Day 165: The Dark Side of Metformin

I have the typical metabolic syndrome ailments you would expect at my current weight. Diabetes included.

For the longest time, I resisted my doctor's offers to prescribe me Metformin, relying instead on caloric restriction, lower carb intake, and being more active. I fell off the "healthy living" truck a few times too many, however.

So my blood glucose levels tend to stay relatively high even with decent adjustments in lifestyle. It's not crazy high, but high enough to qualify as diabetic. I tend to lose weight quite slowly as a consequence.

I figured there wouldn't be any harm in using Metformin as an assisting device until I can get to a healthier weight, at which point I believe diet and exercise alone should get rid of my type 2 diabetes for good.

Did it work? I took it for about a week. The regular, immediate release one at first, and today I switched to the extended release one (pictured here).

It definitely worked. Without changing my existing diet, which normally allows me to drop a pound or so per week, I actually lost 3.8 lbs in the first week I was on it. That's quite remarkable.

My blood glucose was also much more controlled, easily sitting below 5.0 mmol/L on an empty stomach (my diet helps as well, of course).

Unfortunately, I also ran into a couple of side effects. One more problematic than the other. I don't know for a fact that this more serious issue is caused by Metformin, but the timing is suspicious. I plan to go off it for a week or so, see if this second issue disappears, and then try again. If the side effect returns, even with the extended release version, I'll know that it's the Metformin and will just stick to diet and exercise alone.

I took this photo in my kitchen with the lights off. I then used a flashlight to light paint the pills.

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