Can You Just Stop Taking Metformin?

When Can I Stop Taking Glyburide And Metformin?

You may take glyburide and metformin (brand name: Glucovance), a combination medication for type 2 diabetes, for years. Alternatively, there may be reasons for you to stop taking glyburide and metformin at some point. It may cause side effects that are difficult to tolerate, for instance. Or you may need to have surgery, in which case experts say that you should stop taking glyburide and metformin temporarily before your operation; you can start it up again later. If you're pregnant or breastfeeding, your doctor may recommend that you stop taking glyburide and metformin and take insulin instead. If you need to stop, don't do it on your own. Work with your doctor to find the safest way to stop taking glyburide and metformin -- and to substitute another method for controlling your diabetes and your blood sugar levels. Continue Learning about Antidiabetic Videos Important: This content reflects information from various individuals and organizations and may offer alternative or opposing points of view. It should not be used for medical advice, diagnosis or treatment. As always, you should consult with your healthcare provider about your specific health needs. Continue reading >>

What You Should Know About Farxiga

You and your doctor may have discussed the benefits as well as the possible risks of taking FARXIGA (far-SEE-guh), and how it may help you achieve your treatment goals. Potential benefits of using FARXIGA for adults with type 2 diabetes, in addition to diet and exercise: FARXIGA is a once-daily pill for adults with type 2 diabetes who need improvement in A1C and additionally may benefit from weight and systolic blood pressure reduction. Patients experienced an average 3% weight loss when used with metformin In studies, FARXIGA: Additionally, FARXIGA may help you: FARXIGA is not a weight-loss or blood-pressure drug. Individual results may vary. ‡When used with metformin. Do not take FARXIGA if you: have severe kidney problems or are on dialysis. Your healthcare provider should do blood tests to check how well your kidneys are working before and during your treatment with FARXIGA FARXIGA has been tested in 24 clinical studies that looked at its benefits and safety. The studies had more than 11,000 adults with type 2 diabetes, including more than 6,000 patients treated with FARXIGA. FARXIGA, combined with diet and exercise, was studied alone as well as in combination with other diabetes medicines you may be taking. The other medicines included metformin, glimepiride, pioglitazone, insulin, and sitagliptin. See the What is the most important information I should know about FARXIGA? section. Dehydration (the loss of body water and salt), which may cause you to feel dizzy, faint, lightheaded, or weak, especially when you stand up (orthostatic hypotension). You may be at a higher risk of dehydration if you have low blood pressure; take medicines to lower your blood pressure, including water pills (diuretics); are 65 years of age or older; are on a low salt diet, or have kidn Continue reading >>

The Effects Of Stopping Metformin

The medication metformin is a drug in the biguanide family that is used to treat type 2 or adult-onset diabetes mellitus. Drugs.com notes that metformin is often the first prescribed medication for individuals with type 2 diabetes and may also be used in combination with other diabetes medications or insulin. This medication is sold under the brand name Glucophage, Glucophage XR and Fortamet. Metformin helps to reduce glycemic or sugar levels in the blood in a number of ways. If an individual with type 2 diabetes stops taking metformin, they may experience serious immediate and long-term effects of uncontrolled high levels of blood glucose. Video of the Day A primary mode of action of metformin is increasing the sensitivity of the body’s muscles, tissues and cells to insulin--a hormone that is essential for transporting glucose from the blood to the body. Drugs.com notes that individuals with type 2 diabetes have insulin resistance. This causes the cells to ignore the effects of insulin and not allow glucose to be transported into the muscles and tissues where it is vital to produce energy. The body tries to compensate by secreting more insulin, which only leads to hyperinsulinemia in the blood. If a patient stops taking metformin, the type 2 diabetes effects occur due to insulin resistance causing symptoms such as severe thirst, hunger and urinary frequency. The chronic levels of hyperinsulinemia and hyperglycemia also contribute to diseases of the heart and vascular-blood vessel-system. Gluconeogenesis is the production of glucose by the liver. A storage supply of glucose is reserved in the liver and released into the bloodstream when the body requires energy due to stress or hunger. The MayoClinic.com notes that another one of the mechanisms of metformin to reduce Continue reading >>

