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Is Metformin A Safe Medicine For Diabtes Treatment?
Question: im 80 y/o went to dr this am results from lab work hbg5.9 he ordered metformin er 500mg I take lorsartin am simvastin an vescare at hs he say im prediabetic I tried to call hjm back after I read this medication metformin I don't like what I read cant see dr until july 14 what should I do please help me
Brief Answer:
if concerned can wait till he returns
Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic
Metformin is one of the most widely used drugs for diabetes and prediabetes. It is generally very safe and effective. If you do not wish to use it however, you can wait till your doctor comes back so he can address your concern.No significant harm will occur between now and the 14th.
GENERAL INFO:
HbA1c is one of the used to determine if a person has normal blood sugars, is a prediabeticc or a diabetic.
It is also used in diabetics to check to see if their blood sugars are controlled.
It is essentially the amount of sugar that has 'attached' to your blood cells over approximately 3 months.
When the HbA1c is less than 5.6% it is normal, between 5.6 to 6.4% means a person is prediabetic. Your value is 5.9 which puts you as prediabetic, this means that you are at risk of becoming a full blown diabetic at some point.
Metformin is one of the most widely used medications for diabetes and one of the only ones used in prediabetes.
Because of the way it works it is also used in other conditions.
It has been studied in prediabetes, it was shown to decrease the risk of progression to full diabetes by 31% in this study (study called diabetes prevention program).
This means that the use of metformin would reduce the chance of you becoming a full blown diabetic by 31%.
It works by reducing your body's resistance to its own insulin, this means it would let the insulin in your body work better so that your blood sugar would improve. It does not cause low blood sugars only pushes it towards normal.
It is safe and there is only concern if there is kidney disease because the dose would have to be reduced.
It can cause stomach upset in some persons, if this occurs, it is normally advised to reduce the dose and climb up slowly so that may learn to tolerate it.
There is also a slow release one where the metformin is released very slowly into the system. This is used in persons who have stomach upset with the normal metformin.
You may have read potential side effects but remember those effects are only potential most persons do not have any significant effects ( except for the stomach upset/constipation) and this can be corrected by either changing the dose or changing the type of metformin.
Metformin is a good drug, it would slow down your progress to full diabetes but if you still do wish to use it then you can consider not taking and wait till your doctor comes back to speak to him.
No significant harm would come between now and the 14th by not using it till you can see him.
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions
if concerned can wait till he returns
Detailed Answer:
HI, thanks for using healthcare magic
Metformin is one of the most widely used drugs for diabetes and prediabetes. It is generally very safe and effective. If you do not wish to use it however, you can wait till your doctor comes back so he can address your concern.No significant harm will occur between now and the 14th.
GENERAL INFO:
HbA1c is one of the used to determine if a person has normal blood sugars, is a prediabeticc or a diabetic.
It is also used in diabetics to check to see if their blood sugars are controlled.
It is essentially the amount of sugar that has 'attached' to your blood cells over approximately 3 months.
When the HbA1c is less than 5.6% it is normal, between 5.6 to 6.4% means a person is prediabetic. Your value is 5.9 which puts you as prediabetic, this means that you are at risk of becoming a full blown diabetic at some point.
Metformin is one of the most widely used medications for diabetes and one of the only ones used in prediabetes.
Because of the way it works it is also used in other conditions.
It has been studied in prediabetes, it was shown to decrease the risk of progression to full diabetes by 31% in this study (study called diabetes prevention program).
This means that the use of metformin would reduce the chance of you becoming a full blown diabetic by 31%.
It works by reducing your body's resistance to its own insulin, this means it would let the insulin in your body work better so that your blood sugar would improve. It does not cause low blood sugars only pushes it towards normal.
It is safe and there is only concern if there is kidney disease because the dose would have to be reduced.
It can cause stomach upset in some persons, if this occurs, it is normally advised to reduce the dose and climb up slowly so that may learn to tolerate it.
There is also a slow release one where the metformin is released very slowly into the system. This is used in persons who have stomach upset with the normal metformin.
You may have read potential side effects but remember those effects are only potential most persons do not have any significant effects ( except for the stomach upset/constipation) and this can be corrected by either changing the dose or changing the type of metformin.
Metformin is a good drug, it would slow down your progress to full diabetes but if you still do wish to use it then you can consider not taking and wait till your doctor comes back to speak to him.
No significant harm would come between now and the 14th by not using it till you can see him.
I hope this helps, feel free to ask any other questions
Note: For further follow-up, discuss your blood glucose reports with our diabetologist. Click here.
Above answer was peer-reviewed by :
Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar
Answered by
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