https://www.health.harvard.edu/blog/is-metformin-a-wonder-drug-202109222605?fbclid=IwAR3M7_YG9T_l5OkMA6dwwN9q8jSy-kdpWojLjYQU_xhgN0FBGgeujYMzWjw

If you are like me and have been taking Metformin, and you have watched the news lately, there is cause for concern. I will never fully trust medications because they have so many side effects.
I have been on Metformin for many, many, years. About 21 now. It has been a struggle for me in that if I do not eat well beforehand, I can get diarrhea and stomach issues. How many of you have experienced this? It is a daunting task it seems like for me to properly eat during my day. I just have too much else I want to get done, rather than eating. To be honest, a lot of the time I am not hungry at all and the thought of eating makes me nauseous.
I was stuck taking Metformin when I was first diagnosed as being a diabetic. It along with Glipizide was the two drugs that I had to take. Through the years, I have been off of Glipizide but have regularly and faithfully taken Metformin. I have two doses of 750 mg. a day to take. That can wreak havoc for me if there is not enough to combat its effects in my stomach.
Perhaps you or a loved one have been experiencing things like nausea, stomach cramps, hot flashes, bloating, or constipation? Just to name a few of the side effects. There are also headaches, decreased appetite, muscle pain, and vomiting’s among other symptoms that go along with too much Metformin in your body.
It truly is terrible if you are going through it. On one hand, you are to eat, and then take your Metformin, or eat alongside taking it. As if that is not hard to remember for me, you also have less of an appetite as one of the symptoms, which is what I think I experience. That is hoodoo voodoo, to a person’s body. I cannot stress enough that you should see a doctor if you are experiencing these or any other symptoms. Listening to the news can create panic. Search and ask your doctor.
Good luck to you all in your battle against Diabetes!
As with any information, seek medical help and answers before trying something new on your own. I did not write this nor do I agree or disagree with the article. I am just passing along information so you can make a informed decision on your own.
MwsR
Here is an article that can be both informative and helpful. Follow the link below.
The most common medication worldwide for treating diabetes is metformin (Glumetza, Riomet, Glucophage, Fortamet). It can help control high blood sugar in people with type 2 diabetes. It’s available in tablet form or a clear liquid you take by mouth with meals.
If you’re taking metformin for the treatment of type 2 diabetes, it may be possible to stop. You may be able to manage your condition by making certain lifestyle changes, such as maintaining a healthy weight and getting more exercise.
Read on to learn more about metformin and whether it’s possible to stop taking it.
Before you stop taking metformin, talk to your doctor to see if this is the right step to take in managing your diabetes.
Metformin doesn’t treat the underlying cause of diabetes. It treats the symptoms of diabetes by lowering blood sugar, or glucose, by:
Metformin helps with other things in addition to improving blood sugar.
These include:
Novant Health is dedicated to making it as easy as possible to find an endocrinologist you’ll love. Search for a doctor and schedule an appointment online.
Because of its possible risks and side effects, metformin isn’t safe for everyone. It’s not recommended if you have a history of:
If you’re currently taking metformin and have had some unpleasant side effects, you might be looking for alternative treatment options.
The most common side effects are headaches and digestive issues that may include:
In some cases, metformin leads to poor absorption of vitamin B-12. That can lead to a vitamin B-12 deficiency, though this only occurs after long-term use of the medication.
As a precaution, your doctor will check your B-12 levels every one to two years while you’re taking metformin.
Taking metformin might also lead to loss of appetite, which could cause a small amount of weight loss. But taking this medication won’t lead to weight gain.
There are also a few other side effects you may encounter, including hypoglycemia and lactic acidosis.
Hypoglycemia, or low blood sugar, might occur since metformin lowers blood sugar. It’s important to monitor your blood sugar regularly so your doctor can adjust your dosage based on your levels.
Hypoglycemia due to metformin is a rare side effect.
Low blood sugar is more likely to occur if you take metformin with other diabetes drugs or insulin.
Metformin can cause a life-threatening condition called lactic acidosis. People who have lactic acidosis have a buildup of a substance called lactic acid in their blood and shouldn’t take metformin.
This condition is very dangerous and often fatal. But this is a rare side effect and affects less than 1 in 100,000 people taking metformin.
Lactic acidosis is more likely to occur in people with kidney disease. Tell your doctor if you’ve ever had kidney problems.
Metformin can be an important part of an effective diabetes treatment plan. But reducing the dosage of metformin or stopping it altogether is safe in some cases if your diabetes is under control.
If you want to stop taking diabetes medications, talk with your doctor or healthcare provider about what steps you need to take to do so.
Everyone who has diabetes can benefit from changing certain lifestyle habits, even those taking medications.