Stop The Metformin Madness

I have never been a fan of Metformin. It seemed too good to be true. Many years ago I had a conversation with a researcher about all of its possible therapeutic indications. His lab was actively pursuing the anti-cancer angle. That should have been a clue that Metformin might be causing more damage than we recognized, but it wasn’t. At that point, I was still enamored with the wonders of pharmacology and hadn’t yet begun my path toward understanding medication adverse reactions. Indeed, it wasn’t until very recently, when a family member began suffering from one of these reactions, that I began my investigation in full. This is what I learned. Type 2 Diabetes is Big Business The global profits from Type 2 diabetes medications rested at a paltry $23 billion dollars in 2011 but are expected to grow to over $45 billion annually by 2020. The market growth is bolstered in large part by the ever-expanding demand for therapeutics like Metformin or Glucophage. Metformin is the first line of treatment and standard of care for insulin resistance across all populations of Type 2 diabetics with over 49 million Americans on Metformin in 2011-2012. It is particularly popular in women’s health with an increasing reliance on Metformin for the metabolic dysfunction observed in women with PCOS, PCOS-related infertility and even gestational diabetes. Metformin is prescribed so frequently and considered so innocuous that it is sometimes euphemistically referred to as vitamin M. If we quickly scan the safety research for metformin, there is little immediate evidence suggesting any side effects whatsoever. In fact, in addition to controlling blood sugar by blocking the hepatic glucose dump, this drug is suggested to promote weight loss, increase ovulation in women, (thereby helping a Continue reading >>

Metformin For Diabetes

Take metformin just after a meal or with a snack. The most common side-effects are feeling sick, diarrhoea and tummy (abdominal) pain. These symptoms usually pass after the first few days of treatment. Keep your regular appointments with your doctor and clinics. This is so your progress can be checked. About metformin Type of medicine A biguanide antidiabetic medicine Used for Type 2 diabetes mellitus Also called Bolamyn®; Diagemet®; Glucient®; Glucophage®; Metabet®; Sukkarto® Available as Tablets and modified-release tablets; oral liquid medicine; sachets of powder Insulin is a hormone which is made naturally in your body, in the pancreas. It helps to control the levels of sugar (glucose) in your blood. If your body does not make enough insulin, or if it does not use the insulin it makes effectively, this results in the condition called sugar diabetes (diabetes mellitus). People with diabetes need treatment to control the amount of sugar in their blood. This is because good control of blood sugar levels reduces the risk of complications later on. Some people can control the sugar in their blood by making changes to the food they eat but, for other people, medicines like metformin are given alongside the changes in diet. Metformin allows the body to make better use of the lower amount of insulin which occurs in the kind of diabetes known as type 2 diabetes. Metformin can be given on its own, or alongside insulin or another antidiabetic medicine. There are a number of tablets available which contain metformin in combination with one of these other antidiabetic medicines (brands include Jentadueto®, Competact®, Komboglyze®, Janumet®, and Eucreas®). Taking a combination tablet like these can help to reduce the total number of tablets that need to be taken each d Continue reading >>

Effects Of Withdrawal From Metformin On The Development Of Diabetes In The Diabetes Prevention Program

OBJECTIVE—In the Diabetes Prevention Program (DPP), metformin significantly reduced the risk of diabetes in individuals with impaired glucose tolerance. Diabetes status was assessed by oral glucose tolerance tests (OGTTs) performed while participants were still taking metformin or placebo. To determine whether the observed benefit was a transient pharmacological effect or more sustained, we performed a repeat OGTT after a short “washout” period during which medications (metformin or placebo) were withheld. RESEARCH DESIGN AND METHODS—All participants assigned to medication who had not developed diabetes at the end of the DPP were asked to have a repeat OGTT after discontinuing the study medication for 1–2 weeks. The predesignated outcome was the odds of diabetes in metformin versus placebo comparisons during the trial and washout combined RESULTS—There were 1,274 participants who participated in the washout study and 529 who did not because they had already developed diabetes. Before the washout, the odds of diabetes in the metformin group was lower than that in the placebo group (odds ratio 0.66, 95% CI 0.54–0.82, P < 0.001). After the washout, diabetes was somewhat more frequently diagnosed in the metformin participants (1.49, 0.93–2.38, P = 0.098). Combining diabetes conversions during the DPP and during the washout, diabetes was diagnosed significantly less frequently in the metformin than the placebo group (0.75, 0.62–0.92, P = 0.005). CONCLUSIONS—The primary analysis of the DPP demonstrated that metformin decreased the risk of diabetes by 31%. The washout study shows that 26% of this effect can be accounted for by a pharmacological effect of metformin that did not persist when the drug was stopped. After the washout the incidence of diabetes wa Continue reading >>

