I have been having some bad side affects in the last week. The one from last night scared me. I have a call in to the doctor and am waiting for a response. I skipped my morning dose and am thinking about skipping lunch. Do you think that makes matters worse?
I suspect I am having blood sugar issues though I'm eating carefully... I may just not be armed with enough knowledge to control high or low blood sugar (don't even know which it could be). I'm eating protein/low fat with all my carbs and only good carbs (no sugar added yogurt, milk, etc).
Just can't decide whether I should take the next pill or not. I haven't taken one in 18 hours and I still don't feel right...
I can tell you that when I became hypoglycemic and dehydrated from increasing my dose to 1500mg, my doctor told me not to take any more until the following day although I had only taken 500mg so far that day. He also told me to go back down to 1000mg/day for a while.
So I don't think it would be unreasonable to skip or delay your next dose until you hear from your doctor.
ETA: The reproductive endocrinologist I saw didn't get back to me for three days, at which time he said he didn't know what caused my problem. Fortunately my other doctor called me back within the hour, recognized that hypoglycemia is a (rare) side effect of metformin alone, and gave me the above dosage advice.
Thanks Zorah, that's really helpful. My doctor is an OB/GYN so I'm concerned he might not be too versed in blood sugar issues. He actually told me no special diet was needed which I've found is not the generally accepted view.
I skipped my morning dose and am thinking about skipping lunch. Do you think that makes matters worse?
Yes, I do. Think about it..the drug is regulating your hormones, particularly at meal times. Then BANG...you stop taking it. Your hormones will be all over the map. I can understand decreasing your dose until you hear from your Dr, but stopping cold turkey is unwise.
__________________ Christy
33 yrs, 1 precious hubby, 2 miracle kids, At Goal Wt for 4 yrs, Trygly's down 445 pts, Free Androgen down from 20 to 2, 3 half 'thons ran, 2 mtns hiked, 1 crazy run in the Rockies, 4 forest trail races, profiled in 2 magazines...1 woman determined to kick PCOS butt!
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
My RE told me that with the ER version, to always take it with my biggest meal of the day and do not skip other meals. BUT, she also said that if I am sick or don't eat the big meal for some reason, that I should skip the meds as well. I'm not sure why. Maybe related to glucose levels.
__________________ Heather Me(29) DH(30) Married 6/1/2002
Ryan Matthew July 26, 2007
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
24 Months and counting
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
I have been extremely sick on 1000mg Riomet (and Met before I changed) and I haven't taken my meds since Tuesday...I have resulted in buying motion sickness bands because if I had found something for nausea that I hd to swallow, it will never make it down....
I have a Dr appt today, and I'm going to let her know what's going on...I'm constantly getting yelled at, by my husband and my mother for not taking my meds, but I am tooooo sick....I, at times, want to give up, then I read a success story that gets me thinkning positive again, but goodness, I'm so sick! I want to drop back down to 550 mg, that worked great for me, but I'm also afraid that it will not work effectively....What's a girl to do????
__________________
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Natural Herbs ONLY, Vitex, 2mL, 3x a day! To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
Diagnosed w/ PCOS: 7/2006
WE'RE PREGNANT!!!!
We got our BFP on Jan 5th, 2007!!
Please don't give up, I never thought it would happen, but it did!!!
To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 0 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.
I'm not sure about Met ER, but if you type in Metforming & Hypoglycemia on Google, you will see plenty of warning that Met can result in Hypoglycemia.
I heard back from my doctor and we agreed that I would reduce my dose to 1000mg per day. I'm still not feeling great but keeping my fingers crossed. I've driving myself crazy by being fearful of everything I put in my mouth (and I'm afraid to not eat enough too!)!
i'm confused. i'm on 1500mg of the ER version and i was told by my endo that met won't make you hypoglycemic
I was really surprised by that side effect myself because information on metformin always makes a point of saying it doesn't cause hypoglycemia! However, hypoglycemia is in fact listed in the prescribing information as a rare side effect of metformin, and more commonly "as a result of skipped meals, excessive exercise, or alcohol consumption" with metformin. (And really, what is "excessive" exercise? I suspect they consider it to be any exercise you do prior to an episode of hypoglycemia!)
I think one possible reason for the disparity is that it seems "hypoglycemia" is sometimes defined as blood glucose below 50, and perhaps the low blood sugar metformin has caused in many of us isn't quite low enough to qualify. That's just my own speculation, though.
I skipped a dose the other night (because I forgot to get my prescription filled) and don't ever want to do that again. I got sick sick sick. As soon as I had taken the next couple of doses...I felt great again.. I wouldn't skip Met if I were you unless you were certain you aren't going to take it again.
Dangerous to skip doses? 
