She is a nurse I suppose. The Dr at the clinic quit. Left. There is no Dr there! She called in a prescription for Metformin 500mgs. One pill in the morning with breakfast. And one pill at night with dinner. I have been taking the pills for 2 weeks now. My stomach bloats up about an hour after I take the pill. And my stomach hurts so bad all I can do is hold my stomach and moan. That's how bad it hurt's. I am afraid to take the pills and eat ANYTHING! I don't know whether to keep taking the pills. I do not know what to do at all. My blood sugar is kind of high. 153 before eating. And 157 after eating.I wait 2 hours after eating to check my blood sugar.It hurts so much ( Stomach ) that I keep complaining to my husband and he tells me to quit taking it. Does anyone know if my stomach will ever quit hurting?And on occasion diarrhea. Because this woman seems to be insistant that I take this metformin. 500 mgs. Quite frankly my stomach hurts so bad that I don't even want to take it. I have never had stomach aches this bad unless I had the flue. Or a stomach virus. I had been , or was supposed to keep my blood sugar where it should be with watching carb's. I wasn't doing to good of a job with that. do to extenuating circumstances. My stomach swells up so big I cannot get my clothes on. It is as big as 8 months pregnant. But the hurting is the worst. the pain is so bad I can't hardly stand it. And I am not a sissy about pain. I have had enough surgeries that I know what severe pain is..
Metformin - I am diabetic 2.The( ANA ?) I AM NOT SURE WHAT THAT MEANS?
- Asked
- 17 Aug 2012 by KSherazipo
- Updated
- 19 August 2012
- Topics
- metformin, diabetic, prescription
Responses (2)
You're having a side efffect. I wouldn't suffer in silence if I were you, I'd call the clinic as soon as someone is there and tell them you need something else because the side effects are too bad. Are you taking anything else for diabetes? There are several other oral meds, and they should be willing to change you. As for the doctor leaving, do you have the ability to go somewhere else? I don't know what ANA means. I know I trust my nurse practioner more then my doctor. Metformin is kind of the go to med because its cheaper and works a little differently then the others, but if you don't tolerate it you don't tolerate, that's all there is to it.
Metformin is a very hard medication on your digestive system. Especially for the first 4 weeks what you are describing is very common.
I started out on Metformin ER 500mg twice a day when I first started on it 5yrs ago. That was just to much for my digestive system I had all the symptoms you are having plus I had vomiting severely So my dr. had me start on One a day for two weeks & then move up to one twice a day. We even tried to go to 1 tab 3x day but my stomach could not handle that.
So you might just try taking one pill in the morning for the next couple of weeks & see if you handle it better. Then you can try taking the two pills a day.
Also you might keep in mind if you continue to take this medication is that anytime you have the flu or something that you are throwing up from my Dr. always would tell me to stop taking the Metformin until the vomiting stopped.
And a ANA stands for American Nursing Association. Normally this type of nurse is more of an educational nurse that would give you instructions on how to take medications & when.
I hope this helps you out some & I really would suggest you to reduce it to One pill in the morning for a couple of weeks & see if that helps your stomach out.
And did the nurse mention to you how soon they would be hiring a Dr. ?
And does the Dr. you used to see have other drs. In the practice you can see?
Take care & good luck. Kathy
Kathy, I want to thank you for taking the time to answer. I think I will just take 1 pill a day and see if it helps. Here I am up at 2:45 AM with my stomach hurting again. I am sorry to hear you had vomiting too.I have to be careful to not bend over too much because it comes up in my throat and I almost vomit too. Thank-You for telling me what an ANA nurse is. I have been told they must work under the supervision of a Dr. And that clinic does not even have a Dr. There was one man Dr. And my woman Dr. Both of them quit. I am afraid with this Obama care more and more Dr's are not going to want to see as many patients. The lady who runs the front desk told me they are working hard to get a Dr. in the clinic.I will just start taking 1 pill a day and see what happens. I am not sure whether to take the pill in the morning, or after dinner. If I take it in the morning my stomach hurts all day. And if I take it at night I wake up like now at 3:00 in the morning with a stomach ache.
Sherry,
I am very happy to help you out anytime. I like you had a few months there that I just decided to eat whatever I wanted as I was just diagnosed with a disease that will shorten my life. But of course that was NOT a Good idea. Also my fiancee sounds like your husband as he is a HUGE junk food person.
But when I explained how bad my last A1C was & since diabetes affects my other disease. We spoke & I explained to him how I needed his help by Not bringing all that in.. And he has been really good at it. He even started just hiding any goodies he has so I don't see them. So you might ask your husband if He can help you as this is very hard to manage diabetes. Make sure to explain to him how diabetes affects people & their health & hopefully he will think about all of this as he is dragging in Moon pies, lol
Kathy, You are so nice! It is great that you want to help me. Because I am to the point to just not take the Metformin. How can we chat off the board? You are a good friend! Sherry
Sherry,
I sent you a "private question" earlier today.
It should show up in your email. Just click the link on the question I sent you & when you are ready to respond just click on the "respond to question"spot.
And thank you, I really like to help people anyway I can. I would hate for you to just give up on the Metformin as it usually does help.
Well I hope to talk to you soon, Kathy
Further Information
- Metformin Information for Consumers
- Metformin Information for Healthcare Professionals (includes dosage details)
- Side Effects of Metformin (detailed)
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Thank-You so much kaismama for your kind and thoughtful answer! This woman seems to be smarter than my Dr. was. She ( my Dr. ) never kept up with how my diabetes was doing. She really did not want to be a Dr. Or at least that is what I think. She went to a Hospice to work. And did not give out any references to anymore Dr's in my area that I might go to.I was told she wanted to go in to some kind of business office type thing with Dr.s. And not see patients anymore. Darn , I had been seeing her for 10 years. it upsets me that she just abruptly quit! I always hate to start with a new Dr.They do not even get your records anymore. It doesn't make sense to me to take a new patient and not even look over their records before seeing them, or their condition. Every thing is done on the computer now. It wouldn't be hard to just email the records to a new Dr. if I find one..
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I don't know how they can treat a person with out any knowledge about them! I am going to have to think about this situation. And try to decide what to do. But as you said I am tired of suffering. No I am not taking any other meds for diabetes. . I was supposed to be trying to control it with a low carb diet. And I admit my self that I did not do a good job with that. I pretty much ate what ever I wanted to. I know that is bad. I am now watching them. And making sure I don't eat over the amount of carbs I was allowed to eat. I know I was dumb! I am also walking on a tread mill my son bought me . I am going to loose 30 pounds. It is going to be tough. But I can do it. I have done it before. My husband swigs down pop. I drink water.8-16 oz bottles a day. And 1 glass of either cranberry juice a day. Ick. Or a glass of Blue berry juice a day. My husband drags a huge box of moon pies in the house. He buys cakes donuts and I could name a lot of other items in the house. I do not eat them.. I may go on for the next week and take the Metformim . But if it continues to hurt my stomach I am going to have to call the clinic and just tell them I cannot tolerate that metformin.. Again It is very nice of you to take the time to help me. And I truly appreciate it.