I would like to know about the experience of losing weight and being on Metformin. I was reading in Dr. Bernsteins book that it can actually help with losing weight as well as controlling blood sugars. I would like to know if anyone has gone on this medication and found that weight loss became easier for them. His explanation made alot of sense when I read it.

My weight loss attempt has been more successful (faster weight loss) since starting Metformin. However, i did not lose weight taking Metformin alone, it had to go hand in hand with weight loss program.

Yes, luscious is right. The metformin is helping me lose weight. I know this b/c before I was DX w/ Type II, I tried and tried to lose weight. Nothing helped. It was just a few pounds whenever. I started taking metformin on Jan 27, 2004 and I have lost 13 pounds so far, and still going. But...I am VERY careful about what I eat. I take in NO sugar. I have had nothing with sugar since that day. I have been eating hardly any carbs, and the ones I am eating, well, most are veggies, and unrefined carbs. I do eat LaTortiila brand tortillas, b/c they help me stay on track, as they are very versatile. My BG stays steady when I eat them, so I see no problem with them. Are you a TI, TII, or IR? Are you taking any meds?
Is your BG under control? Cause that is the bottom line...
Have great day!
Kelly

Luscious and Kelly...Thank-you for your responses. I am a Type 2 diabetic and currently am on no medication. My blood sugar remains fairly in control following a low carb diet although perhaps a little on the high side of normal and I always have high morning readings. I lose weight slower than turtle like and I know that losing all this belly fat would help me control the diabetes better, so I am anxious to get rid of alot of it. Of course I would never think of taking the medication and eating whatever I want to. I know that you still have to follow an eating plan in order to lose. I do exercise, but have not seen significant changes in readings because of that. I'm just wondering if most of my problems have been due to being extrememely insulin resistant.

You could very well be IR. You should ask MD what he thinks about metformin, and you taking it. Also, you may have a sluggish thyroid. If you have both, it is like a double whammy, and next to impossible to lose. I suggest that you try taking coconut oil. Take in 3 doses...one upon rising, one midday, one at bedtime. I believe it kickstarts your thyroid. I have been taking it and I have so much more energy, and you can feel the heat it produces almost immediately. The best I have found is here:
http://www.coconutoil-online.com/index.html
You can order and it is reasonably priced. There is plenty of good info there as well.

I have another ? for you...do you eat a lot of soy?
~*Kelly*~

I'm on Metforin and my goal is to get off it. It is not the cure for weight loss but a sign that you are a diabetic. My doctor's would like me to lose the weight and be able to come off it for a period of time. The problem is, the worse your diabetes gets, the more you will need to take.

Good eating habits and exercise are the best to delay the progression of diabeties.

I just started taking Metformin at the beginning of the month of Feb 2004. Before that, I started Atkins (Jan 4,2004) with virtually no weightloss for 4 weeks. It wasn't until I started taking the Metformin that I started to loose weight. I've lost about 10 lbs since I started taking it.

I has helped me. But my goal (like Marge) is to be able to lose enough weight, be healthy, and be able to stop taking it.

-Rem

Marge - I totally agree with you!

Kelly...I had my thyroid checked last year and they said it was fine. To answer your question, no I don't eat alot of soy. About the only thing I do have is soy milk on occassion.

I went on a website and was reading about the Metformin. Now I'm not sure if its the thing to do. There seems to be alot of side effects from it. I'll still talk to my doctor about it when I go, but maybe I have to try some other things like kicking up the exercise a notch and maybe lowering carbs slightly.

Char,

I started metformin last Tuesday and started low carb the same day. I've lost 5 lbs so far. I have diarrhea, but that is getting better and should go away in a few days. What side effects are you concerned about?

In the reading I did about metformin, the side effects were mild and temporary. The benefits (insulin sensitivity, lower bgs) far outweigh them for me.

Dee..most of the ones they mentioned were gastric disturbances, but the one I was most concerned about was the lactic acidosis. I know that that one would probably be very rare, but a concern none the less!

I believe that Dr Bernstein said that he had only seen 3 cases of lactic acidosis in his career. My Endo says that it is VERY RARE and over emphasized. She even gave me the okay to drink a couple (6oz) glasses of wine per day while I was on it. BUT, I only took 750mg tops of Metformin at the highest point. She may not have been so free with the wine if I had been on the maximun dose'

Also, I have read that you should not exercise streniously while the Metformin is peaking (4-6 hours after taking it).

I lost 25 lbs last July while taking Metformin. I would not hesitate to take it again if my BG gets out of hand. I had very little stomach distress and was NEVER hungry. Had tons of energy! Had to go off because I was walking around with BG's in the high 50's and did not even notice it!

