Metformin - anxiety side effect - Page 2

paulaB · 12-13-2007, 10:55 AM

hello ladies,
i wanted to give y'all an update. i have discovered that metformin er is a killer for me- diarrhea, anorexia,anxiety, heart wiggles...
AND i have discovered the non extended release works well IF:
1. i take it with a full stomach including protein.(this for me means full meal- not just a not- empty stomach) i used to try to take it more so dictated by time intervals than the contents of my stomach- bad move for me.
2. take it at 3 times as evenly spaced as possible (this sometimes has to fluctuate a bit to acomodate the full stomach part, but it's well worth it!)
this seems to be THE trick for me in regarding keeping the nasty side effects at bay. i have been diligent in doing these 2 things for the past couple of weeks and to great and successful ends i might add- NO anxiety at all!
blessings on you all and my sincerest hope is that these "tricks" work for you.
you are not alone.
peace,
paula

drama queen · 12-15-2007, 07:55 PM

I'm glad I came across this today. I actually just woke up from my ER visit last night. Hubby and I went to dinner and then to see I AM LEGEND. As we sat down in the movie theater, I realized I had forgotten to take my met with dinner, so I pulled one out and took really fast. Before the previews were even over, I felt a sudden warmth all over my body...it was hard to swallow...My heart started pounding. I told DH it was time to go. By the time we got out to car, I was having trouble breathing, so It old him to take me to ER. We went...they ran tests for blood clots, pulmonary embolisms, heart attack...all came back fine. The only problem on my EKG was an increased heart rate - my normal pulse of 83 was at 130-138 for the entire ER visit (7:30 - 2:00 am). They said it was probably due to infection (I am fighting a sinus infection) and anxiety - though the ativan they put in my IV didnt seem to help at all with the heart rate. They told me to set up an appt with a cardio guy on Tuesday, but now I'm wondering if it was just a full blown panic attack. Any thoughts?

Laura Nesbitt · 12-17-2007, 12:06 PM

Wow. I am truly amazed at how many people seem to be having anxiety and/or panic attacks from Metformin, especially considering it is NOT listed on any of the drug information sheets I have received!

Drama Queen - are you doing better now? It's hard to say if it was a panic attack, but if you go see an cardiologist I would definitely recommend mentioning the met.

IT is my understanding that pharmaceutical companies have to include all patient-reported side effects in their literature, so I would encourage us all to call the manufacturer and let them know that we are having anxiety/depression/panic attacks as a side effect.

AS for myself, I have been on vitamin B for a while now and am noticing some improvement, but not full relief. I am beginning to wonder if I will be able to tolerate going up to 2,000mg a day and if I will be able to stay on Met at all. The anxiety and depression make me feel like I can't really enjoy anything, even the stuff I normally love to do. And my last period (just started two days ago) was AWFUL for PMS - I mean REALLY BAD. I just hope things start improving soon - I hate feeling like I'm losing my mind.

Good luck to everyone and if you find something that works, please let us all know.
Be well.
Laura

paulaB · 12-18-2007, 11:57 AM

salutations of the season ladies!
i am truly sorry to hear there are so many who have the same side effects i was having. my g,p, thought that the extended release metformin may have been giving me reactive hypoglycemia- he said that could create symptoms of adrenaline rush like panic and depression ( oh joy!) he suggested when i felt anything like that to eat a small candy bar. now for me, it seemed like a larger change than that was necessary, but since the met was prescribed by my obgyn, my g.p. did not make suggestions regarding changing it. I am the one who decided to change or quit it all together. my obgyn advised me that quitting had it's own set of risks and complications (due to the pcos itself) so i opted to try the non extended release- ( i apologize for repeating myself, i just want to make sure i was clear in the important bits), and by making sure that i have a protein based snack or small meal with my metformin i have all but eliminated the side effects. at first i concentrated on making sure the time intervals were very consistent BUT what i found out is that the FOOD PART is KEY for me. maybe that will help. not only do i need food in my gut but it also has to be more protein than starch or sugar. this has been a consistent effect for over a month now.
i pray this info might help someone else. it was a miserable place to be in.
blessings upon you all,
paula

drama queen · 12-18-2007, 09:53 PM

I went to see my regular doctor as soon as his doors opened on Monday - he def thinks it is panic - he looked at my EKGs and listened to my heart and said he could find nothing wrong with my heart. He ordered some blood work (white blood cell count and thyroid - he says thyroid can make ur body crazy!)...but told me to basically "chill out." He said he'd never heard of met causing anxiety but if it was, he could take me off it...ummm...no! I love it! It has helped me lose weight and feel better - minus the anxiety. Perhaps I'll try to be morecareful taking it with protein like the previous poster mentioned...

doonia · 01-04-2008, 06:32 AM

Hey guys, first of all I would like to wish you all a happy new year!!

