Is Switching Brands Of Metformin For Type 2 Diabetes A Major Problem?

Posted on Tue, 22 Jul 2014

Question: my husband is taking metformin, but since losing our insurance through kaiser, i had to get his refill at another pharmacy. kaiser brand is tievn and the other is amneal. one is orange oval shaped and the other is white oval shaped. both are 750 mg. the problem is, he said the white pills do not work, so we monitored his sugar levels and they are fine with the new brand. now he says that his throat hurts with the white pills. I think this is all in his head, but is it possible there is a difference from switching brands?

Answered by Dr. Shehzad Topiwala (43 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Metformin

Detailed Answer:
Sorry to note your husband's problem with metformin

Switching brands of metformin is not such a huge issue. There is no published medical literature that has described such a throat problem while changing from one metformin brand to another. In fact, throat related side effects are not part of metformin's side effect profile.

That being said it is generally advisable to adhere to one brand of medication as much as possible. But I understand your insurance situation too.

Many national chain pharmacies carry generic metformin at a very inexpensive price. However, they are not required to get their generic metformin from the same manufacturer each time

I am yet to see an orange colored metformin tablet. I have only seen one brand that makes it in blue

Note: For further follow-up, discuss your blood glucose reports with our diabetologist. Click here.

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar