Low-Carb Dieting and Taking Metformin for Diabetes - Is it Safe?

So you have type 2 Diabetes but you need to lose weight and want to try a low-carb diet. What should you do? Are you on Metformin tablets? 

Should you carry on taking them if you start a low-carb diet plan?

Find out more below.

I am a type 2 Diabetic. My doctor diagnosed me with type 2 Diabetes three years ago at age 50 when I started to feel very ill. I was having problems with urinary tract infections along with stomach cramps whenever I ate a high carb meal plus blurred vision and generally feeling unwell. My blood tests revealed very high glucose so I was put on Metformin. I take two metformin in the morning after breakfast and one at night.

Symptoms of type 2 Diabetes include:

• Peeing more than usual, particularly at night
• feeling thirsty all the time
• feeling very tired
• losing weight without trying to
• itching around the genital region or repeatedly getting thrush
• cuts or wounds taking longer to heal
• blurred vision
• always feeling hungry

I come from a family of Diabetics. My mother was diagnosed as type 2 Diabetic at the age of 33 and eventually went on to take insulin. My father was type 1 Diabetic and my brother is also now Diabetic and taking Metformin.  

I have started a low-carb diet and I have been asking myself whether I should still take Metformin. It is something I have been wondering about for a while now. I have wondered whether it would make my blood glucose go down too much if I carried on taking this medication. So, I decided to look into it.

Apparently, I have read that if you want to start a low-carb diet but you are a type 2 Diabetic taking metformin then it is fine to carry on taking it while doing the diet. According to Diet Doctor it is safe to take Metformin on a low-carb diet. There's a very low risk of low blood sugar if you're only on Metformin. 

Here is a quote from Diet Doctor, "Metformin improves insulin sensitivity and decreases the amount of sugar released by your liver but does not increase the amount of insulin released by your pancreas. Therefore, your blood sugar remains stable and doesn't drop too low, no matter how few carbs you eat."

Metformin puts very little stress on the internal organs and it is safe and effective. Some side effects can be expected but this is not the case for everyone.

It does not drop blood sugar immediately. It can take four to five days to start working depending on your dosage. The medicine does not increase insulin levels in the body but instead lessens the amount of sugar the body produces and absorbs. As it lowers glucose production in the liver, metformin also lowers blood sugar by increasing the body's sensitivity to insulin. It also decreases the amount of glucose that our bodies absorb from the foods we eat.

Metformin works to bring down blood sugar in type 2 diabetes gradually when on a healthy diet. It can cause side effects like gastric distress. I experienced some gastric stomach upsets but I found out that the symptoms correlated with how many carbs I had in my diet. Once I dropped my carb intake per day my symptoms started to disappear. For example, I ate pizza one day and then I was very ill with stomach pain for the rest of the night and the next day. So, ask your doctor for the extended-release version of metformin because they keep these symptoms at bay. Of course, I do still keep away from high carb foods because of the gastric upset that it will give me.

Another thing I have learned is that researchers are currently studying whether the medicine can help in the fight against cancer, neurodegenerative conditions, vision problems like macular degeneration, and even with anti-ageing. It will be a while before uses other than blood-glucose-lowering are proven to be effective. At the moment, metformin is also used for the treatment of gestational diabetes and polycystic ovary syndrome.

So, do not worry about starting a low-carb diet whilst on metformin. Just carry on taking metformin until you start losing weight and then go see your doctor, and see what your next step will be regarding your Diabetes and taking Metformin. If you are lucky enough to reduce your weight, you may be told to cut down your intake of Metformin.

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