My new endo has taken me off the Glucovance on which I was doing so well on. I understand the concerns he had about the long term use of glyburide (2.5 mg daily split in two doses) and even though I had tried both the regular Metformin and the Metformin ER once before with bad results, I decided to follow his advice and give it another try. Endo wanted to me to reach his maximum dose for me, which was 2000 mg. daily, over an extended period of time. My first shot was a bust. As soon as I reached 1500 mg., the dreaded diarrhea and intestinal issues started. On the regular metformin it had been almost instantaneous, but with the ER it wasn't until I reached the 1500 mg. and it was dreadful. The glucovance never give me intestinal problems and I think it has something to do with the coating on the pill. The regular Metformin and the ER version have no coating.
I tried my best to be brave and tough it out, but no go. Put in a call to the endo and he suggested maybe I upped the dosage too quickly and to lay off all oral meds for the Labor Day weekend to give my body a rest then give it another try. Well, I agreed to go off the Metformin for the weekend but I am too anal rententive to go 4 days without an oral med to keep those numbers down. I reverted to the Glucovance for the weekend and my numbers went down immediately. Mind you, I only take 500/2.5 of the Glucovance daily so after being on the Metformin two times now, I am fully convinced it is not the metformin that helps me, it the glyburide and the extra insulin it forces my pancreas to produce that is helping me. Anyway, I digress.
I have now given the Metformin ER another try and I am back to square one. The dreaded D. It's not as bad as it was before, but I have noticed I have to be extremely careful with the food I eat. I am on a very strict low carb diet. I don't worry about the good fats, and I watch my protein intake. The fat, though, seems to really aggravate my intestinal issues. That AND alcohol. I remember now that I had one glass of wine and the very next day it was explosion (sorry) city. That lasted for days. Hubby and I went out for dinner and drinks at a sports bar on Friday and same thing ...
I'm on the 1500 mg. daily and I my numbers are just crazy across the board. I wake up routinely now with higher numbers, then the other day I woke up to 96 only to increase steadily over 120. Last night I went to bed with a reading of 167. I haven't had a reading that high in AGES. The endo warned me that it might take weeks, even months before I see the beneficial effects of the increased Metformin. He suggested I remain calm and not to be concerned if I saw numbers upwards of 180 or 200 for a bit. He even suggested I stop testing and remain calm, but I can't take this any longer. Apart from the intestinal issues, I am nauseous, get headaches all the time now and have a general lethargy to me. I don't think I can stick this out. I hate feeling this way.
We had discussed insulin briefly at my last visit and possible alternatives to the glyburide but his concern with the insulin is weight gain. It's a concern of mine, too, because I have worked hard to drop a ton of weight and while I have about 20 or so more pounds to go before I will feel comfortable. It was a huge accomplishment and I have managed to keep it off. The prospect of gaining weight is very scary.
Does EVERYONE gain weight on insulin? I have slowly started to exercise again (two surgeries and now a wicked case of plantar fasciitis slowed me down), I monitor what I eat and count my carbs ... does it still stand to reason that I will gain weight? My mother was only on Lantus for about six months (she was able to get off the diabetes meds by reducing her prednisone dose and through a healthy diet) and she didn't gain an ounce.
I'm just so, so, so frustrated. I WANT the Metformin to work, but my intestines have a mind of their own. Any one else go through this?
There's a difference between problems with diarrhea and acid reflux with metformin, and while the extended-release metformin usually is much more tolerable for those with diarrhea and general stomach upset, it does not always help with acid reflux.
You could ask you doc about switching to it, and if you're game give it a try, but you may need a different med altogether.
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