Tag: metformin update

Metformin Update #5: Calling it Quits

mollyt1d1 Comment

Well, well, well…looks like I’ve got another Metformin update for you all.

You’ve probably lost track of where I am in this long, twisting journey with the pill. (If you need a refresher, all you need to do is click here, here, here, here, and here.)

All caught up? Great. Now you really understand how complex my relationship with Metformin is.

There were times that I loved it. There were times that I hated it. And there were times when I simply couldn’t be sure if it was working for me the way that I’d hoped and needed it to.

METFORMIN UPDATE #2.png
I thought Metformin was right for me, but it turns out it definitely is not.

This last go-round represented the latter thought: Metformin simply wasn’t cutting it for me.

I’d been taking one pill daily for about a month when I decided to quit. The reason why I stopped taking it is simple: I wasn’t noticing a dramatic reduction in how much insulin I take each day. It was maybe a one or two unit drop, and that just doesn’t justify me taking a pill like this on a daily basis.

Now, you might be wondering why I didn’t amp up my dose. After all, it says right on the bottle that I can take up to four pills daily. Well, I chose not to take more for a few reasons: 1) I’m in between endocrinologists right now, and don’t really have anyone to consult regarding dosage, 2) At one point in time, I thought I noticed side effects of taking Metformin, and I’ve convinced myself that any possible side effects would intensify with a higher dose, 3) I wasn’t sure whether the higher blood sugars I was dealing with in the fall were due to stress or permanent changes that my body was experiencing.

So yeah, as you can see, it’s not a cut-and-dry answer when it comes to me increasing my Metformin dose.

I feel like I’m in a better place now with my blood sugars and daily insulin intake. Certainly, things have improved compared to how they were in September and much of October. Rather than fret over taking “too much” insulin every day, I’m going to focus on things that I have greater ability to control, such as the foods I choose to eat (that may or may not impact how much insulin I need) and the levels of exercise I get each week. I feel like that’s a healthier, better way to take care of myself.

So…farewell, Metformin. I won’t miss you. I know you do great things for other people with diabetes, but I’m not sure that you and I are a good match.

 

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Metformin Update #4: Here We Go Again…

mollyt1d1 Comment

Frequent readers of this blog are probably familiar with my journey with Metformin. If you aren’t, or want to brush up on my history with it, read here, here, here, oh, and here in order to get caught up.

Well, well, well…here I am again, taking yet another attempt at integrating Metformin into my daily diabetes routine.

I didn’t want to, certainly not after last time, when I thought it might be responsible for some unpleasant side effects I was experiencing.

But desperate times call for desperate measures…

METFORMIN UPDATE #2
Yep, I’m giving the giant white horse pills another go.

Long story short (because I’ve explained in previous posts that I had a rough September), my diabetes was totally rebelling against me about a month and a half ago. Each morning, I’d wake up, check my blood sugar (which nine times out of ten was very good, between 100 and 130), and prepare one of three of my standard breakfasts. I’d bolus for them just as I’ve always bolused for them, only to discover that my blood sugar was climbing much higher than it should have in the hour or two after the meal. It was so confusing. I thought it was only a breakfast problem, but when it carried over to lunch, and then dinner…I realized I was facing a bigger issue.

I’m sure you’re thinking that higher insulin dosages were the simple fix to what was happening. But I didn’t want to take approximately 30% more insulin each day to handle something that I couldn’t even begin to rationalize. I didn’t think that should be my only alternative. There had to be something else I could do.

Enter Metformin.

After consulting with my endocrinologist, we agreed that I’d take one Metformin each morning with my breakfast. I explained to her that I was reluctant to go back on it, but she gently reassured me that the side effects I’d mentioned were pretty rare and perhaps there was another explanation as to why I’d experienced them. She also made me feel a lot better about skipping doses here and there – I wasn’t sure if that would reduce the effectiveness of the Metformin – by telling me it would be fine if I forgot a dose or actively chose to miss one.

And so began my third go-round with Metformin.

As of this writing, I’ve been on it for several weeks. And I’ve noticed a difference. My total daily insulin intake is back at a number that I’m much more comfortable with, and I’m not having to take correction boluses multiple times throughout the mornings and afternoons just because I ate my regular meals.

It isn’t exactly the solution that I wanted, but it’s the one that I needed as well as the one that works for me, for now, anyways.

Metformin Update #3: Is it My Imagination…or Side Effects?

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Frequent readers of this blog are probably familiar with my journey with Metformin. If you aren’t, or want to brush up on my history with it, read here, here, and here in order to get caught up.

The big white “horse pill” that is known as Metformin has become a relatively solid part of my routine in the last six or so weeks. I’ve skipped doses here and there for varying reasons (i.e., on occasions when I’ve had two or more alcoholic beverages); otherwise, I’ve been taking it and monitoring my blood sugars carefully each day.

But apparently, my blood sugars aren’t the only thing I should be watching diligently.

METFORMIN UPDATE #2

Just like any other drug out there, Metformin comes with side effects…which I totally chose to discount from the beginning, mainly because my endocrinologist thought that the extended release tablets would mitigate the likelihood of side effects. I’m questioning that logic, though, after experiencing indigestion and general stomach discomfort within a few hours after taking my Metformin pill.

It didn’t happen just once. There were at least three consecutive days that I experienced these symptoms. Within an hour or so after eating dinner, I felt uncomfortably full – like I’d eaten a whole Thanksgiving meal instead of a normally portioned dinner. I know that I wasn’t eating a larger quantity of food than usual, and since I typically have a semi-insatiable appetite, I knew that it just had to be related to my Metformin dose.

