Metformin not working?

[nikki101]

I got started on Metformin about 6 months ago. At my first 3 month appointment, my levels didn't go down at all, so my doctor put me on 1,000 mgs twice daily. After I almost fainted because of the levels being too low, she put me back down to my original dose, 500 mg twice daily. This does not seem to be working. I go back to her after the holidays again. Should I tell her I want to try and move the levels up again? A lot has changed since I originally went and a lot more is going on, like I now have my first job. I'm only 16 and don't want to be worrying about fainting because my sugar is too low. Help?

[mosswl]

Hi nikki-
My doctors have told me that metformin is not know for causing low blood sugar. I am diabetic, and for a long time I was on Avandia. I would get low blood sugar, but when I was TTC, I went on Met, and I never had low blood sugar.
I would encourage you to discuss this with your doctor. Something is causing the low sugar, but I really doubt it's the met.
Are you eating small meals frequently? How much protein are you eating? An easy way to find out about how much protein you need is www.sparkpeople.com (http://www.sparkpeople.com).

Hope this helps.

[melissa.atlas]

Hi Nikki,
There is a big difference in dosage between 500mg twice a day and 1000mg twice a day so I can see why you felt faint with the 1000mg. I was basically the same way (not tolerating 1000mg twice daily) so I was switched to the 850mg tabs, twice daily. Maybe ask your RE if that would help. Good luck!

[sweetsunshine72]

Met doesn't give you low blood sugar - so long as you're eating often enough! (it doesn't pull the sugar down itself, but blocks the liver from "boosting" it between meals)

I would work on the nutrition end of things and really work on keeping your blood sugar stable. I would also recommend that if you increase your Met, only increase it to 1,500 mg/day (maybe take one in the morning and two at night) for at least a couple of weeks before going up to 2,000 mg/day. 1,500 mg/day is considered to be the minimum dosage for PCOS (unless you really can't tolerate it), so I'm not surprised that you're not getting great results.

Take care, and HTH!!! Hang in there!!!