When you're first getting started on metformin, it's normal to experience side effects like diarrhea, nausea, and gas. For most people, these side effects get better within a few weeks. Taking your dose with food — particularly with the largest meal of the day — can help in the meantime.
Taking metformin can cause vitamin B12 deficiency if you take it for a long time. This can make you feel very tired, breathless and faint, so your doctor may check the vitamin B12 level in your blood. If your vitamin B12 levels become too low, vitamin B12 supplements will help.
Nausea and gastric distress such as stomach pain, gas, bloating, and diarrhea are somewhat common among people starting up on metformin. For some people, taking large doses of metformin right away causes gastric distress, so it's common for doctors to start small and build the dosage up over time.
How long it takes to work varies. It may start lowering your blood sugar within the first week. But it may cause stomach problems like nausea and diarrhea. These uncomfortable symptoms usually stop within a few weeks of starting metformin.
Metformin side effects can include diarrhea, nausea and vomiting, and gas. Taking metformin on a schedule can help reduce side effects. Most metformin side effects are short-term, which is 2 weeks or less.
Other Common Side Effects
While GI upset is by far the most common side effect, metformin can also cause: Altered taste, especially a metallic one. Weakness or fatigue.
Metformin can lead to modest weight loss. It can help people with diabetes lose an average of 4 lbs to 6 lbs, but results vary.
Metformin starts working on your liver and insulin right way, but you won't notice the effects yet: “The deficiencies [in your ability to regulate blood sugar] are so great that one dose of it isn't going to affect any real change,” says Albanese.
Metformin is a common prescription drug used to treat type 2 diabetes. It can help lower blood sugar and HbA1c levels and is used to help manage weight. It's best to avoid saturated fats, excess alcohol consumption, too much sodium, refined carbohydrates, and processed and added sugars while taking it.
Thus, metformin is capable of accelerating the oxidation of fat in the liver, thereby leading to a decrease of visceral fat or body weight.
Foods to Consider While Taking Metformin
Complex carbohydrates: Unrefined grains such as brown rice, whole grain oats, whole-grain bread, and quinoa contain fiber. Fiber slows the rate at which your body converts carbs into glucose, leading to more stable blood glucose levels.
Metformin may have an adverse effect on renal function in patients with type 2 DM and moderate CKD.
Metformin and weight loss
In a much larger trial in over 4,000 people with type 2 diabetes, it was found metformin use was associated with a 2.4 kg (roughly 5.3 lbs) weight loss over a four-year period. There are a few ways that metformin might impact weight. One is that the medication can reduce your appetite.
Even though metformin may lead to some weight loss, the amount you lose may be far less than expected. On average, weight loss after one year on the drug is only six pounds, according to past research.
Is Metformin an Effective Weight Loss Pill? No. The amount of weight you're likely to lose is low. In one diabetes prevention study, 29% of people lost 5% or more of their body weight and just 8% lost around 10%.
There's evidence that metformin can help treat obesity and obesity-related conditions, like metabolic syndrome. Metformin can help people with obesity reduce their weight, even if they don't have diabetes. The Diabetes Prevention Study is the largest study to show the weight benefits of metformin.
Metformin helps to control the amount of glucose (sugar) in your blood. It decreases the amount of glucose you absorb from your food and the amount of glucose made by your liver. Metformin also increases your body's response to insulin, a natural substance that controls the amount of glucose in the blood.
It is clinically proven that Metformin treatment has antidepressant effects on diabetic patients. It also improves their cognitive function. Thus, metformin does not cause depression rather it helps in treating depression in diabetic patients.
How to check if metformin is working. A medical provider can run a few tests to see how metformin is affecting your health: Blood work can check if your glucose, insulin, and HbA1C levels are in range. If they are, the medication is working.
Conclusion: We showed that metformin therapy is associated with a longer sleep duration and better sleep efficiency. Randomized clinical trials are needed to confirm metformin's favourable effect on sleep quality and quantity.
Metformin side effects that are mild will typically go away as your body gets used to the medication. Any side effects that do not resolve, or get worse over time, should be reported to a medical provider.
Then in 1918, a scientist discovered that one of its ingredients, guanidine, could lower blood sugar. Medicines containing guanidine, such as metformin and phenformin, were developed to treat diabetes. But they fell out of favor due to serious side effects caused by phenformin, and by the discovery of insulin.
How can you stop taking metformin? Never stop taking any prescribed medication without first talking to your doctor. It is crucial that you are able to sustainably manage your blood sugar levels first. A doctor will use certain benchmarks to see if it's appropriate to stop taking metformin.