AJsBodBlog

Saturday, August 06, 2011

Metformin ER to the Rescue

A safe and inexpensive medication can be prescribed off-label: Metformin, Metformin ER, Glucophage, Glucophage XR

I am not in favor of unnecessary medication, and very much in favor of targeted supplements, reducing dietary carbohydrates, aerobic and especially weight training exercise, for blood sugar related health concerns. But observation and logic suggest using metformin to control appetite and for diagnosed conditions closely linked to elevated insulin and insulin resistance, like high cholesterol and high blood pressure, reactive hypoglycemia, PCOS, inflammatory conditions such as rosacea, and possibly to prevent and control some types of dementia / Alzheimers, as well as the on-label use of managing type II diabetes. 1

With both parents diagnosed diabetic, I am a nurse who has probably had insulin resistance since I started gaining weight too easily at about 6 years of age. With diabetes on both sides of my family, after nursing school I researched and practiced controlling insulin with diet, exercise, and supplements, and found raw Green Smoothies (see my earlier blogpost Make It Simple, Make It Happen).

After reading about off-label use of metformin by a researcher in England to control insulin and possibly prevent diabetes-related dementia, I decided ask my doctor to let me try metformin er, most often prescribed for for type II diabetes. A low dose, Metformin ER (extended release) 500 mg taken after my morning smoothie and before lunch, along with lifestyle measures outlined above, has brought me back to the normal sugar metabolism I never enjoyed as even a young adult, and it feels miraculous. I have had such excellent results, may I suggest along with your healthy lifestyle changes not instead of, consider talking to your doctor about trying Glucophage XR, or Metformin ER (generic form2) for controlling insulin and taking back your life.

1 Metformin / Glucophage has enjoyed an excellent safety record for many years; like all drugs, metformin has side effects you may wish to discuss with your doctor. Metformin should be discontinued before MRIs and certain other types of imaging.
2 all generics are not created equal: diabetesupdate.blogspot.com/2006/10/not-all-generic-metformin-is-same.html

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