Metformin: when and how to take it?

The metformin is the drug of first choice for the treatment of diabetes type 2 in adults, when changes in lifestyle (diet and exercise) are not sufficient to control blood sugar.

This antidiabetic drug “lowers blood glucose levels, both basal – during rest and fasting – and those reached after meals. It works by reducing and delaying the amount of glucose that is absorbed from food at the intestinal level. It also lowers the amount of glucose produced by the liver and favors its storage as glycogen. You can go directly to UK Meds to but an one for you.

How to take this antidiabetic?

This drug might be used unaided or in mixture with other oral antidiabetics or with insulin.

The normal starting dose use to be 500 mg or 850 mg 2 or 3 times a day, with meals or post meals. After 10 to 15 days, the dosage must be attuned as per blood glucose levels. In this regard, experts comments that it is recommended to start treatment with half a tablet with dinner and, subsequently, increase the dose according to tolerance, until the most common pattern is achieved, which is two tablets a day.

In elderly patients, given the possible deterioration of renal function, the dose of metformin will be adjusted according to this condition.

Usage precautions

Metformin must be stationary during surgery under general, spinal, or epidural anesthesia. Treatment can be resumed 48 hours after surgery or after returning to oral intake, as long as kidney function has been previously reassessed, details the coordinator of the Diabetes Working Group.

In radiological examinations that require intravenous iodinated contrast agents, the administration of metformin should be interrupted before or at the time of the test and should not be resumed for at least 48 hours, provided that kidney function has been reassessed.

Despite being a drug that does not produce hypoglycemia, when used alone it can cause hypoglycemia if taken in combination with other hypoglycemic drugs (insulins or sulfonylureas).