Active Low-Carber Forums - View Single Post - Anyone on Metformin? I have a question!

I take metformin 500mg/day in the am w/ breakfast. As it only makes your cells "open" instead of being resistant and stubborn, it isn't as likely as some of the other orals to make your BG go too low if you eat regular meals, and exercise moderately. To help you here is some info I found....

Not all people with type 2 diabetes can be controlled by diet alone and may need to take tablets as well (see below).
Type 2 diabetes
Diet (see above)
Oral anti-diabetics (tablets)
Oral anti-diabetics (also known as oral hypoglycaemics) and following a healthy diet as described above should keep your blood glucose levels normal, although at the start of treatment it may take a while for your doctor to establish the exact dose you require. As time goes on, anti-diabetic tablets can sometimes become less effective at controlling your blood glucose levels. In this case your dose will need adjusting, other oral anti-diabetics may need to be taken or you may require insulin.

There are five main classes of anti-diabetic tablets used to treat type 2 diabetes: sulphonylureas, biguanides, meglitinides, thiazolidinediones and acarbose. They all work in slightly different ways to maintain a normal blood glucose levels.

Sulfonylureas

This group of anti-diabetics work on the pancreas to help stimulate the secretion of insulin. Regular eating patterns are necessary when taking this type of oral anti-diabetic otherwise too much insulin is released and blood glucose levels can drop too low (hypoglycemia). Patients can then experience a ‘hypo’.

Chlorpropramide
Glibenclamide
Gliclazide
Glimepiride
Glipizide
Gliquidone
Tolbutamid

Biguanides

Doctors mainly prescribe Metformin for obese patients in combination with a healthy diet as described above that limits sugar and fat. Metformin lowers blood glucose by reducing the absorption of glucose from the intestine into the blood stream. It also reduces the production of glucose by cells in the liver and kidney and increases the sensitivity of cells to insulin so that they absorb glucose from the blood more efficiently.

Meglitinides
There are two meglitinides. Nateglinide is only available as a tablet to be used in combination with metformin (see above). Repaglinide is sometimes prescribed alone or to be taken with metformin tablets when metformin is not controlling blood glucose levels effectively. The meglitinides work in a similar way to sulphonylureas (see above) by stimulating the release of insulin from the pancreas.4) Thiazolidinediones

There are currently two thiazolidinediones available; pioglitazone and rosiglitazone. This is a relatively new class of drugs which increases the body’s sensitivity to insulin. The risk of hypoglycaemia is much less on this type of anti-diabetic because they don’t actually stimulate the release of insulin. However, there have been reports of liver damage and the first drug to come on the market in this class, troglitazone, was withdrawn because of such effects.

Acarbose

Acarbose works quite differently from the other oral anti-diabetics by interfering with the breakdown of carbohydrates into sugar it stops your body absorbing glucose in food. This slows down the rise in blood glucose levels after a meal and are taken with the first bite of food.

Have a great day!
Kelly