Secondly, this will sound like a repetition of the previous posts but I don't know what's wrong with me. Today is my second day (or should I say night) taking metformin 500mg once a day, and I must say the symptoms are horrible (I can't believe some of you are taking more than one of these monsters a day!!)....

So far I've gone from waking up in the middle of the night in cold sweats to diarrhea to crying at the slightest joke of me to nausea to feeling exhausted to getting one of the worst headaches ever, and still feel like all of this is not normal.

It is now 1:30 AM and I am trying to sleep, but my heart palpitations are increasing, shortness of breath is driving me nuts.... I don't feel like it's the end of the world but I don't feel right and I am not looking forward to going to work tomorrow.... Will the side effects get better, or are all of these things I need to get used to?

Thanks for the advice and good luck to all of you!!!

februarystar · 01-04-2008, 07:50 AM

I was always an anxious kid, and when i was put on met at 19 it came flooding back and I ended up an anxious depressed mess in the stationary cupboard at my summer job.
Since coming off met I feel a lot more balanced mentally.

drama queen · 01-04-2008, 02:54 PM

DOonia, I definitely would say that my side effects are better than they were - in all honesty, I only have bad side effects when I eat really poorly. As for the anxiety-it has gotten better - I've learned to "talk myself down" as my husband says...now that I know I am not "dying" of a heart attack!

doonia · 01-05-2008, 08:22 PM

Thanks for the reply!! the side effects are a bit milder today although i chose to stay in bed all day because i was feeling sick, which is not how i would spend a typical saturday

now i know more or less what to expect!!! thanks!!!

Chelsae · 01-05-2008, 10:11 PM

I felt that way a lot when I first started Met. You know how taking Met makes you a light weight with alcohol? I found that for some reason I became really intolerant to caffeine and when I would have it, I would always end of with anxiety and pannicking.When I cut the caffeine, the anxiety went away.

doonia · 01-06-2008, 06:20 AM

yea i stopped having caffeine as a new year resolution, hehe, i guess i stopped at the right time

as for alcohol im not much of a drinker so that doesn't bother me too much

but i was wondering if you guys know about what to eat/not to eat while taking metformin, im still in the process of figuring out what disturbs my stomach and what doesn't, and i can't experiment much since met makes me nauseous all the time, so i just eat before taking it and hope it doesn't upset my stomach... sorry if i'm bugging you guys but this is all new to me :S

constant_vigilance! · 02-20-2008, 11:09 PM

To all the previous posters in this thread, how about an update? How is your anxiety now? Have you found anything that has helped?

Betwixt · 02-21-2008, 06:36 AM

I haven't taken my Met in... about a month? if not longer. No anxiety fits anymore.

Laura Nesbitt · 02-21-2008, 12:43 PM

Hello, ladies. Just wanted to give you all a quick update. Anxiety has seemed to settle down quite a lot, but I just bumped up my dosage to 2000mg per day, and I'm feeling a little jumpy, so we'll see.

I was unsuccessful getting brand name glucophage and synthroid through RXOutreach - they sent me generic instead. Brand name is too expensive, so maybe when I land a job and have presription benefit again, I can try to the brand name route.

Anyone else have more input on brand vs generic?

Thanks again for all your help. Keep the updates coming and we'll get this figured out!
Laura

drama queen · 02-21-2008, 11:42 PM

my anxiety has settled down a good bit - i am still a "cracked out hypochondriac" or so my husband says, but i havent had the freak out panic attacks anymore! :o) I also started taking a b12 vitamin - i read that b12 deficiency can be caused by met and can mimic anxiety symptoms and cause anxiety...