Charron...I have not had even one side effect from taking metformin. I have heard that ppl taking the brand name...glucophage had more of the gastric effects. Not really sure why that is. By looking at your progress, it looks as though you could use a boost by taking metformin. My goal as well as others on metformin...is to lose all the weight I need to, and eliminate it, and eliminate the idea of EVER having to take insulin. I am not saying it is a cure all. As I said, obviously what you are doing is not helping you lose as much weight as you could be. I don't use taking it as a way to eat what I want. Believe me...I have totally eliminated sugar from my diet, except for a few choice fruits. I also have reduced my carbs to 30/day, and I exercise. But...the only difference between my 13 pound weight loss in the past 3 weeks, as opposed to a few months ago (when I started low carbing) and I didn't lose anything...is metformin. It does give you energy, takes away the late afternoon cravings and sleepiness, and gives you more stamina, as it helps your cells become less insulin resistant. Bottom line is...you need to get to a normal weight, or as close to one as possible, if you want to avoid the awful effects of diabetes, and the medications associated with it. Do not worry so much about bad side effects. They only have to mention them. It does not mean that it will happen to you. I found this on a website, in case you didn't see this. Check it out:
Causes of lactic acidosis: Classification of acquired causes of lactic acidosis is as follows:

Type A - Due to tissue hypoxia

Tissue hypoperfusion - Abnormal vascular tone or permeability, left ventricular failure, decreased cardiac output
Reduced arterial oxygen content - Asphyxia, hypoxemia (PaO2 <35 mm Hg), carbon monoxide poisoning, life-threatening anemia

Type B - Not due to tissue hypoxia

B1: (common disorders) - Sepsis, hepatic failure, renal failure, diabetes mellitus, cancer, malaria, cholera

B2: (drugs or toxins) - Biguanides, acetaminophen, ethanol, nalidixic acid, salicylates, isoniazid, methanol, streptozotocin, ethylene glycol, sorbitol, cyanide, parenteral nutrition, nitroprusside, lactulose, niacin, theophylline, catecholamines, cocaine, diethyl ether, vitamin deficiency, papaverine, paraldehyde

B3: (other conditions) - Strenuous muscular exercise, grand mal seizures, D-lactic acidosis

If you look at the causes that are in blue...you will see that even acetaminophen can cause lactic acidosis, as well as the vitamin niacin, salicylates, which include aspirin. Even strenuous exercise can cause it and drinking alcohol. Your MD should do a liver function test on you before you take it, or shortly after you start. I absolutely will not drink alcohol while taking metformin. That can increase the risk some. Alcohol is something that I can live w/o, fortunately for me. Please don't get me wrong...I'm just trying to open you up to the idea. I think it might be helpful to you. You could try it, and if you don't see results, stop taking it.
Have a great day!
~*Kelly*~

Well..I talked to my doctor yesterday about the Metformin. He has a few concerns about it for me as my blood sugars aren't really that high and he's concerned that it will drop them too much! He said he could prescibe a very low dosage to start with and see if it helps any though. I would take half a tablet twice a day about 12 hours apart. I'm not sure what the regular dose is for Metformin, so I'm not sure what good that would do. The other thing he said was that were other drugs that were better insulin sensitizers than Metformin. I haven't really looked into any medications, so I'm not really sure what they even are. I think I need to do a little more research on this subject! If anyone has any information that they think might be helpful, please post it. This is a new area for me!

I take metformin 500mg/day in the am w/ breakfast. As it only makes your cells "open" instead of being resistant and stubborn, it isn't as likely as some of the other orals to make your BG go too low if you eat regular meals, and exercise moderately. To help you here is some info I found....

Not all people with type 2 diabetes can be controlled by diet alone and may need to take tablets as well (see below).
Type 2 diabetes
Diet (see above)
Oral anti-diabetics (tablets)
Oral anti-diabetics (also known as oral hypoglycaemics) and following a healthy diet as described above should keep your blood glucose levels normal, although at the start of treatment it may take a while for your doctor to establish the exact dose you require. As time goes on, anti-diabetic tablets can sometimes become less effective at controlling your blood glucose levels. In this case your dose will need adjusting, other oral anti-diabetics may need to be taken or you may require insulin.

There are five main classes of anti-diabetic tablets used to treat type 2 diabetes: sulphonylureas, biguanides, meglitinides, thiazolidinediones and acarbose. They all work in slightly different ways to maintain a normal blood glucose levels.

Sulfonylureas

This group of anti-diabetics work on the pancreas to help stimulate the secretion of insulin. Regular eating patterns are necessary when taking this type of oral anti-diabetic otherwise too much insulin is released and blood glucose levels can drop too low (hypoglycemia). Patients can then experience a ‘hypo’.

Chlorpropramide
Glibenclamide
Gliclazide
Glimepiride
Glipizide
Gliquidone
Tolbutamid


Biguanides


Doctors mainly prescribe Metformin for obese patients in combination with a healthy diet as described above that limits sugar and fat. Metformin lowers blood glucose by reducing the absorption of glucose from the intestine into the blood stream. It also reduces the production of glucose by cells in the liver and kidney and increases the sensitivity of cells to insulin so that they absorb glucose from the blood more efficiently.

Meglitinides
There are two meglitinides. Nateglinide is only available as a tablet to be used in combination with metformin (see above). Repaglinide is sometimes prescribed alone or to be taken with metformin tablets when metformin is not controlling blood glucose levels effectively. The meglitinides work in a similar way to sulphonylureas (see above) by stimulating the release of insulin from the pancreas.4) Thiazolidinediones

There are currently two thiazolidinediones available; pioglitazone and rosiglitazone. This is a relatively new class of drugs which increases the body’s sensitivity to insulin. The risk of hypoglycaemia is much less on this type of anti-diabetic because they don’t actually stimulate the release of insulin. However, there have been reports of liver damage and the first drug to come on the market in this class, troglitazone, was withdrawn because of such effects.

Acarbose

Acarbose works quite differently from the other oral anti-diabetics by interfering with the breakdown of carbohydrates into sugar it stops your body absorbing glucose in food. This slows down the rise in blood glucose levels after a meal and are taken with the first bite of food.

Have a great day!
Kelly