Pcos: Insulin And Metformin

Young women with PCOS often have elevated insulin levels and are more likely to develop diabetes. Metformin is a medication often prescribed for women with PCOS to help prevent diabetes. A lifestyle that includes healthy nutrition and daily exercise is the most important part of a PCOS treatment plan. What is insulin? Insulin is a hormone made by an organ in the body called the pancreas. The food you eat is broken down into simple sugar (glucose) during digestion. Glucose is absorbed into the blood after you eat. Insulin helps glucose enter the cells of the body to be used as energy. If there’s not enough insulin in the body, or if the body can’t use the insulin, sugar levels in the blood become higher. What is insulin resistance? If your body is resistant to insulin, it means you need high levels of insulin to keep your blood sugar normal. Certain medical conditions such as being overweight or having PCOS can cause insulin resistance. Insulin resistance tends to run in families. What can insulin resistance do to me? High insulin levels can cause thickening and darkening of the skin (acanthosis nigricans) on the back of the neck, axilla (under the arms), and groin area. In young women with PCOS, high insulin levels can cause the ovaries to make more androgen hormones such as testosterone. This can cause increased body hair, acne, and irregular or few periods. Having insulin resistance can increase your risk of developing diabetes. How can I lower my insulin levels? You can help lower your insulin levels naturally by eating fewer starches and sugars, and more foods that are high in fiber and low in refined carbohydrates. Low glycemic foods, on the other hand, don’t raise your blood sugar or insulin levels as much as foods that are high in sugar or refined carbohydr Continue reading >>

Can You Stop Diabetes Meds?

When it comes to diabetes there are many success stories, especially among those who know that diet and exercise play a big part in blood sugar control. Medication is also key to getting your numbers into a healthy range. But if you’re like many people who take something daily for diabetes, you probably wonder if you can ever stop. Maybe -- if your blood sugar numbers are good and you’re committed to a healthy lifestyle. The first step is to talk to your doctor. Here’s what you can expect from that chat. Why Do You Want to Stop? First, know that it's OK to ask your doctor if you can stop taking meds once you’ve met the blood sugar goals you've both set, says Robert Gabbay, MD, PhD, chief medical officer of the Joslin Diabetes Center in Boston. And it can be done, he adds. The first step: Tell your doctor why you want to stop. Then he’ll ask you some questions. The doctor’s looking for specific answers, says endocrinologist Gregg Faiman, MD, of University Hospitals Case Medical Center in Cleveland. He wants to know: Is it too hard for you to keep up with taking your medicine? Do the side effects lower you quality of life? Is the medication too expensive? After that, you and your doctor have to agree about how you’re going to keep your blood sugar under control. You wouldn’t be on the drug if you didn’t need it, Faiman says. “Stopping a medication requires an in-depth discussion. You have to commit to keeping your diabetes under control.” Medication Matters If you take the drug metformin, a common treatment for type 2 diabetes, your doctor could lower it in stages as you lose weight and get fitter, Faiman says. You may even be able to stop it -- at least for a while -- if you’re making good lifestyle choices and you keep your blood sugar under cont Continue reading >>

Pcos And Metformin – Is This Treatment Right For You?

Here at Flo Living headquarters I speak with many women suffering with PCOS who have either been offered Metformin and decided against it or have tried Metformin and it’s not worked for them. If you have a diagnosis of PCOS it’s very likely that at some point your doctor has suggested Metformin. I personally was what would be considered the “perfect” candidate for this treatment when I was in my 20s and suffering with PCOS – overweight, struggling with acne and a complete lack of periods. However, I never tried it myself – instead I created a protocol for myself that became Flo Living. I’ve since helped many women manage their PCOS successfully with this protocol, just as I did my own diagnosis. That said, I speak with women so often about the Metformin option that I want to share my perspective with you. Although I do not dismiss the option completely, I do have some caveats and concerns. What is Metformin? Metformin is a first-line medication for those suffering with type 2 diabetes. It is also presented as a treatment for PCOS sufferers who are also overweight or obese. Not all PCOS sufferers have weight gain as a symptom, it depends on the kind of PCOS. Women with the kind of PCOS that causes weight gain are usually insulin resistant. Metformin reduces overall insulin levels. Insulin resistance is when the cells of your body become resistant to the hormone insulin, preventing glucose from entering your cells to be used for energy, and instead causing soaring levels of sugar blood stream bringing about diabetes, pre-diabetes or insulin-resistant PCOS. The connection between insulin and PCOS is blood sugar regulation. We hear about this most commonly with diabetes, but it’s also very important with PCOS. An unstable, constantly spiking and crashing, bl Continue reading >>

