Recently Diagnosed & New Members

[mygrandma1063]

I was diagnosed three weeks ago and have been taking metformin for my sugar.  How long does it take for Metformin to get you within a stable normal range.  I am walking about 15 minutes a day and doing some mild exercise before bed.  Do products with Asparteme cause a problem with your blood sugar?  Thanks for the help

[ronaka]

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mygrandma1063 wrote:

I was diagnosed three weeks ago and have been taking metformin for my sugar.  How long does it take for Metformin to get you within a stable normal range.  I am walking about 15 minutes a day and doing some mild exercise before bed.  Do products with Asparteme cause a problem with your blood sugar?  Thanks for the help

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How much metformin have you been taking? What were you BG readings when you were diagnosed, and have they changed at all?

Depending on the dose, metformin can take several weeks to be fully effective. Most often it is started at a low dose so it does not upset your stomach, and then increased after you are tolerating it. Has your doctor discussed that part of it?

No, there is no affect of Aspartame on your BG. I prefer Splenda if I can get it, but Aspartame is fine too. Here is a good link to information on artificial sweeteners:

Sweet Nothings

[mollythed Respected Contributor]

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mygrandma1063 wrote:

I was diagnosed three weeks ago and have been taking metformin for my sugar.  How long does it take for Metformin to get you within a stable normal range.  I am walking about 15 minutes a day and doing some mild exercise before bed.  Do products with Asparteme cause a problem with your blood sugar?  Thanks for the help

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First, about aspartame, there is no reason to worry that it will affect your blood sugar. 

When metformin works well, it seems to take a few weeks to over a month for it to prove the maximum effect, and the exact amount of time varies from person to person. 

In one research study, discussed at http://www.drugs.com/pro/metformin.html, metformin lowered fasting blood glucose by about 15 to 34 points during a 16-week study, depending on the daily dose. That doesn't answer your question about how quickly it works, but the point I want to make is that metformin can make a real difference, but it can't do the whole job of lowering blood glucose to a normal level all by itself.  It needs to be added to lifestyle changes, like what your eat and how active you are.

For most people who are prescribed metformin when they are first diagnosed, that means that they are working on diet, exercise and meds all at once, so they can lower blood glucose a lot more than that 15 to 34 points in that time period, but it's a little difficult to pick out the effect of each of those things.

[jpg391]

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caesarella wrote:

Metformin is an insulin sensitizer.  It does not stimulate the pancreas to make insulin.  It just makes your cells more sensitive to the insulin your body is already producing.  I see that you added exercise which is very good, but what kind of diet are you following. Feel free to contact me at my email address for additional information.  I don't want to post links or personal information because I'm not sure if this is allowed.

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You can post as much or as little personal information as you want. You can also post links to information, we do it all the time. I would suggest that you remove your email address from your signature. There is a possibility that you could start receiving some spam (not from the American Diabetes Association) in your personal email account. There are people who patrol websites like this one looking for that type of information. If the person wants to contact you, they can send you a Private Message through this site.

[sunritef]

what you eat will have a bigger and faster impact than the metformin.  and everyone is different.  so for some, the metformin will be enough to get to normal range, for others, exericse is enough, and others need different medicines... so many variables-- enough to drive all of us crazy.

[alan_s Honored Contributor]

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mygrandma1063 wrote:

I was diagnosed three weeks ago and have been taking metformin for my sugar.  How long does it take for Metformin to get you within a stable normal range.  I am walking about 15 minutes a day and doing some mild exercise before bed.  Do products with Asparteme cause a problem with your blood sugar?  Thanks for the help

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Metformin is only an aid to an appropriate menu and exercise. How long it takes to provide that assistance varies individually from days to weeks. At this stage your menu and lifestyle changes are likely to be much more effective.

What changes have you made? Have you been trying this: Test, Review, Adjust?

Aspartame should not be a problem. Please read this: Aspartame

[geauxlsu3]

My doc upped my metformin dose to 500mg BID on Tuesday. My fasting glucose is still high @ 267. I am trying to be patient and maintain my diet.

[billsreef]

You didn't get those high BG's overnight, so it will take some time to get them down. The single biggest help I found was diet, basically eating to my meter. That testing link of Alan's is the key to that IME. Excercise is number two on my list, and often has an impact that lasts into the following day.

[alan_s Honored Contributor]

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geauxlsu3 wrote:

My doc upped my metformin dose to 500mg BID on Tuesday. My fasting glucose is still high @ 267. I am trying to be patient and maintain my diet.

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What diet is your diet?

Test it with your meter: Test, Review, Adjust