Losing weight, eating better, and exercising are the best ways to help reduce blood glucose and A1C. If you can manage these through such lifestyle changes, you may be able to stop taking metformin or other diabetes drugs.
According to experts from the American Diabetes Association, you usually need to meet the following criteria before you can stop taking diabetes medications:
It’s risky to stop taking metformin if you don’t meet these criteria. And keep in mind that these criteria can change based on your age, overall health, and other factors. So, it’s important to talk with your doctor before changing your metformin plan.
Metformin may help prevent long-term health complications from type 2 diabetes. But you may be able to stop taking it if your doctor thinks you can maintain your blood sugar without it.
You may be able to successfully lower and manage your blood sugar without medication by making lifestyle changes such as the following:
It’s also important to get support. A registered dietitian, personal trainer, or peer group can improve your chances of sticking with these healthy habits.
Continue reading Metformin(Diabetic Drug) What Do You Know?As with any information, seek medical help and answers before trying something new on your own. I did not write this nor do I agree or disagree with the article. I am just passing along information so you can make a informed decision on your own.
MwsR
Metformin vs Berberine for Diabetes (Plus this yellow herb lowers blood pressure, fights parasites, and more)
By: Cat Ebeling, co-author of the best-sellers: The Fat Burning Kitchen, The Top 101 Foods that Fight Aging & The Diabetes Fix
Type 2 diabetes is fast becoming a real epidemic in civilized countries. The statistics show an ever-increasing trend of obesity, diabetes and its related complications like heart disease, kidney disease and peripheral neuropathy. Many experts are convinced that this fast-growing tidal wave of diabetes is the result of the global expansion of sugar, sugary soft drinks and major food corporations getting people addicted to terrible processed foods that are cheaper than most healthy foods and are heavily advertised to the masses.
However, type 2 diabetes has the potential to be completely reversed following dietary and lifestyle changes that dramatically reduce or eliminate sugar and starches.
Relying on lowering blood sugar with medication or insulin will not improve one’s health, nor will it counteract the effects of diabetes. In fact, relying on medications to lower blood sugar actually does NOT reduce the risk of death from any of the related health complications of diabetes of stroke, heart attacks, infections, and kidney disease. Aside from the fact that diabetes drugs do not actually do anything positive for a diabetic’s health, there are many negative side effects, many of which can be downright deadly.
In one large study, called the ACCORD study, that was published in the New England Journal of Medicine in 2008, the 10,000 patients who were being treated with insulin or blood sugar-lowering drugs were monitored and evaluated for their risk of heart attack, strokes and death. The National Institutes of Health ended the study early because the medical intervention was leading to MORE deaths, heart attacks, and strokes.
Many of the conventional medical methods for lowering blood sugar actually increase insulin levels, which in turn causes more harm overall. Avandia, one of the world’s best-selling diabetes drugs, has over 50,000 lawsuits filed in the United States alone, because the drug makers failed to inform patients about possible life-threatening side-effects that include stroke, heart failure, heart attack, bone fractures, vision loss and death.
While many of these drugs do lower blood glucose levels, there seems to be no real evidence that any of the diabetes drugs actually reduce the risk of the complications of diabetes.
Most diabetes medications aim to increase insulin in the body to counteract the ever-rising levels of glucose. One of the big issues with this conventional treatment is the negative side effects that actually seem to exacerbate the complications of diabetes. Below is a list of most used diabetes meds and their primary side effects:
Keep in mind, however, that while most of these diabetes medications may lower blood sugar levels, increase insulin, or make the body more sensitive to insulin, they still do not prevent the serious and life-threatening complications of diabetes: High blood pressure, high LDL cholesterol, high triglycerides, poor sex drive, infertility, blood clots, kidney failure, infections and amputations, cancer, depression, heart disease, strokes, and Alzheimer’s, and more.
Insulin treatment also creates a greater susceptibility to cancer. The connection between diabetes and cancer is fairly clear—in fact, several studies have shown up to a 30% great likelihood that diabetic patients on supplemental insulin can develop colon, breast or prostate cancers.
Berberine for Type 2 Diabetes Shown to be as Effective as Diabetes Medication
There are a few natural solutions to helping to treat type 2 diabetes, and berberine is one that has a strong background of being especially effective for type 2 diabetes.
Berberine is a powerful plant extract with several impressive health benefits. It can effectively lower blood sugar, help with weight loss and improve heart health—two things that most pharmaceutical diabetic medications cannot do. It is also anti-inflammatory and antimicrobial and is effective against diarrhea, intestinal parasites, Candida albicans, and possibly Methicillin-resistant staph aureus.
Berberine works to:
Berberine is a bioactive plant extract that comes from several different types of plants, including goldthread, Oregon grape root, barberry, tree turmeric and goldenseal. It has been used in both Ayruvedic and Chinese medicine for more than 2500 years and is now being used and studied extensively in the modern world.