Type 2 Diabetes Faqs

Common questions about type 2 diabetes: How do you treat type 2 diabetes? When you have type 2 diabetes, you first need to eat a healthy diet, stay physically active and lose any extra weight. If these lifestyle changes cannot control your blood sugar, you also may need to take pills and other injected medication, including insulin. Eating a healthy diet, being physically active, and losing any extra weight is the first line of therapy. “Diet and exercise“ is the foundation of all diabetes management because it makes your body’s cells respond better to insulin (in other words, it decreases insulin resistance) and lowers blood sugar levels. If you cannot normalize or control the blood sugars with diet, weight loss and exercise, the next treatment phase is taking medicine either orally or by injection. Diabetes pills work in different ways – some lower insulin resistance, others slow the digestion of food or increase insulin levels in the blood stream. The non-insulin injected medications for type 2 diabetes have a complicated action but basically lower blood glucose after eating. Insulin therapy simply increases insulin in the circulation. Don’t be surprised if you have to use multiple medications to control the blood sugar. Multiple medications, also known as combination therapy is common in the treatment of diabetes! If one medication is not enough, you medical provider may give you two or three or more different types of pills. Insulin or other injected medications also may be prescribed. Or, depending on your medical condition, you may be treated only with insulin or injected medication therapy. Many people with type 2 diabetes have elevated blood fats (high triglycerides and cholesterol) and blood pressure, so you may be given medications for these problem Continue reading >>

F A C T S H E E T F O R P A T I E N T S A N D F A M I L I E S

Diabetes Medications: What is metformin? Metformin is used to treat type 2 diabetes and insulin resistance. Metformin is taken by mouth (orally) as a pill. Like other diabetes medications, it works best when you follow the rest of your treatment plan. This means checking your blood glucose regularly, following your meal plan, and exercising every day. What does it do? Metformin helps lower your blood glucose (blood sugar). It does this in two ways: â€¢ Decrease the amount of glucose released by your liver. Less glucose enters into your bloodstream. â€¢ Increase the ability of your muscles to use glucose for energy. As more glucose is used, more glucose leaves your bloodstream. Why is metformin important for my health? Metformin canâ€™t cure your diabetes. But by helping control your blood glucose, it lowers the chance that your diabetes will cause serious problems. As you know, when you have diabetes, you tend to have high blood glucose. Over time, this can damage your blood vessels and nerves, leading to heart attack or stroke, kidney and eye disease, and problems with your teeth, feet, and skin. If you have high blood pressure or high cholesterol â€” like many people with diabetes â€” you have an even greater risk for these problems. (This is why you should always take your blood pressure or cholesterol medications as well as your diabetes medications.) Metformin is the generic name of this medication. Brand names are Glucophage and Glucophage XR. Like other diabetes medications, biguanides work best when you follow the rest of your diabetes treatment plan. Does metformin cause hypoglycemia (low blood glucose)? Metformin doesnâ€™t cause hypoglycemia by itself. But combined with other medications, vigorous exercise, or too little food, it ca Continue reading >>

General Pre-op For People With Diabetes

Your Care Instructions Just because you have diabetes doesn't mean you can't have surgery if you need it. Surgery is safer now than ever before. But if you have diabetes, you may need to take extra care. Before your surgery, you may need to check your blood sugar more often. Your doctor may have you do this for at least 24 hours before and for 72 hours after your surgery. If you take insulin or other medicine for diabetes, your doctor will give you exact instructions about how to take them. It may not be the same as how you usually take them. Following is what many doctors advise. But each person is different. If you don't get instructions about your medicines, ask your doctor what to do. And make sure to ask about anything you don't understand. If you take metformin, you may need to stop taking it 48 hours before surgery. And you may need to wait another 48 hours to start taking it again. If you take diabetes medicines other than insulin, you may need to stop taking them on the morning of the surgery. If you take short-acting insulin, you may need to stop taking it on the morning of the surgery. If you take long-acting insulin, you may need to take only half of your usual dose on the morning of the surgery. Follow-up care is a key part of your treatment and safety. Be sure to make and go to all appointments, and call your doctor or nurse call line if you are having problems. It's also a good idea to know your test results and keep a list of the medicines you take. What happens before surgery? Preparing for surgery If you take blood thinners, such as warfarin (Coumadin), clopidogrel (Plavix), or aspirin, be sure to talk to your doctor. He or she will tell you if you should stop taking these medicines before your surgery. Make sure that you understand exactly what your d Continue reading >>

