Metformin Side Effects.

[Jenkeywoo]

I'm taking metformin for my PCOS, currently on 1000mg/day with the intention of building up to 2000mg/day. In the past when I was on it I had pretty grim upset bowels but I could sort of live with it and that was at the full dose.

This time I am really suffering, I feel sick all the time and can't really eat more than a few mouthfuls. I also have a band of pain all across my abdomen. The last two nights I have been woken several times with cramp in my calves.

It doesn't help that I have had an awful chesty cough, I have been ill for a week now and it's not getting any better.

I have not felt so ill in years and all I want to do is take to my bed but of course I have my two little dd's (19 months and 3) to look after.

At least this morning I have my homestart volunteer coming for a couple of hours so I will get a bit of break.

Has anyone got experience of these kind of side-effects?

Jenkey, hi, I can TOTALLY sympathise.

I took was given it for my PCOS. I had no appetite, yeah I lost weight, 6 lb in first week! But I felt so ill. Sick, dizzy, niggling pains in my stomach.

It was my Endocrinologist who started me on it but when I went to GP to tell him, he said to come off it right away.

Now I'm a SAHM and not trying to juggle everything, I was thinking about trying again??!!

Do you know if it's okay to just start and then stop if it's not suiting you?

try cutting the dose down (cut tablets in half) and see if you can tolerate a smaller dose, then build it up again.

hi there, I saw the gp today who has given me anti-biotics for my chest and recommended I stop the metformin until I'm better then start it again and I will see if it's the metformin or part of this chest thing making my stomach upset too. Now I just my cheeky toddler to quit shredding rolls of toilet roll over the place so I can get 5 mins rest.

I took Metformin for a few months when ttc (i also have PCOS), and i couldn't wait to get off the horrible stuff! Unfortunately i do need to lose weight, and was thinking about managing the PCOS by trying it again .

Me too Godzilla.
I can't shift the weight.
It was the dizziness I was scared of. I could handle everything else.

But then maybe that was cos when I worked I never ate breakfast.

I'm home every day now and would really like to try again.

My Endocrinologist said the only way I could manage the PCOS was by losing weight but I just can't! She said it would be hard so I'm increasingly thinking Metformin.....

Maybe just til I lose weight and the PCOS settles a little??

Metformin is awful isn't it? I too had the dizziness and it was like I was just totally spaced out the whole time - I've been reading that there's a slow release version called glucophage which has much less side effects. I'm actually finding it harder to manage the side effects now I'm a SAHM - the nausea always seems to co-incide with meal times and nappy times and I'm struggling to get lo off to sleep as I have to keep leaping up to go to the loo.

I would like to try other methods but last time I found that I needed metformin to jump-start my body and then I was able to eat more healthily and lose weight generally. I'm bored of having pcos and generally down as my dad has type II diabetes and have been told I'm almost certain to get it so looks like Metformin and I are going to become good friends over the years..

Glucophage tablets and Glucophage SR tablets both contain the active ingredient metformin hydrochloride. (NB. Metformin is also available without a brand name, ie as the generic medicine.) Metformin is used to help control blood sugar levels in people with type 2 or non-insulin dependent diabetes (NIDDM).

People with diabetes have a deficiency or absence of a hormone produced by the pancreas called insulin. Insulin is the main hormone responsible for the control of sugar in the blood. In type 2 diabetes the pancreas does not produce sufficient insulin and the cells of the body are resistant to the low levels of insulin circulating in the blood. Insulin would normally make the cells remove sugar from the blood, hence in type 2 diabetes blood sugar levels can rise too high.

Metformin hydrochloride is a type of antidiabetic medicine known as a biguanide. It works in a number of ways to decrease the amount of sugar in the blood of people with type 2 diabetes.

Firstly, it reduces the amount of sugar produced by cells in the liver. Secondly, it increases the sensitivity of muscle cells to insulin. This enables the cells to remove sugar from the blood more effectively. Finally, it also delays absorption of sugar from the intestines into the bloodstream after eating. Overall, metformin reduces blood sugar levels both between and directly after meals.

Metformin is used as a first line treatment of type 2 diabetes in people who are overweight. It is used when diet and exercise have failed to control blood sugar levels. It can also be used in combination with other antidiabetic medicines to provide better control of blood sugar.

Glucophage tablets are standard release tablets that are taken two or three times a day either during or just after meals.

Glucophage SR tablets are prolonged release tablets that are designed to release metformin slowly and continuously over several hours. This produces a steady blood level of the medicine throughout the day. The tablets are designed to be taken once or twice a day with meals, depending on your blood sugar control. They must be swallowed with water and not broken, chewed or crushed, as this would damage the prolonged release action.

Attila, hun, that was an extremely useful post . I have been trying to find an alternative to regular Metformin, because my rubbish doctor wouldn't refer me to an endocrinologist until i had one!