Low blood sugar & low insulin= nervous about taking Met

kt · 06-29-2004, 01:47 PM

I was reading another post "Problems with Metformin" that was discussing whether or not Met causes low blood sugar.

I am most likely going to be going on Met within the next month or so to help with ovulation so that I can get pg. My bloodwork has shown my insulin levels to be LOW, and I also have low blood sugar attacks. Most of the time they can be avoided by eating lots of small meals throughout the day, but if I get off by a little, it's not pretty if I let it continue... shakes, cold sweats, blurred vision, confusion, etc. Sometimes I cannot even walk well. I am pretty lean and don't really have a need to lose weight, just TTC.

I am a little nervous about taking something that might make me even more sensitive to these episodes.

christyz · 06-29-2004, 05:42 PM

I had hypo episodes too, and now that I'm on met, and am eating to keep my insulin regulated (IR Diet), I rarely have problems.

The more I've read on met/blood sugar, the more it's become clear to me why it helps. When we are insulin resistant, our cells are closed to insulin, and our body, to compensate, really cranks out the insulin to lower the blood sugar. As a result we go TOO low. But Met *improves* glycemic control by helping your body to use the insulin your body naturally secretes, so that your body won't have to over produce anymore, and you won't go low as often. Met does not stimulate insulin production, so it doesn't even cause low blood sugar.

My understanding is that low blood sugar in women on Met is due to insufficient calories being consumed, combined with the cells in your body being less resistant to insulin. So if you always take met with food (and your small meals are REALLY beneficial), you shouldn't have a problem.

Hope it helps..it's done wonders for my hypoglycemia. 4 years ago I was living my life between blood sugar crashes, and I rarely have trouble now.

kt · 06-29-2004, 06:05 PM

Christy, I appreciate your reply. It is good to hear your story, because I really don't want these episodes to become more frequent!

When I was originally dx with PCOS in 2001, they also tested my insulin and found it abnormally low, which seemed to point away from IR. Maybe my body chemistry has changed since then and I am overproducing it now? I did not used to have these incidents so regularly, and for some reason I seem to have periods of time when it is worse... I like to walk on my lunch break before I actually eat my lunch, but sometimes I am not able to do this and must eat beforehand (even when I eat something tiny before I head out).... other times, I can make it okay.

Tx again.