Glucophage (Metformin)

JenJen10 · 06-06-2008, 10:44 AM

Morning!

Well, I went and saw the dr. on Monday and he said that my insulin was really dodgy. He told me that I am insulin resistant. That my level was around 38 and normal was 10. So, not good. He also said that my cholestoral and triglycerides were high.

Two weeks prior to my visit with Dr. Allon I saw the nurse practitioner for an ultrasound and she prescribed me Provera to start my cycle since I hadn't had one in over a year. The provera worked three days after my last pill...but the period had lasted for a week by the time I went to the dr. He was alarmed by this and started me on BC pills to stop theflow - even though I am TTC. This kind of upset me but the dr. said that it was for my own good.

He also put me on Glucophage. I was on it before but it made me sick and I stopped after a month. This time around I am married and TTC so he asked me to give it another shot.

IT IS MAKING ME SO SICK!

For the first three days I took one pill at night after dinner. Yesterday, today and tomorrow I am taking one pill in the morning and one at night. And after that I am to take two in the morning and two at night. Working myself up to 2000mg a day.

Since I started taking the meds monday I've hardly eaten anything. Dr. Allon told me to make sure to watch carbs and sugars so the side effects wouldn't be so bad and I have been! Yesterday I could hardly eat a little yogurt for breakfast, two bites of soup for lunch, and ONE low carb enchilada for dinner. I couldn't keep dinner down.

I feel like i'm in the restroom constantly and I am continuously nauseated.

Does anyone have any tips to curb the stomach problems??
Anything helps!!

Thanks,
Jen

scmj26 · 06-06-2008, 12:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by JenJen10

Morning!

Well, I went and saw the dr. on Monday and he said that my insulin was really dodgy. He told me that I am insulin resistant. That my level was around 38 and normal was 10. So, not good. He also said that my cholestoral and triglycerides were high.

Two weeks prior to my visit with Dr. Allon I saw the nurse practitioner for an ultrasound and she prescribed me Provera to start my cycle since I hadn't had one in over a year. The provera worked three days after my last pill...but the period had lasted for a week by the time I went to the dr. He was alarmed by this and started me on BC pills to stop theflow - even though I am TTC. This kind of upset me but the dr. said that it was for my own good.

He also put me on Glucophage. I was on it before but it made me sick and I stopped after a month. This time around I am married and TTC so he asked me to give it another shot.

IT IS MAKING ME SO SICK!

For the first three days I took one pill at night after dinner. Yesterday, today and tomorrow I am taking one pill in the morning and one at night. And after that I am to take two in the morning and two at night. Working myself up to 2000mg a day.

Since I started taking the meds monday I've hardly eaten anything. Dr. Allon told me to make sure to watch carbs and sugars so the side effects wouldn't be so bad and I have been! Yesterday I could hardly eat a little yogurt for breakfast, two bites of soup for lunch, and ONE low carb enchilada for dinner. I couldn't keep dinner down.

I feel like i'm in the restroom constantly and I am continuously nauseated.

Does anyone have any tips to curb the stomach problems??
Anything helps!!

Thanks,
Jen

A lot of us here have experienced the same thing, i had the nausea and lack of appetite, no vomitting or diarrhea, your body eventually adjusts and these side effects usually go away. I didn't mind it, actually, because i was looking for something that would decrease my appetite anyway, it paid off in that i was successful in losing 20-25 lbs and have been able to keep it off for a little over a year.
You can take one of the popular antacids, Zantac, Prilosec (both are OTC) or just Maalox or Tums. Mention it to your dr.
Don't give up, please! I have been quite happy with the results,now i just need for my numbers to start changing again (going down) on the scale!

