Staying hungry on Met.

hope2005 · 06-16-2005, 12:31 PM

This question may have been asked before so I'm sorry if I'm asking a repeated question.

I have been on Met. for almost 2 months now and I stay soooo hungry. I have to literaly fight my hungar pains. If I give in I consume way to many calories. It seems like every morning around 3:00 I wake up STARVING! I have to get up and find something to eat. I try fruit, or anything low calorie but it doesn't seem to help. I know if I eat junk and go back to bed it will just turn to fat.
I'm on 1500mg. Does anyone else have this problem?? If so did you find a way to solve this problem.

waiting_n_praying · 06-17-2005, 04:18 PM

Yes, yes, yes! It drives me insane! I have been on it steadily since 2001 and am still feeling hunger a LOT, and I mean PAINFUL hunger!!! Originally, I was on Glucophage in 2000--not XR just the regular. I lost 50 pounds in 5 months eating mostly McDonalds and little else--EVERYTHING gave me terrible potty issues except fast food--go figure!! No exercise at all--mostly laying around all day. The Dr. took me off it and I gained 60 pounds in 6 months!!!! SO I went back on but then liver levels were rising, so I went to Metformin XR, 1500 mg/day. I lost about 20 lbs. in a year or so, and have stayed in the same range give or take 10 lbs. either way since then. Meanwhile, I am walking a mile a day--rarely eat fast food, and am trying really hard to watch the calories/carbs. Forget it!!! I am STARVING and bummed out b/c I really want to lose weight--I am motivated and LOVE working out believe it or not, but the hunger is AWFUL. If you tell a Dr. they have no sympathy and it's not on the side effect list that I know of---in my case I still have lots of running to the bathroom (#2--and I do mean I often RUN to the toilet--sorry TMI) What is the deal? I seriously think I am malnourished sometimes. You know, if I lost weight from this I could deal with it, but it hasn't happened. I do ovulate and my sugars are good so I can't go off it, but it is hell!!

Anyone else STARVING???

TracyW2 · 06-17-2005, 06:01 PM

ME!!!

They say it suppresses your hunger, but heck I seem to be hungry all the time. I usually have something nice to snack on. I always have pretzels stashed in my desk at work.

~tracy

mmariee88 · 06-19-2005, 05:09 AM

Gosh I am always hungry and for BAD FOOD. Anything with sugar, or cheese. I have gaines weight on Met. I am on 2000 of Met and have gained weight cuz I am so hungry. I get so hungry at night, and I eat bad food. I am trying now to fix it and workout and eat better. We should all have a Metaformin Overeaters Alliance!!!!!!! Hope one, or all of us figure it out!

nobimbo · 06-19-2005, 06:47 PM

I've searched and searched online for any info about Met causing increased hunger or appetite, because I see it brought up so often here and because I think it does it to me, too (although after being on it for 4 years now it's hard to remember what it was like before). I have never seen any documented studies or professional literature about this, but I do see it brought up on other PCOS message boards. The only time increased hunger on Met is mentioned is in the product info concerning the possible side effect of low blood sugar (which usually brings on other side effects as well, such as dizziness and shaking). So here are the conclusions I have drawn:

1) Met can decrease appetite for some people, especially at first.

2) Some of the initial weight loss due to taking Met is from the gastric side effects many people experience, especially at first.

3) Over time (and it can take weeks or months), Met can increase insulin sensitivity which may contribute to weight loss in some people. It can also decrease appetite and hunger because excess insulin makes us hungry.

4) Met can lower blood sugar in three ways. it reduces the amount of glucose produced by your liver; second, it reduces the amount of glucose absorbed from food through your stomach; and third, it makes the insulin that your body produces work better to reduce the amount of glucose already in your blood. Although we are constantly told that hypoglycemia is rare while taking Met, it definitely can lower blood sugar to levels our bodies aren't used to (that's why it is used to treat diabetes). If we eat higher glycemic foods, our blood sugar spikes, then Met brings it back down in a hurry (by helping our body's insulin to be used properly). Lower blood sugar can cause hunger and increased appetite.

So, maybe getting on the proper dosage may help. Maybe taking too high a dosage causes our blood sugar to get a little too low, which while not necessarily going into a true hypoglycemic reaction we still can get the increased hunger that lower blood sugar brings? If taking too low a dosage, our bodies are still secreting too much insulin, which can also increase hunger and appetite. Another issue may be the types of foods we are eating. Keeping our blood sugars more stable with lower glycemic foods avoids the spikes and resultant lows, avoiding the appetite monster. It's a fine line, because if we go too low on carbs then we can experience greater fatigue than a non-Met user (because Met decreases our liver's ability to produce glucose to make up the slack when we eat very low carb).

These are just random thoughts of mine. I'd love to see some studies done about this!

