As much as possible, avoid white bread, white rice, white pasta, candy, soda, desserts, and snacks like chips or crackers. Eating foods that can spike your blood sugar will not necessarily make the metformin not work, however, it will increase the burden it has to work against.
Metformin can interact with other diabetes medications, like insulin, sulfonylureas, and meglitinides. It may also interact with medications that can raise blood sugar, like some diuretics and corticosteroids. And it may interact with substances that increase the risk of lactic acidosis.
When you eat sugar and metformin, your body will have to work harder to lower your blood sugars. Check out ingredient labels to determine how much sugar is lurking in your cereal, pasta, or other food. Talk to your healthcare provider and consider consulting a nutritionist or dietician if you still have diet questions.
Take metformin with food to reduce the chances of feeling sick. It may also help to slowly increase your dose over several weeks. Ask a pharmacist or your doctor for advice. Take small, frequent sips of water or squash to avoid dehydration.
Taking certain other medications with metformin may increase the risk of lactic acidosis. Tell your doctor if you are taking acetazolamide (Diamox), dichlorphenamide (Keveyis), methazolamide, topiramate (Topamax, in Qsymia), or zonisamide (Zonegran).
How to take it. It's best to take metformin tablets with, or just after, your evening meal to reduce the chance of getting side effects. Swallow your metformin tablets whole with a drink of water.
Should you drink a lot of water when consuming this medicine? Metformin must be consumed with meals to assist lower stomach or bowel side effects that might happen during the initial few weeks of treatment. The tablet or extended-release tablet must be taken whole with a full glass of water.
Metformin may have an adverse effect on renal function in patients with type 2 DM and moderate CKD.
We all want to have cake on our birthdays, or maybe indulge as a form of celebration or to mark a milestone. If you eat a lot of sugar while taking Metformin, your body will have to work harder to keep your blood sugar levels within a healthy range, and the Metformin will not be as effective for weight loss.
Metformin boosts insulin sensitivity and reduces sugar in the intestines, which means less sugar in the blood. One of the side effects of metformin is vitamin B12 deficiency, which can manifest as severe fatigue.
The administration of metformin, as glucophage retard, at bedtime instead of supper time may improve diabetes control by reducing morning hyperglycemia.
Fruits with a high GI ranging between 70 to 100 contain high sugar content. Such fruits include watermelon, ripen banana, pineapple, mango, lychee and dried dates. These fruits can cause blood sugar spikes and must be avoided.
Generally, if you're prescribed metformin, you'll be on it long term. That could be many decades, unless you experience complications or changes to your health that require you to stop taking it.
Rare Side Effects of Metformin
Some people (in one study, it was less than 5%) reported heartburn, headaches, upper respiratory infection, and a bad taste in their mouth when they took extended-release metformin. Up to 12% of people on the regular formula had those side effects.
Frequently Asked Questions. Drinking a tall glass of water with two tablespoons of apple cider vinegar at bedtime helps with sugar control in diabetic patients.
The American Diabetes Association recommends that people with diabetes consume fruit in moderation, including bananas. This doesn't mean you should ignore those carbohydrates, but you should consider how many carbs you need daily.
Gastrointestinal adverse effects such as abdominal pain, nausea, dyspepsia, anorexia, and diarrhea are common and widely accepted when occurring at the start of metformin therapy. Diarrhea occurring long after the dosage titration period is much less well recognized.
What should you do if you miss one dose? In general, for diabetes medications including oral hypoglycemic agents (e.g., metformin) and insulin, if you miss one dose, take the next one as soon as you remember it. However, if you remember close to the time of the next dose, then skip it and take the next dose instead.
It is occasionally safe to drink a moderate amount of alcohol while on a course of metformin. However, regularly drinking excessive amounts can reduce the effectiveness of the medication and increase the risk of serious complications.
Be sure to take it with meals to reduce the stomach and bowel side effects that can occur – most people take metformin with breakfast and dinner. Extended-release metformin is taken once a day and should be taken at night, with dinner. This can help to treat high glucose levels overnight.