I decided to do some more research into the side effects of Metformin. And I was pretty surprised by what I saw. Shocked, actually. Because evidently, a massive array of side effects can occur on Metformin. The stomach discomfort I’d experienced was common, but other side effects that caught my attention included restless sleep, muscle pain, cramping, and a rash/hives.

Very interesting. I’ve felt all of those things in the last few weeks. I chalked it up to overdoing it with my exercises, but…it’s not like I was doing anything new or particularly strenuous in my routines. I do a combination of cardio and resistance training, for about an hour most days of the week. I always make sure to stretch before and after working out, and yet I felt a soreness and achiness (mostly in my legs) for a few nights in a row a couple weeks back. There was even one night that I tossed and turned so much that I hardly slept a wink – the restlessness in my legs was that bad. And the rash/hives? I’ll go into more detail in a future post, but on a random Tuesday night, I experienced a breakout so bad that I wound up going to the ER. They cleared up within an hour or so of a Benadryl dose, but it was still a scary experience.

Okay, so I think I can safely blame all of these issues on my Metformin intake. But that still doesn’t quite answer why I was experiencing multiple symptoms so suddenly. My theory is that my body was struggling to adjust to taking Metformin consistently, and as a result, I was feeling the side effects. There’s no way for me to be sure, but I think this warrants another experiment…another break from Metformin. My blood sugars have been good on it, but have they improved so drastically that I can’t imagine life without Metformin?

The answer is a resounding no.

I’ll likely consult with my endocrinologist at some point to tell her my thoughts and theories. But for now, I’m taking a break for an unknown period of time to see if there’s any change in how my body feels. We’ll see how it goes.

Metformin Update #2: Reintroducing Myself to the Big White Pill

mollyt1d5 Comments

It’s been a minute since I wrote about my Metformin journey on the blog. The last time I posted about it, I had made the decision to stop taking it after experiencing a scary low blood sugar. That, coupled with the fact that I just didn’t feel ready to be experimenting so much with my diabetes medication, convinced me that the timing wasn’t right for me and Metformin.

Fast-forward to May 30, 2019. I had an appointment with my endocrinologist. It was a productive one, because we addressed a number of my concerns that have cropped up in the last three months. One question I had for her was whether she thought I should give Metformin another shot.

METFORMIN UPDATE #2
Really though, why do these darn pills have to be so large?

She thought that I should. We went over the benefits: it’d make my insulin more effective, thereby fighting back against my current insulin resistance and reducing my total daily intake. With less artificially-made insulin in my system, I may be reducing my risk for cancer (according to studies she’s read), and I may also shed a few of the pounds that I’ve been struggling to lose.

By the time of this appointment, I was feeling frustrated with the amounts of insulin I was using each day. Ever since I got off my parents’ health insurance plan, I’ve been super conscious about my supply of insulin as I try to figure out how I’ll afford it under my new plan. And it hasn’t been easy. So in an effort to reduce my overall insulin use, I decided it was time to give Metformin another go.

I’m more cautious this time around. My doctor and I talked about my fears and she helped me come up with a plan to reintroduce it to my diabetes care and management routine. I’m starting to take less insulin at dinnertime and I’m running a temp basal overnight to see how my blood sugars fare. We’re playing it safe by somewhat dramatically reducing my dinnertime insulin-to-carb ratio, but I’d much rather do that than be overly aggressive.

It’s only been about a week since I’ve started the new regimen. That’s not enough time for me to attest to whether or not I’ve adjusted to it, because I deliberately skipped taking Metformin on a couple nights in which I knew I’d be imbibing alcohol…again, it’s all about being smart and not introducing too many variables at once. We’ll see how it goes. Until Metformin update #3, that’s all I’ve got for now.

Metformin Update #1: Slow Start Comes to a Screeching Halt

mollyt1d4 Comments

A month ago, I wrote about how I was going to start taking an oral diabetes medication called Metformin. You can read all about what is is and why I started taking it by clicking here. (If you didn’t read that post when it was initially published, I recommend skimming it quickly before you continue reading this one…otherwise, what I have to say next might not make much sense.)

All caught up? Good. Now I can tell you that my first Metformin update isn’t much of one…because I’ve already stopped taking it (for now, anyways).

ClearanceYard Sale
For now, this vial of pills will remain mostly full.

After two weeks of taking one pill after dinner daily, I decided that I needed a break from my new diabetes therapy. There’s a lot going on in my life right now – I’m moving to a new state in a matter of days, so all my spare time is spent either packing or seeing my family and friends. Adding a new medication into the mix, one that can cause unpredictable blood sugars, just doesn’t make sense. And while it could be argued that I could make adjustments to my insulin dosages to help mitigate the number of lows I experience, I simply don’t have the patience to fiddle around with my insulin-to-carb ratios or basal rates at this time. It’s all too much change at once, and even though I’ve become much more comfortable with new things in my adulthood, I still need time to acclimate to them.

I explained all that, albeit much more succinctly, to my endocrinologist via my patient portal messaging system a few days ago. And she’s totally on board with my decision, thank goodness. I’m free to resume Metformin again when I’m ready.

The affirmation from my endo that I was doing the right thing feels great. It helps me feel more confident in making choices that benefit my body’s health as well as my mental health. Even though now doesn’t feel like a good time to be taking daily doses of Metformin, I know that won’t always be the case. Maybe, in time, it’ll become a crucial component of my diabetes care and management routine – maybe I’ll end up valuing it as much as my OmniPod or CGM. But for now, I’m okay with putting it off just a bit longer.