HIYA, I'm having so many problems with metformin and I've only been on it for 5 days. I am so sick with nausea and diarrhea I can't leave the house. The worst of it is that my job requires me to drive a lot and I go back to work next week. I'm thinking about stopping the medication all together. How long do these symptoms continue? Should I go back to my doctor and see if there is another medication I can take? I simply can't go to work like this. How long do I stay with it? Any info would be appreciated. Thanks.
Hello, I think many of us have had problems with regular metformin. The forums are full of postings that write about nausea, diarrhea and heart burn to mention a few. It's pretty obvious that you can manage to do your work and take regular metformin. My doctor switched me over the the slow release version of metformin as he said the side effects weren't as severe. I still had some of the side effects for the first week but then I was okay. This may work for you as well. Contact your diabetes manager or doctor and ask them to allow you to take the slow release form. For the moment, you might try taking your metformin at a different time somewhat. Some people have reported that taking it in the middle of a meal or right after eliminates a number of symptoms. If you're not already doing that you might try it and see how it goes.
The added benefit of the slow release version is that some people report lower fasting blood sugar levels in the morning. This may be of interest to you. It is interesting that so many people are put on regular metformin when it has so many known side effects for many. Why not start with the slow release to begin with. Well that's the way it goes.