Can you drink alcohol while taking metformin?

[hopetogetpregnant]

Hi, just wondering if you can drink if you take met. Im not trying to get pregnant right now, I'm taking 6 months off and am on birth control. I want to go out with my girlfriends tonight and I'm sure there will be some drinking involved. Has anyone drank while taking it? If so does it make you sick? My doctor didn't say anything about the affects of alcohol. Any input would be cool. Thanks

[lisattcbaby]

Im not sure the medical answer but ive been on metformin over 2 years and i occasionaly drink arbor mist or winecoolers with no problem! goodluck

[ArmyWife1153]

"Drinking alcohol while on metformin is not recommended, though not completely banned either. One may feel the effects of the liquor sooner and become intoxicated more easily. It also increases the risks of hypoglycemia. Alcohol may work with metformin to increase blood lactate levels, increasing the risk of lactic acidosis."

[Toescrossed]

Even though there is a warning on the label... lots of people drink on Met. Your body just may react slightly different. The warning about lactic acidosis is there because people with impared liver and kidney are at high risk... so they are CYA, so to speak. I have a few from time to time and nothing is different for me... but overall I follow a pretty healthy lifestyle.

[TLenz]

Thanks for the information... I guess when I started on Met I never thought about asking the MD about drinking or even looking up if drinking was ok with it! Very helpful information! THANKS!

[Maggie6424]

I was taking 750mg twice daily, and if I drank more than one drink I learned not to take my pm dose.
The first time I drank a few beers and took my pm dose, I was soooo sick during the night. I will not do that again.

[eidna22]

I tried 1 beer a few weekends ago with it and it made me so sick I will not drink anything again! I hope this is not the case for you. I paid heavily for that one drink.

[kiely98]

As long as I ate while drinking, I never had any problems.

[AndreaF]

For the first 3 weeks or so on Met I couldn't even have a SIP of alcohol! I got SO sick! I thought I was never going to drink again. I wasn't a heavy drinker, but I did like to have a couple glasses of wine 2-3 times a week. I would get super hot and start sweating at first. That's how I'd know I was going to be sick. And then, about 10-15mins after getting hot I'd get a terrible sick stomach.

I'm on 2000 mg XR. The first couple weeks I took all 2000mg with dinner, and usually I'd try to drink a couple hours after dinner. I found that if I want to have a couple drinks, I should skip taking the Met with dinner and instead take it RIGHT before bed with about 4 oz of 2% milk. This really worked. If I didn't have the Met in my stomach when I tried to drink I felt totally fine. I now take my Met every night at bedtime with milk, and it's virtually eliminated my side effects. (I've been on it for a little over a month)

My doc told me when she first prescribed the Met that I should never have more than 4 drinks at a time while on it. If it was a special occasion like a wedding or New Years and I want to have more than 4 drinks I should just skip the Met that day. I rarely have more than 4 drinks though, and I've only had 2 or 3 drinks max in a day since starting the Met. Usually just have one drink to wind down a couple times a week! It's nice to be able to do that again!

[curlywurly]

I'm glad i found this post I was wondering about this. Because it says on the bottle do not mix with alcohol I was curious about this. I normally don't drink so it wasn't a big deal. I'm going to vegas this week so I'm sure we'll go out for drinks at least once. Right now I'm only on 500mg a day (down from 1000mg a day) until I see my endo. Even though it's a low dose would i be better off skipping it on the days I know we are going drinking?

[CysterLeanne]

Honestly I have been on and off of metformin for 5 years and I have drank my fair share of drinks with metformin and I have NEVER had a problem with it at all...but what may not affect me might affect you just take it easy and see how you do. I just make sure that I eat a good dinner before I drink though

[kai]

I got sick and have to avoid alcohol completely.

[PittedDates]

Someone already touched on this, but I think how long you've been on the dose you're on before you drink makes a big difference. Once I had been on my regular (1500mg XR) dose for a while, I could have a couple drinks with no problem. If I knew I was going to have any more than that, I would cut out one of the pills.

One time early on when I had just increased my dose a week or two prior, I had two martinis. I can't remember the last time I've been so sick! I had severe flu-like symptoms (vomiting, diarrhea, dizzyness) for three days and I was completely miserable.

So, I think it's different for everyone. Start with just having a bit of alcohol and see how you react to it.

[msdiva1922]

I've never had side effects, but I'd done some research on here before I started Met, and I learned that it's probably best to skip the Met the day you plan to drink, which is what I do. And I'm a drinker (when I decide to indulge). It's a little easier when you're on XR, because generally ppl take XR all at once, with dinner. It's a lot easier to decide not to take a late dose, than to decide early in the morning whether not to take your meds all day, for the chance that you might want a drink later. Usually it's the long, hard day that causes the need for a drink!! LOL

[VickiP]

I'm chiming in on this as someone who has been on met for almost 10 years which included throughout my senior year of college.
I find that I have to pretty careful as far as what I drink. I have the feeling that everyone is different in this aspect though. I definitely have to eat something if i have a drink. I also have to go slowly. Sometimes if I have a drink or two too quickly then I feel awful. I just want to go home and pass out afterwards. I will have one drink when I go out and make sure to pace myself. If I feel OK after one, I'll have another, etc.
Just test yourself. My advice is: PROCEED WITH CAUTION!! If you drink too much and you can't handle it, as others have said, you will feel absolutely miserable. It will ruin your night!