Metformin is prescribed, as a rule, for type 2 diabetes, since it can reduce blood sugar. And also it increases the sensitivity of various cells: liver, muscle, brain to insulin. It is a decrease in sensitivity that is the cause of diabetes of this type.
If it is not treated, there is a lot of insulin in the blood, and the cells at the same time starve, because they cannot absorb sugar, which is also a lot in the blood. Metformin is a generic name; this medicine is also sold in a more expensive form - for example, Glucofage.
Metformin does not help with type 1 diabetes. In the second type of diabetes, it cannot be taken when the patient is in a state of ketoacidosis (weakness, smell of acetone from the skin and mouth). If you need to be examined using intravenous radiopaque substances, metformin will be temporarily canceled, do not forget to tell about this medicine to the doctor who sent you for an examination with an x-ray, and to the doctor who prescribed metformin.
Instructions for use warns that the medicine sometimes provokes lactic acidosis, which in the future can even be life-threatening. Signs of this condition: muscle weakness with pain, cooling or numbness of the extremities, usually unusual for you, difficulty in breathing, abdominal pain, slow heart rate, nausea with vomiting, arrhythmia, very severe weakness and fatigue. There is only one way out in this situation - do not drink the next dose of metformin and call an ambulance.
What directly does metformin do? Instructions for use indicate that it reduces the absorption of glucose from food, and also stops its production by the liver. Recently, this medicine was started to be prescribed not only to diabetics, but also to people who want to recover from obesity. However, the therapeutic effect of this drug on non-diabetic people has not been proven. Although such advertising increases sales of more expensive options such as the drug Glucofage. If you want to try this medicine, it is better to choose a budget option like Metformin-Teva. Its action is no worse than expensive analogues.
The first few days, the patient drinks a low dose of Metformin. Instructions for use indicate that then the dose is increased quite sharply, sometimes twice. After two weeks, the patient's condition and the amount of sugar in the urine and blood are observed. Based on this indicator, reduce or increase the dose of the drug. In general, it is excreted fairly quickly by healthy kidneys, so an unintentional overdose is unlikely.
Metformin hydrochloride is prescribed quite often. This is just one of the names of the usual drug, Metformin. Instructions for use indicate that it is also used orally - that is, through the mouth.
Metformin interacts with certain medicines. It cannot be combined with amiloride, antihistamines, beta-blockers (such as atenolol, metaprolol, propranolol), calcium channel blockers (nicardipine, amlodipine, verapamil). You can not use it in conjunction with drugs for colds and asthma, steroid drugs, oral contraceptives, drugs for mental illness. Also, a combination of metformin with drugs for thyroid disease can be very dangerous.
If you intend to eat less than usual and exercise more on a background of type 2 diabetes, tell your doctor. You may need to change the dose of the drug so that you do not feel bad as a result of diet and stress.
Side effects: blanching of the skin, a strong feeling of hunger, irritability, impaired coordination and increased sweating. Perhaps in this situation it will be enough to drink sweet tea or eat caramel. However, the doctor needs to be told about such episodes so that he makes adjustments.