The Joys of Metformin

Last night I went to the pharmacy to get my Metformin refilled. If you haven't been prescribed Metformin, then you're one of the luckier women with PCOS that don't have insulin-resistance, or your doctor hasn't tested for it (if he hasn't tell him to). Once I picked up my prescription I just had to ask the pharmacist what I could do to reduce the side-effects. Side Effects Include: * Diarrhea * Nausea or vomiting * Gas * Asthenia or weakness * Indigestion * Abdominal discomfort (or stomach discomfort) * Headache Well because I'm at the lowest dose, reducing my dosage was completely out of the question, BUT he did suggest that I should split my dose throughout the day. Metformin is prescribed anywhere from 500mg to 2000 mg, I hope you're all on the lower end on the spectrum. My prescription is for 500mg twice a day (with breakfast and with dinner). The pharmacists suggestion of reducing the dosage I take would reduce the symptoms. What he meant was splitting my tablets in two. Instead of taking 1 full tablet with breakfast, take half, the other half with my snack. The second tablet I'd split in half as well, take the first half with my second snack and the last half with dinner. Another suggestion he made, and I'm sure you all would be as apprehensive of this as me...test your blood sugar. The first thing I thought was "I'm not a diabetic", but testing your blood sugar could be very helpful. According to him a normal FASTING glucose level should be below 80, and a normal glucose level after eating shouldn't be above 150. So testing your glucose level after you eat will help you figure out which foods are making your insulin spike, and thus allow you to eliminate them easier. Doing that for a couple of months should help you get into a routine with regards to food, and once you're there you can stop testing. Tedious I know, but we gotta do everything we can to stay away from becoming Diabetics.

#pcos #life #health