Trying Metformin for my hypoglycemia issues???

[Grigor]

Hi,

I wanted to know if anyone who had severe hypo issues like me . Need to eat every 2 hours. If not all hell breaks lose. Can't do anything anymore. Barely know where I am . Heavy OI. Once I eat things get a bit back to "normal".
I'm pretty much housebound and sofa bound. And since my relapse, almost 2 years now, the hypo has been enormous. I think if it would be regulated I would gain a lot of energy as well.
A friend who has ME tried Acarbose and it helped a lot . But she stopped due to her intestines. But it was more because of gas then anything else.
Her bloodsugar was normal but still it helped her .
So my GP is willing to let me try Metformin cause she said that she barely uses Acarbose anymore.

Now I read that it's not all great with Metformin. But I do wonder if other people had great result concerning their hypoglycemic issues.

Thanks for the help.

Grigor.

 

[AndyPandy]

Hi @Grigor

I use metformin for my diabetes. It helps stop my sugar levels from going too high (hyperglycaemia). I'm not sure how it would work safely if you already have low blood sugar (hypoglycaemia).

I am a skinny type 2 diabetic. I can't exercise to help control my diabetes. I am on the maximum metformin I can tolerate.

I have problems with losing weight and keeping my sugar levels down even with the metformin so I eat every two hours or so. Small and often. If I am careful about my food choices, I can keep my sugar levels at a reasonable level.

What are you eating? Are you eating sufficient low GI carbs? I find I feel terrible on a very low carb diet, but everyone is different. I do best on a mix of low GI carbs and protein as well as lots of veggies and some fruit and nuts.

Have you thought about seeing a dietician?

Best wishes Andy

 

[Grigor]

Hi Andy .

Thanks for your answer. Yes I'm on a strict diet. No gluten, lactose, sugar, fructose. So in that was I'm doing "well"

I was hoping it woud help me also with my crashing all the time. The every 2 hours eating seems to work for it not to get totally out of hand but for the rest not much improvement.

So yeah that's why I'm asking about Metformin.
Was hoping it didn't only lower but more regulate the blood sugar.

I tried things like chromium . Which helped in the beginning . But then I actually got worse from it after a while.

 

[CFS_for_19_years]

Grigor, when you're eating every two hours are you including (1) at least 10 grams of high quality protein and (2) some fiber to delay gastric emptying? Those are the things that help me the most, however, your mileage may vary.

 

[Grigor]

Hi there,

Could you please be a bit more specific. My English is not too great.
Maybe some examples of what kind of food you mean?

 

[CFS_for_19_years]

Grigor, the two types of food you want to include every two hours are:

1. protein: meat, eggs, beans, nuts, cheese, yogurt. Be sure you get at least 10 grams of protein.
2. fiber: vegetables, fruit, whole grains (bread or cereal)

 

[Grigor]

Understood, No I think I'm pretty much covered on the food side of things. Sadly.

 

[tandrsc]

I sympathize - I've been struggling with my sugar levels for decades, despite eating all the right things (like you).

I have a couple of suggestions that might help.

1. Check that none of your drugs/supplements have a side effect of lowering blood sugar. When my episodes became worse, I discovered that one of my supplements was to blame.

2. I have a recipe for a drink that keeps the worst of it at bay...

1 generous teaspoon of cocoa powder
2 generous teaspoons of whey powder (not whey protein, just the dried whey)
1 generous teaspoon of light malt extract powder (my health food shop sells this, but I think you can also buy it from home brew suppliers as it is often used in making beer)

Mix them together in a mug with a little cold water to make a paste, then top up the mug with just boiled water to make a hot drink.

I drink this rather than tea or coffee throughout the day.

 

[CFS_for_19_years]

Alpha lipoic acid (ALA) lowers blood sugar, so you'd want to eliminate that if you have hypoglycemia.

 

[Rlman]

i remember reading on howirecovered.com that the webmaster and another person had this issue and resolved it with heavy metal detox.

 

[Grigor]

So my first day on Metformin. I got pills of 500 mg and took a quarter and have been feeling awful the whole day. Totally dizzy, exhausted, spaced out and on top of it diarrhea in the evening. Could hardly sit on the toilet and finish it. Grrr.
Though day. Don't know if I should continue but I guess I should try a bit longer. Though not sure if I can handle another day like this. I am already housebound and sofa bound. This makes it even worse.

 

[Helen]

Hi Grigor,
Metformin may also decrease vit B12 and folate levels. Just a thought, for what it is worth.

 

[Gingergrrl]

@Grigor I was having hypoglycemia issues b/c I was barely eating any food (due to lack of appetite, shortness of breath, GI issues, etc.) I have been able to correct it just by eating 3x/day which I was not doing.

However, for true emergency situations where I didn't get to eat and start to get really shaky, confused, etc, we got these tablets called "Dex 4." They are like a wafer that dissolves in your mouth and tastes like a sweet tart candy (not sure if you have this in your country?)

Obviously they are not a solution but I find that 1-2x a week, I will take one in an emergency and they really help. I am not diabetic but they stop the hypoglycemia episode really quickly. The other thing I did in an emergency was melt some honey in a glass of water and drink it and this also stopped the episode.

These might be an alternative for true emergencies if you are without food and don't want to take a prescription medication. But please check with your doctor just in case!

 

[Grigor]

Hmmm yes for me sweet things are not really an option. I crash even harder. But maybe on the metformine my crashes will be less servere?

@Helen. You think it can even happen after one day? I take B12 10mg with folate. Twice a week

 

[Helen]

@Helen. You think it can even happen after one day? I take B12 10mg with folate. Twice a week

I don´t know. I just wanted to point to this often neglected fact.

 

[Jonathan Edwards]

Grigor,
What makes you think you are hypoglycaemic and why do you think metformin would help, since it is normally used for high, not low blood sugar? It does not 'control' anything. It skews your physiology in a particular direction to a degree dependent on dose. Unless you are monitoring blood sugar what you are doing looks to me to be medically very unwise and perhaps very dangerous.

 

[Grigor]

Well I take it to control reactive Hypo. My gp says that your blood sugar levels can be normal it's more the symptoms. A fellow ME patient who had the same as me with normal blood sugar but crazy symptoms also told me to try Metformin as it helped her a lot. Didn't need to eat a snack every 2 hours.
But yes maybe it is . But yeah I can't deal with the needing to eat every 2 hours and feeling trashed anyways the whole day.

 

[Jonathan Edwards]

If the blood sugar is normal then the symptoms aren't due to hypo since hypo is defined as a low blood sugar on the test! I doesn't sound to me as if your symptoms have anything to do with blood sugar to be honest.

 

[Grigor]

Well they are related to the adrenals. Cortisol etc. My cortisol is low in the morning. Adrenal fatigue and hypoglycemia do go hand in hand.
And yes normal hypo aka. diabetes 2 is different then reactive Hypoglycemia. The latter is not always measurable in the blood.
I think the whole issue with ME is that we just need to try out stuff. Without being 100 % sure what the outcome will be.

If you have any better ideas go for it. Any suggestions are helpful.

 

[Sushi]

@Grigor
Why not take a 3 hour glucose tolerance test. That should show up reactive hypoglycemia. It is always good to know for sure what you are dealing with.

Sushi