6 Reasons Why Metformin Might Not Be Safe For Pcos

Have you been prescribed metformin for PCOS and are wondering what the side affects are? Metformin is often described as a ‘safe’ drug, but read on to find out why this might not be the case. When I was diagnosed with PCOS, the first thing I asked my GP was what I could take to ‘fix’ it. She gently explained that there was no pill or surgery that could cure my condition. However, there was a drug that could help with the elevated insulin levels caused by it. Metformin, she claimed, was a safe drug with no major side effects that would help with insulin resistance and weight loss. Sign me up. At first, I thought metformin was the wonder drug. I lost about 5kg in 4 months, more than I had ever been able to lose previously. I was ecstatic. I had a quick look online to see whether there were any side effects and initially found that diarrhea, loose stools, fatigue, and muscle soreness were commonly experienced. But I thought that it was small price to pay for finally being able to lose some weight. However, when I investigated further I found that that there are some much more sinister side effects of metformin that aren’t so widely publicised. These include: – Depleting our bodies of essential nutrients. – Increasing the risk of having a baby with a neural tube defect by up to 9 times. – Reducing energy levels by almost 50%. – Killing beneficial gut bacteria. This article is not intended to be a case against metformin for PCOS. There is no doubt that metformin helps to reduce weight, lowers blood glucose levels, and promotes ovulation. My concern is the lack of studies about the safety of long-term use of metformin for PCOS, especially in utero. Drugs can help with the associated symptoms of a disease, but they cannot fix the root cause of it. Metformin i Continue reading >>

Effects Of Metformin Use In Pregnant Patients With Polycystic Ovary Syndrome

Go to: REVIEW OF LITERATURE In a randomized, placebo-controlled, double blind study, done on 257 pregnant women with PCOS, aged 18 - 42 years, who either received metformin or placebo from first trimester to delivery, failed to demonstrate any reduction of pregnancy-related complications, such as gestational diabetes, pre-eclampsia and pre-term delivery in the metformin group.[7] On the contrary, a prospective study done on 98 pregnant women with PCOS who received metformin (1700 – 3000 mg/day) before conception and up to 37 weeks of pregnancy vs. 110 normal pregnant controls, showed a significant reduction of pregnancy complications, such as gestational diabetes and gestational hypertension but an insignificant decrease in pre-eclampsia incidence with comparable mean neonatal Apgar scores, weight and length between the 2 groups.[8] Metformin has been shown to have encouraging effects on several metabolic aspects of polycystic ovarian syndrome, such as insulin sensitivity, plasma glucose concentration, and lipid profile and since women with PCOS are more likely than healthy women to suffer from pregnancy-related problems like early pregnancy loss, gestational diabetes mellitus and hypertensive states in pregnancy, the use of metformin therapy in these patients throughout pregnancy may have beneficial effects on early pregnancy loss and development of gestational diabetes. However, there is little evidence of its beneficial effect on hypertensive complications in pregnancy.[9] In a 3-year case controlled study, conducted on 197 pregnant women with PCOS (confirmed by Rotterdam criteria), in which cases comprised of women who continued metformin throughout pregnancy while controls were women who stopped metformin after the first trimester, it was concluded that in compar Continue reading >>

Metformin – What Every Diabetic Should Know

Diabetes affects millions of people throughout the world and for all the ones who know that they have it and are doing something to control it there will be just as many who do not know they have it. It is caused by the pancreas not creating enough insulin and this leaves you with too much sugar in the blood as your body can not process it properly. Metformin is a drug that is used to treat diabetes. Its main role is in regulating the amount of sugar in the body and this alone will help the diabetic. It only treats type 2 diabetes and there are other medicines available for those suffering from type 1. It is a member of a group of drugs known as biguanides and they have been used effectively for some time. How Does It Work? Metformin manages to control the amount of sugar in the blood in three distinct ways. Firstly it works on the food that you eat. Most foods have some degree of sugar in them and too much can cause the diabetes to become worse. The amount that the body absorbs is important and Metformin makes sure that not too much gets through. If too much does get through the body cannot deal with it and it is then that you become ill. Secondly it keeps down the amount of sugar that is produced by the liver. If this can be slowed down, there will be less sugar travelling around the body and the outcome will be that you are less likely to be ill. Its final function is to make sure that insulin is regulated. It works on both injected insulin and that produced naturally by the body. As a result of this some people who already have to inject may find that they no longer have to do this, or at least cut down the amount of times they have to do it. It will be important how much Metformin that you take and the amount will be prescribed by your doctor. This will be an exact Continue reading >>