Several impressive studies show that berberine can lower blood glucose as effectively as the drug metformin, without the negative side effects. Two of the best-known peer-reviewed studies published in the journals Metabolism and the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology compared berberine in one group to metformin (Glucophage) in another group. The berberine group had very similar blood sugar-lowering effects as the metformin group. In addition, the berberine also effectively reduced the patients’ A1C, triglycerides, LDL cholesterol, and blood pressure… Three things that metformin cannot do!
Berberine works by stimulating uptake of glucose into the cells, improves insulin sensitivity, and reducing glucose production in the liver. This review published in the International Journal of Endocrinology further expanded on berberine’s role in treating type diabetes:
“BBR [berberine] is used to treat diabetic nephropathy (DPN), diabetic neuropathy (DN), and diabetic cardiomyopathy due to its antioxidant and anti-inflammatory activities.”
Berberine works by activating a metabolism-regulating enzyme within the body’s cells called AMPK (adenosine monophosphate activated protein kinase). Yes, that’s a mouthful! AMPK regulates a variety of biological activities that normalize lipid, glucose, and energy imbalances. Think of AMPK as your metabolic master switch. Definitely something you want to keep switched to ‘ON’!
Metabolic syndrome, a precursor to diabetes, occurs when these AMPK pathways are switched off. This triggers high blood sugar, high cholesterol, high triglycerides and energy issues. AMPK shifts energy to cellular repair and maintenance. Activating AMPK produces similar benefits for diabetes and metabolic syndrome as exercise, dieting and weight loss.
When overweight adults took 500mg of berberine 3 times daily for 12 weeks, they easily lost an average of 5 pounds. The researchers note that,
“…berberine has potential clinical application in reducing visceral fat and controlling obesity.”
Berberine has the ability to inhibit fat storage and also improves insulin function, leptin and adiponectin. Leptin is a very powerful hormone produced by fat cells. It tells your brain whether you should eat or not. Leptin is the way your fat cells speak to your brain. If Leptin signaling is working, when fat stores are full, they cause a surge in leptin which tells your brain to stop eating and storing fat. The problem is of course, when this signaling goes awry, it causes excessive eating and fat storage.
Adonipectin is a hormone secreted by fat cells that helps control glucose regulation and fatty acid oxidation. Obese people are often low in adonipectin, but berberine helps to increase adonipectin which helps to normalize metabolic function.
So, the bottom line here is that berberine could reduce the size of your fat cells and cut down on the number of them as well.
Berberine is also thought to enhance brown fat, which is a heat-generating special type of fat that burns energy instead of storing it. It is loaded with active mitochondria cells that convert this fat into energy which produces heat. This animal study shows how berberine increases energy expenditure, helps burn fat, improves cold tolerance and enhances active brown adipose tissue.
Blood sugar levels, insulin sensitivity and diabetes go hand in hand with memory and cognitive dysfunction. In fact, it is now thought that high blood sugar and diabetes are connected to an increased risk of Alzheimer’s disease. Berberine has been found to enhance memory function in some animal studies, by preserving a brain chemical, acetylcholine, that is important for memory, focus and cognition. The result for berberine was improved learning and memory, along with lower oxidative stress.
According to Dr. Josh Axe, berberine should be taken two to three times a day. Generally, most studies have used safe dosages starting at 500 mg a dose. So, 500 mg two to three times a day is a good place to start. Take berberine with a meal or on a full stomach to avoid any stomach upset and to take advantage of the post meal glucose and lipid spike that often occurs. It is best to start with just one dose/day and increase slowly to ensure they can stay in control.
When you take berberine, please note that insulin may need to be cut back significantly, so monitor blood sugar frequently. Many diabetics have been able to totally stop their other pharmaceutical diabetes medications, with the inclusion of berberine. Be sure to monitor blood sugar regularly and consult your physician. Look for a berberine product with a standardized berberine extract so that the dosages and strength are consistent.
If you have a medical condition or are on any medications, including antibiotics, then it is highly recommended that you speak to your doctor. This is especially important if you are currently taking blood sugar-lowering medications, so that your physician can monitor your blood sugar and current medication levels.
Diabetics who are using other medications must use caution when using this supplement to avoid dangerously low blood sugar levels. People with low blood pressure should also be careful when using it since it can naturally lower blood pressure. Pregnant and nursing women should not take berberine.
Overall, this natural compound has an outstanding safety profile. Primary side effects are minor, but could result in some cramping, diarrhea, flatulence, constipation or mild stomach pain. Stay with the smaller dosages — spread out through your day and after meals — to avoid most of these side effects.
In addition to its huge benefits for diabetes, berberine is helpful for other health issues as well including: