Dizzy? Anyone ever had this before?

knib · 08-18-2007, 01:57 PM

Hi! I am new to Metformin. I should up to 1500 today but I am concerned.
Yesterday, I had a granola bar and a glass of juice for Breakfast and took my Metformin about 8:00 AM. Then about 9:00 (during a school meeting- inservice) the whole room started to spin. I was able to lay my head down and take a peppermint. Within about 5 minutes, I was OK. Is this a normal reaction? Any suggestions?

Sanyia · 08-18-2007, 03:59 PM

Sounds like you blood sugar is dropping. I have this problem if I don't eat enough, especially when I first started met a month ago. I realized I had to change my eating habits or my blood sugar would tank like a brink in water. Imo you need to eat a more substantial breakfast. If you have to eat and run, try a piece of toast with some peanut butter on it. The protein will help keep your blood sugar from tanking so bad. That's just an example, a bowl of cereal, oatmeal, grits, cream of wheat...what ever it is you like will help. You just need to eat more than a granola bar. I'm a big girl too and eating a granola bar is fine for a snack for me. But if I ate just that with a glass of juice in the morning, I would be sick within an hour. I had to start eating every few hours to keep myself from getting dizzy. I hope this helps and you start to feel better soon!

knib · 08-18-2007, 04:29 PM

Thanks. I was wondering about that. I like PB Toast so I'll try some of that. Maybe with a small bowl of oatmeal or something.
Do you do the six small meals diet?

mla06 · 08-18-2007, 04:56 PM

In my first weeks of taking Met, I had the dizziness & felt "swimmy" I can't really describe that, just an odd feeling all around. I decided I wasn't eating enough. I was eating a cereal bar with a glass of milk or even a bow l of cereal. My solution was to switch to taking my Met. with lunch & dinner. I am not a breakfast eater, well not more than a quick bite, so I think that was making me sick. Lunch I almost always eat a good meal. Dinner is generally easy for me to be sure I eat.
I almost always forget Met is a diabetic drug & don't remember the blood sugar implications. I should do better to keep that in mind!

Sanyia · 08-18-2007, 04:56 PM

I'm not on an official diet. Diets don't work for me, so this time I'm just changing my lifestyle. DH and I are ttc so my doctor just recommended eating healthier and smaller portions. I'm eating alot less junk/crap foods and trying to limit my bad carbs. Because I'm eating less at each meal I'm hungry more often, but I just pick good snacks. Fruits, Veggies, a sandwich, lot fat granola bars etc. I do eat weight watchers and lien cuisine meals for lunch and sometimes dinner. I started eating 6 meals a day because when I first started my met I was having to force myself to eat almost every meal. I literally hated food and would gag while eating most meals. I noticed that my s/e were worse if I over ate at any given meal, so I have to learn when I was at the threshold of not hungry, not quite full. This is what lead me to be hungry 2 hours later. It just works better for me than eating 3 big meals. I didn't to 240lbs by following this practice before, I over ate alot. That was the hardest thing for me to get the hang of in the beginning. I don't eat all 6 meals every day. Basically I eat when I'm hungry, I have to keep food in my stomach or I will get dizzy. I've finally learned the difference between being hungry and wanting to munch. If I'm hungry at 10pm, then I eat at 10pm. Granted that late a night it's something light like fat free jello, ff pudding, yogurt etc. Kind of like my late night snack. From what I've seen on the boards everyone has their tricks to deal with the s/e of met. You'll just have to experiment and see what works best for you.

knib · 08-18-2007, 05:01 PM

Thanks so much for all the info. This dizzy stuff threw me as I have never had a room spin before. I keep hoping for a set diet to follow but I haven't found one yet. I guess that is what makes this such a difficult problem to deal with.