chickybygawd · 06-06-2008, 01:18 PM

I am currently taking Metformin again (because it is so cheap and I don't have health insurance). I hate it. I don't have the vomiting or nauseau, but I have diarrhea at least once a day with painful cramps. Because of that, I'm only taking 500mg - when I should actually be taking 1,000. My preference is Glumetza. It is time released and I have very little problems with diarrhea... but it is much more expensive. I can get Metformin at the Wal-Mart pharmacy for $4; the Glumetza runs about $90-$100 per month. If you have health insurance, you may want to look into that.
Also, if you drink a lot of water, I find it helps a little too.
Your body will adjust to a point. Don't give up!
Good luck to you

aiforcewife2007 · 06-08-2008, 12:26 PM

I've had that the first day on 500mg but the symptoms have gone away. The only thing I still have is decreased appetite. I have to work up to 1500mg. You might want to see about the slow release kind.

canadianmutation · 06-09-2008, 03:59 AM

It takes me as long as 3 weeks to adjust to my met, and with my changing thyroid med dose its like starting over each time. Met is SO worth it though. Drink plenty of water and make sure it goes down with a form of protien (so when it helps the insulin, those carbs have something to grab on to) Good luck!

BTW- AF usually lasts about a week for me naturally so I don't know why the doc would be putting you on BCP>

klmcconne79 · 06-09-2008, 09:14 AM

They have an extended release metformin - Metformin XR or ER... I can't remember. You might want to ask about that. My problem with it was the diarrhea. I actually carried a bottle of Immodium with me and took on average of one per day. I took my Metformin right before I went to bed and this did lessen the effects of it somewhat for me. But my diarrhea issue never wetn away until I stopped taking it.

I didn't lose any weight on it and I had an increased appetite with it. Different drugs work in different ways for different people. I hated Metformin and have worked super hard to makesure that I am controlling my insulin resistance with proper diet and exercise.

I'm also confused as to why your doctor would be alarmed about AF lasting 7 days. It's VERY common for it to last anywhere between 5-9 days. Putting you on BCP is a huge step backwards in my opinion. But, I am not a doctor. My cycles are generally 7 days and never once has my doctor been concerned. I'm an overweight girl and still he's never tried stopping me from ttc.

Good Luck... We truly feel your pain...

LoLo32382 · 06-09-2008, 10:05 AM

I don't get why your doc was so freaked by a week long period. I'm anemic (from my periods) and even when I was so low on iron I couldn't get out of bed, my docs let my period go naturally. Now, if my period had gone for more than about two weeks, they were going to do a D&C (can't take BCP's b/c blood clot).

Maybe you should try to go slower on increasing your Met?? When I first started Met my doc had me taking 250mg every other day for two weeks, then every day for two weeks, then 500mg a day for two weeks, and so on. Now I've switched to ER and worked up to 1500mg.

With regular Met I had extreme nausea and diarrhea. Now I just have super fun daily diarrhea. Uggg.

Best of luck to you! Keep with it. It sucks, but it's worth it when your body starts to function like it should. =)

JenJen10 · 06-09-2008, 10:35 AM

Thanks everyone! I honestly didn't get why the doc wanted me on the BCP either. It honestly has been almost depressing me every day when it comes time to take it. I agree with the above poster who called it a "huge step back". He did say he was hoping it would lower my testosterone levels as they are very high. I am taking them for one month and then that's it.

If it is going ot be a long road for me to have a child, I don't want to wait any longer!!!

Since last monday I have lost 8lbs from the Met. alone. No exercise or anything. This is only because I can only seem to keep down boiled potatoes and nothing else!!! I'm hoping that within another week or so the symptoms slow down. If not, I'm going to see if the doc will put me on the ER version of the pill.

Thanks for everyone's imput!!
Keep it coming.
Its so nice to have support.

=Jen=

splashsmama · 06-09-2008, 04:10 PM

Jenjen, I think you may be on too high a dosage of Metformin. 2000mg/day seems way too much to me. Most people start out at 500mg/day and then gradually work their dosage up to 1500mg or 2000mg.
Tell your doctor to cut you back to 500mg and see if that doesn't help your side effects.
If the Metformin still bothers you, you can also take Actos which is similar to Metformin, but your body may find it gentler since you only need to take one pill a day.
I reacted bad to the Metformin when my dose was increased to 1500mg/day, so my dr suggested putting me on Actos instead since Metformin made me nauseous.