[jerice75]

So I was just diagnosed with Type 2 Diabetes on 6/3/13. At that time my A1C was 7.8, my weight was 335 and I am 38 y.o., male. Doc put me on diet and exercise, which I should have been doing all along, but y'all know how that goes. She also got me started on Metformin 500 mg twice a day. I started this medication last Saturday. She told me to only take it once a day for the first few days to see how I would tolerate it. So I took it before bed Sat, Sun, Mon. I experienced no side effects. Tuesday I decided to go ahead and take it in the morning too. Everything was fine. Today, however was weird. I woke up took my medicine and went to work. Ate a FiberPlus bar for breakfast. About 10:00 I started to feel very nauseous, light headed and my vision was blurry. I had not been taking my BG machine with me to work. I ate another FiberPlus bar, but still felt lousy after about 15 minutes. So I told my boss, who is supportive, that I was going home to test my BG and take the rest of the day off. On the way, I stopped and got an Orange Juice and drank it. As soon as I got home, about 30 minutes later I took my BG...which was 207!!!!....and laid down to take a nap. I just woke up (2 hours later) and it have receded to 120. I feel fine now.

I am self diagnosing a sugar crash, but didn't have my machine with me to verify that. Or maybe it was side effects of the Metformin? Anyone have similar experiences??

[dano]

Welcome to the Forum!

The side effects of Metformin are nausea and sometimes diarrhea. Most of what you were feeling can be attributed to either a hyperglycemic condition or a hypoglycemic condition. My advice would me to purchase a spare meter (of the same brand that you currently own in order to utilize the same strips) and leave this one at work or carry your meter with you. When you are experiencing a hypoglycemic condition, do not over treat the low, eat a 15 carbs and test 15 minutes later (IE the Rule of 15).

[johnk]

Never had that type of trouble with Metformin The worst was bloating real bloating as soon as I got rid of the wind everything was fine but the amounts and pressure of the gas stream lifted the bed sheets .I Now take the new slow acting Metformin and tolerate that better . We in UK are always told to carry our BG meters with us and also a small Bottle of "energy drink" Lucozade and take that if you have a hypo . Carbohydrates in other forms tend to take longer to work hence your 2 hour nap

[kjmason]

Definitely check with your doctor but this sounds to me like you probably experienced a false hypo. From what I've learned your body gets used to a certain BG level and will respond to lower than "normal" levels as if you're entering hypoglycemia. A true hypo can't happen unless you're taking insulin or a drug that stimulates insulin production which you aren't if you're just on Metformin. A true hypo means your BG is well below what you measured (usually something less than 60). In my experience, I've had your symptoms with BGs in the 90s but that's a perfectly normal reading. I agree with the others though, always have your meter with you so you know what's going on for sure.

[cyarnell]

Be careful with metformin. Monitor your side effects closely. I was put on it and had increasing side effects we thought were caused by other health issues. I ended up with pretty much every side effect. Diarrhea, indigestion, and lethargy were the worst. Because of other health issues the cause of the meds was masked. Switched to the slow release for a while which aleviated some but not all of the side effects.

[nberg]

I also have had trouble with Metformin-I even had a full GI test as I was having
explosive diarrhea that was just ruining my life. By accident I spoke with another diabetic and she told me it probably was the Metformin that was causing all the trouble. So I told my DR. I am done with the Metformin-find something else. He put me on the Byetta-all the problems vanished and I had good management of my blood sugars.

[sardisgrandma]

I had nausea and vomiting problems with metformin. They changed it to ER 1000 mg once a day and nausea went away. Now increased to twice a day and nausea back. Its a shame cuz had high hopes I would get off of insulin. A low bs will have you shakey, heart racing, and sweaty. Some symptoms are same for high or low so always use meter. Sounded more like a high bs then continued to treat it by wating carbs. Oj good to bring up a low bs but should always eat protein also. Too many folks grab hard candy or oj or sugary drink which does bring bs up but wont sustain it. It'll drop again. Always eat some protein also