds that I have tried and my numbers are very good since I have been on it. The long term effect of my numbers being in control is the number one priority and with Metformin it is working.

[sweetcheeks]

ok, i have read several places that people wanted to get off the metformin, Im on 500mg per day in the evening, where ive been reading people say it could make my pancreas or liver stop working eventually and could be on inslulin later on

so now im freaking out on this, as i dont want to be on insulin the rest of my life, but the metformin is working very well for me
as my fasting numbers are getting in the teens now, and my daily numbers before meals are in the 90's and my after dinner numbers are no more than 150 - 160

should i worry about it if my body is getting back to normal and the metformin is working so well?

ok when i said teens i meant like 110 - 120 lol


and im not having any side affects on the metformin, except the occasional diarreah which i can live with

[Roy Gardiner]

I was diagnosed T2 six months ago. Since then I've been monitoring BG, as we all do, attempting control with diet and exercise.

Fasting BG (first thing in the morning and just before dinner 8pm) has sometimes dipped below the safe max 7.0 (126), usually when I've been exercising very hard, but has sat more consistently in the range 7.5 (135) to 9.0 (162) with a few above that level.

Just how dangerous is this? I'm still symptom free.

So I've just started with Metformin, to see how that helps.and im not having any side affects on the metformin, except the occasional diarreah which i can live with Ah, that's what it is :)

After about what length of time should I expect to see results? Gradual BG decline, or sudden drop?

Obviously I'm keeping my diet the same; on the first day the temptation to say to myself 'I'm on the gear now, I can have extra roast potatoes' was large. But if I did, I'd never know what the effect was!

[seacomp]

Metformin effects come in gslowly over a number of weeks not days. And, because of how it works and doesn't work, it will never allow that "extra roast potatoes". It reduces the glucose produced by the liver but does not do anything to produce that extra insulin your body needs to metabolize the potatoes.

[ladytaz]

And, because of how it works and doesn't work, it will never allow that "extra roast potatoes". It reduces the glucose produced by the liver but does not do anything to produce that extra insulin your body needs to metabolize the potatoes.

Which is why a lot of docs prescribe a sulfonylurea, like Glipizide or Glyburide, to take along with the Metformin, as the sulfonylureas stimulate the pancreas to produce insulin.