Editing to add something else about this issue. Studies have found that Met can lower leptin levels by reducing insulin resistance. Leptin is a hormone that is important in appetite and hunger regulation. Overweight people and/or people with insulin resistance usually have high levels of leptin, but they have leptin resistance so their bodies don't respond to leptin's signals. Here is a link to one study about this but there are many:

http://joe.endocrinology-journals.org/cgi/content/abstract/183/2/299

[quote]Taken together, our data demonstrate direct acute effects of metformin on adipocyte signalling and endocrine function with robust inhibition of leptin secretion. They suggest a selective molecular mechanism that may contribute to the anorexigenic effect of this antidiabetic compound.[/unquote]

This conclusion is confusing to me, because low leptin levels can increase hunger (that's one of the reasons why it's so easy to gain weight back; after weight loss our leptin levels are lower). Yet, the authors of this study seem to be saying that the lower leptin secretion precipitated by Met may contribute to it's ability to decrease appetite ("anorexigenic effect"). There is still so much research to be done about leptin. I'm currently reading a book called "Mastering Leptin" that is very interesting!

Linda

asrai · 06-19-2005, 10:44 PM

I was really checking my caloric intake when I was on Met, and before. I ate as long as I was hungry, but I still counted. Going on Met raised my needed calories to about 1600-1800 once I got to the 1500mg a day level, from the 1200-1400 I generally need on any given day. I went back down to around 1200-1400 when I went off of it, too, until I started exercising. Now I eat around 1600 again to support the exercise.

So, yeah, I was hungry ALL the time. I also had other side effects so bad, I was virtually IBS (husband has IBS and I explained what I was going through to him, and he's like, uhh, now you know how I feel!), but again, only on 1500mg or more. I stuck with it for 8 months at 2000mg hoping it would get better, but it never did. I never lost weight on it, either, so I figured between the increased calories, running to the bathroom (and not being able to sit after!), gas pains in weird places bad enough to wake me from a sound sleep, what's the point?? I have these same problems EXCEPT the hunger on (myo)-Inositol, too, which I'm trying as an alternative.

Now, I'm pondering, with what Linda said, if it was just that 1000mg was a sufficient dose for me? It wouldn't seem that way since I weighed over 300 when I was on it, but I do fine with a low dose pill, too, when supposedly us heavier girls aren't supposed to do as well on those. Hmmm....

Lisa11 · 06-20-2005, 03:59 PM

Whether or not I have bad hunger pangs depends on how my stomach is reacting to Met at any given time. If I'm having a lot of stomach upset then I'll get frequently hungry. Perhaps because it's all leaving me so fast!

Then sometimes I swing in the opposite direction, get constipated and gassy. Then I have no appetite at all because I'm so bloated, full feeling and nausiated.

tntsgirl · 06-20-2005, 05:19 PM

Add me to the list. I was so excited to start met because I love to eat and I thought that met would help that. Well is has not and I have been on it for almost 6 months. But like mmariee88 I too am more hungry for the sugar stuff, cheese and salty stuff. I could be starving and not want anything but sweets!! I hate it

Coolcatsangel · 06-23-2005, 01:44 PM

I was really excited to be starting Met too. I was so lucky I had none of the horrible "bathroom problems" that a lot of girls had. The only side effect I had was loss of apetite...for all the good things you are supposed to eat. It in no way effected my "cravings" for all the sweets, cakes and bad things like that.
Now, I still have the loss of apeteite but I am hungry all of the time. No one believes that I can be hungry all of the time and it is just so frustrating because I know I am, Im the one who feels hungry. Its a very rare occassion where I feel full after a meal.
I am on 1700mgs a day of Met. Twice I have asked my doctor to increase my Met. Even just for a month of two to see how I get on and if it makes any difference to me.

Chrissybabe1996 · 07-03-2005, 01:25 AM

Hi,
My dose was just changed to 1500 mg w/dinner. I was suppose to tAKE 1500 MG 3X'S DAILY for the past yr but could barely stand 1000mgg & i was on & off w/taking it, now i have been takin 1500 mgs 2 night barely any s/effects (bathroom s/effects i mean) I am only getting light headed & it seems after i take all 3 i am starving!!!!!
Its becoming an inconvenience, i mean i didnt eat like this befoore & now im eating 1 thing after the other until i fall asleep! Im trying to stick with cucumbers olives meat eggs but it doesnt stop!

I hope this goes away soon!

ToLuvaCoastie · 07-03-2005, 01:56 AM

I have been on Met since October of 2004, and I am constantly hungry! Now if only I was hungry for something other than junk food.

Sherribell · 07-08-2005, 05:45 PM

has anyone taken the metformin and lost weight and then gained it back while still on the metformin?

coolkitty · 07-08-2005, 08:01 PM

FWIW - I'm taking 1500 mg, and I'm not experiencing the increased hunger. I think that it has decreased a bit, but not much - probably more from doing weight watchers than the Met.