T1's taking Metformin...why and how much?

jenb · #1 (**permalink**) 11-16-2009, 08:39 AM

I'm thinking of asking my doc for a Metformin prescription to deal with DP. Getting up in the wee hours for a bolus to do this is getting really old! Any T1's out there using Met for this? If so, how much do you take and what have the results been? Is it like everything else...start with a little and keep adjusting 'til you find the sweet spot?

Thanks everyone.

Jen

gettingby · #2 (**permalink**) 11-16-2009, 08:44 AM

Jen, Subby is doing this and here is his thread on it. Metformin findings of one T1

I'm seriously considering talking to my endo about it when I go back to see him in Dec. I have bloodwork scheduled for Wed and I know my a1c will give him ample reason to consider it for me. I really think I am suffering from DP. Last night, I checked at 9:30 with a 101. Woke up and checked this morning to find 230 !!!!

Tattoo azz · #3 (**permalink**) 11-16-2009, 08:52 AM

I take met 3x daily. i'm ok so far. (except for being admitted to hospital over the weekend, but i think that was my fault)

foxl · #4 (**permalink**) 11-16-2009, 08:53 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Tattoo azz

I take met 3x daily. i'm ok so far. (except for being admitted to hospital over the weekend, but i think that was my fault)

Tat -- whadja do?!

AngelKitty · #5 (**permalink**) 11-16-2009, 03:36 PM

Hi there,

I started a thread titled Metformin for T1 (a few weeks before Subby started his) in the Type 1 forum and there were quite a few responses from other type 1s on Metformin.

Subby's thread is also very useful, he goes into a lot more detail about his personal experience with Met.

Sorry don't know how to add the thread link to my Metformin for T1 thread, but if you do a quick search you will find it.

Meghann0409 · #6 (**permalink**) 11-16-2009, 04:53 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jenb

I'm thinking of asking my doc for a Metformin prescription to deal with DP. Getting up in the wee hours for a bolus to do this is getting really old! Any T1's out there using Met for this? If so, how much do you take and what have the results been? Is it like everything else...start with a little and keep adjusting 'til you find the sweet spot?

Thanks everyone.

Jen

I took (pre-pg) 2000mg Metformin ER - couldn't remember to take twice a day - for insulin resistance and as a mild appetite suppressant (more exactly, to break the cycle of eat/insulin/insulin makes you hungry/eat again.) This started around the same time I was diagnosed with an eating disorder (IMO caused by diabetes.)

GeishaGirl · #7 (**permalink**) 11-16-2009, 04:54 PM

*raises hand* I'm on 2000mg/day, 1000 in the morning and at night. It has helped my morning readings astronomically! I was up to 3u/hour on my pump at certain times of the night, and basal testing alllll night was getting really old. Now I'm down to 1.85u/hour, which is perfect, and my sugars are almost always 90-110 (the exception being when I eat something carby close to bedtime and don't want to take a full bolus because I'd rather be a little high in the morning than low!)

I've found it's also helped my day numbers. When I'm frustrated by a day of running consistently high (170s instead of 120s), I'll remember I forgot to take my Met in the morning

jenb · #8 (**permalink**) 11-16-2009, 07:13 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by AngelKitty

I started a thread titled Metformin for T1 (a few weeks before Subby started his) in the Type 1 forum and there were quite a few responses from other type 1s on Metformin.

Subby's thread is also very useful, he goes into a lot more detail about his personal experience with Met.

Hi AK...I'm a little red-faced at my own laziness! I did do a search this a.m. and found both your post and Subby's but had run out of time to read them. I will dive in tonight.

By the way, Chloe Kitty looks so elegant! My little newest addition, Takoda, will be quite a looker I think, but right now is only interested in being a kwazy kat. Wish I had that energy. He's been racing up and down the stairs chasing a toy mouse for about an hour. Obviously training for some marathon!

Jen

jenb · #9 (**permalink**) 11-16-2009, 07:15 PM

Hi Amanda. Out of curiosity, did you try smaller doses of Met first? Do you take the extended release? How did you bring it up with your doctor?

Jen

AngelKitty · #10 (**permalink**) 11-16-2009, 07:18 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jenb

By the way, Chloe Kitty looks so elegant! My little newest addition, Takoda, will be quite a looker I think, but right now is only interested in being a kwazy kat. Wish I had that energy. He's been racing up and down the stairs chasing a toy mouse for about an hour. Obviously training for some marathon!

Jen

Hi there Jen,

Chloe certainly is a beatiful looking cat, my photos really don't do her justice and she is definitely a pampered princess and still a baby at under 7 months old! LoL! listen to me the proud mama!

GeishaGirl · #11 (**permalink**) 11-16-2009, 07:33 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by jenb

Hi Amanda. Out of curiosity, did you try smaller doses of Met first? Do you take the extended release? How did you bring it up with your doctor?

Jen

I started out slightly smaller, mostly to allow my system time to adjust. I started at 500mg twice a day for a month, then bumped up to 1000mg twice a day. This time around, my stomach didn't complain.

rak1978 · #12 (**permalink**) 11-16-2009, 09:47 PM

Jen,
I'm on 2000 mg/day glucophage. It has helped me tremendously to have a more predictable outcome as well as being able to take less insulin with the meals that I take the met.
My doctor prescribed it for me thinking it would help me to loose weight (more met = less insulin). Honestly, it hasn't helped with the weight, but it has helped with bg control.
I agree with what the others posted...check out the other threads if you have some time. They are fascinating.
I think it could be a drug that is very useful for a lot of type 1's and is completely under prescribed.

Good luck!
Rachel

AngelKitty · #13 (**permalink**) 11-16-2009, 10:47 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by rak1978

I think it could be a drug that is very useful for a lot of type 1's and is completely under prescribed.
Good luck!
Rachel

Rachel, I completely agree with you on this one.

kgm0612 · #14 (**permalink**) 11-18-2009, 07:52 AM

I'm a type 1 pumper who has been taking 500-mg Metformin twice daily (breakfast & dinner) for the last 6.5 years.

One thing I have found with Met is that it has kept my weight steady, give or take a few pounds.

Karen

sable_032592 · #15 (**permalink**) 11-19-2009, 05:00 PM

when glucophage (brand name for metformin) came out, i was part of the study to see if worked on T1s... while it was torture on my intestines and my family and friends for the first few months, i eventually got used to it... but it didn't help with all the blood sugar issues, so i was taken off it while they fine-tuned my insulin doses...

i'm back on metformin now, and have been on it for quite some time now, for the simple reason that i'm insulin resistant, so my shots need a little help... since i tend to eat only twice a day, i was given 850mg twice a day... so i'm on 1700mg a day... my dad is a T2 and he's on 1000mg a day, 2 pills of 500mg each...