mixing met with antidepressants???

nellie · 06-09-2003, 01:00 PM

i am on metformin, have been for 6 mnoths now. i was put on sertraline antidepressant in april. at first when i got severe pain in my abdomen i presumed taking both pills would take some time to mix well. but the other week the pain just got sooooo bad i had to stop taking met. i have tried quite a few antidepressants and this is the only one that really works for me, this is why i stopped the met.
i tried to take it again yesterday but i got severe pain again. am at the hospital on thursday but i was just wondering what you all thought.

hunterli · 06-09-2003, 01:12 PM

Sorry, Nellie, I have no experience of that anti-depressant.

I take Metformin and Cipramil (Celexa) without problems.

Hope you are OK, and things are settling down at work.

Lis

nellie · 06-09-2003, 01:15 PM

i tried ciprimal but i had terrible reactions to that too. been off work for 2 months. just cant get my mood "up" this time.

christyz · 06-09-2003, 02:10 PM

Nellie, severe pain is uncommon and I reccommend you make an appt with your Dr as soon as possible. Anytime you have that kind of pain and are on a combination of medications, you need to see your physician to weed out the source of the problem. There are interaction warnings with *some* steriods, calcium channel blockers, diuretics and thyroid meds in the drug guides, but I strongly encourage you to see your Dr to determine the source of your pain.

Please take care of yourself.

squidge63 · 06-10-2003, 05:14 PM

I take met and amitriptyline, but its the met that causes all my stomach problems as i was on the amitriptyline for 3 years before i was diagnosed diabetic. i find with me the met gives me diarrhea and makes me feel so sick i dont want to eat, it doesnt happen every day but more often than i would like...

hampshire hog · 06-13-2003, 08:48 AM

i take prozac with metformin..and have no problems!!

DillyDallysMom · 06-13-2003, 12:06 PM

I also take Prozac w/ Met and have not had any problems.

christyz · 06-13-2003, 03:51 PM

Nellie: How are you feeling now? Have you been able to find out what caused your pain? I hope you are doing better and were able to locate the source of your abdominal discomfort.

nellie · 06-13-2003, 04:21 PM

its so laughable really. i went to the hospital for my appointment yesterday. they kept me waiting for over an hour as they were running late with appointments. when i finally got taken i was in for 5 minutes at the most!! basically, i went in and she asked me how i got on over the last 6 months. i said that i have been experiencing such bad pain in my stomach area since starting the antidepressant 2 months ago, it even got so bad a few weeks ago that i had to stop taking the met. "oh yes there are some antidepressants that you can't take while taking metformin." really??? cheers for telling me 6 months ago when i was first assessed and told them that i have problems with depression. thats the NHS for you.
anyway, after that she asked me how my periods have been. i explained that my period pain, which i never usually get, is exceptionally bad, and the clots can be any size, i have even passed a clot half the size of my palm!!! "oh that just means your having a normal period to be honest with you". well, i'm afraid i must protest there. what the hell is normal? to me, normal can vary. it depends on the individual. clots this size are not normal to ME and i have always been told if anything changes or happens out the ordinary, then it is not normal!

so, i then asked her about the weight loss pill that my doc mentioned to me, xenicol. i said i didn't want to start taking it until i got their advice. "right.....(she looks up her wee book and doesn't talk for 1 minute)...em....oh here it is, you can't take your anti depressant with xenicol." that wasn't what i asked. i asked could i take that and metformin, coz the antidepressants aren't really doing anything this time anyway. "oh....yes there's no problem there. so if your doc is quite happy giving you that, i don't see any need for me to see you again. the metformin is obviously working for you."

what a waste of time. sorry this has turned out to be a rant rather than a met post. so basically, after all that, i decided i should come off the antidepressants, and go back on met, then when i see the doc next week he can give me xenicol and i can shift some of this bloody weight!!
so today, i took 1 met (decided to do it gradually). the pain was unbelievable!!!!!!

so ladies, is the pain i have experienced today, my body just getting used to the met again or should i in actual fact stop taking it altogether?

please advise me on this ladies as i am at my wits end and obviously your advice is better than the docs considering they are not bothering their backsides with me and can't get me out quick enough.

thanks.

christyz · 06-13-2003, 04:41 PM

Nellie: I'm so sorry. Pain is NEVER something we should just accept as 'normal" and it sure isn't normal on metformin. It's 'normal' to have some tummy troubles and diarrhea at first, but it is not normal to have "unbelievable" pain. I would discontinue the met until you can see your family Dr. I hate to think of you in agony, and until you find out WHY this is happening, you can't live like that.

I hope you are able to find someone to help you. Please don't give up, because pain is a signal that something is wrong, and I would hate for your pain to be signalling something serious and untreated.

squidge63 · 06-26-2003, 01:48 PM

If you are getting really bad abdominal pain and it coincides with taking the metformin, then i would actually stop taking it. Drugs are there to help you not cause the grief you are getting from them.

"If a patient using metformin developed malaise (not feeling good) , myalgias (nonspecific aches and pains in the muscles), respiratory distress (difficulty breathing), significant abdominal pain and distress, or sleepiness, the drug should be stopped. "

I would go back to your GP or diabetic consultant and say that you cant tolerate the metformin. I dont know if you are taking it for pcos or pcos and diabetes. I have an appointment next week with my diabetic consultant hopefully to sort out my diabetes as i said earlier metformin and me dont get on and i cant just rely on the gliclazide that i am also on. My blood sugars are all over the place, so i am hoping by this time next week i will have got rid of the metformin.

Good luck and give them hell .......

Squidge