Type 2 Diabetes Pill's - Anyone else get all the horrible symptoms?

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Well... I started my type 2 diabetic meds yesterday and the side effects are kicking my *kitten* ( literally ) I am getting all the symptoms, upset stomach, stomach pains, and the other stuff I need not mention. They say that this pill will suppress your appetite, well.... feeling like I have been feeling these 2 days there is no way anyone would want to eat. Doctors say the side effect will be temporary and should only last a week. I sure hope I get used to this sooner, because I am losing weight at an alarming rate, and it's not fun feeling like this! If anyone else takes type 2 diabetic pills please respond I like to hear about your experiences and what you did to combat the aftermath when all of the side effects decided to kick in at once. I don't want to quit the meds but I also don't want to feel this horrible every day.

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  • AndrewD315
    AndrewD315 Posts: 57 Member
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    The side effects do subside, but it's a slow thing for sure. For me about a month, but after a week I could see a little progress and it continued slowly! Your body will adapt and it's worth sticking it out. Friend some people who have had type 2 for a while who have made progress and have an open diary. Pay attention to how they have lowered their carbs, everyone has off days so throw out the bad and pay attention to the good! Sorry your having a tough time now, it does get much better.
  • fitforfun1749
    fitforfun1749 Posts: 11 Member
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    Hello AndrewD315 Thanks for your feedback, I skipped my dinner pill last night only because the attack yesterday was worst than the first one I had. The first day was just me making a ton of trips to the lady's room but little to no pain just the urgency to go. Last night on the other hand I was having really bad stomach cramping and bowel spasms that were so painful. it reminded me of when I would eat dairy and have a lactose attack which I am on nothing but lactose-free products now and was attack-free for ages! So when this happened it made me so unhappy, I was completely drained afterward, that I had to delay eating my dinner for 2 extra hours. I usually try to eat every 4 hours as my doctor advised and well I had to wait 6 plus hours before I felt well enough to even consider eating. Because of the reaction after eating my lunch and only having the one pill I decided to pass on the night pill on day 2 of my meds, mainly because I was terrified of having that experience all night affecting my ability to sleep which was already crappy at best. But... I did get back on the wagon this morning and I ate my breakfast and had my 1st pill so far so good with the previous symptoms. It seems this reaction I am having always happens a few hours after I eat lunch. I am debating on skipping my lunch and waiting till dinner before I eat again, in the hopes this will calm down the Diuretic reaction I am having, I was in full sweats and definitely feeling dehydrated from 2 days of back to back emptying everything in my body, But I did make sure to drink a lot of water! The frustrating this is this affected my job and the ability to finish my shift. The attack happened just 40 before my shift ended, it's a good thing I work from home because this would have been so embarrassing if this happened at my workplace. This is another reason I am considering only eating breakfast with pill 1 and skipping lunch, and eating dinner with pill 2. I am hoping if I have not more food while I am working I am less likely to have this reaction during my shift. Whatever happens after work I will have to deal with it then, I am just terrified of losing my job over this. ( The crazy thing ) This is not the only thing I am dealing with in regards to my health the same day I found out I had type 2 Diabetes I also found out my ultrasound found 2 masses. So... not know much more than that at the moment, it is definitely a stressor that keeps me awake at night because I still have this unknown ticking bomb that I need to look further into, but at the mercy of a pandemic delaying me getting an appointment with a doctor to look further into the matter. This is so many stressors for one person, but at least with my Diabetes, there is a feeling like I have control over something in my life and I need that distraction right now. I also came on here as a way to help me keep track of my progress as well as take advantage of the support of others on here that may be going through the same thing I am going through.

  • Fflpnari
    Fflpnari Posts: 975 Member
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    Im guessing you are on metformin IR. Its very common. If it doesn't get better sometimes provider will switch you to the Extended release and that fixes things. Keep in touch with your provider. you are 💯 correct you can control diabetes! Once you get used to the meds, you have control of your nutrition and activity. Im sorry about the misery I hope it gets better soon!
  • fitforfun1749
    fitforfun1749 Posts: 11 Member
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    Ftpnari Thanks for the kind words and you are correct about the medication that is the one I am taking they also wanted me to take this other med I think its called Jarden or something its a diabetic weight loss pill that goes well with the current med I am already on, BUt... it costs $289 dollars a month which I cannot afford at the moment because my benefits have not kicked in as of yet with my new job. This medication also causes the same type of side effects as diabetic medication. When they said these meds would suppress your appetite, I was not aware they meant that it would make you feel so sick that you could not eat, or if you did eat... it would stay in your body for very long, which affects the way you feel all day, I am also supposed to exercise and I was prior to the meds with no issues, but every time I move now my stomach immediately start feeling horrible. I managed to change my diet and eat 1500 calls a week and lost 7 lbs in 7 days without any meds and felt great! I took this medication for going on 3 days now and feel bla the moment I wake till the moment I go to bed. I am hoping these symptoms will pass because I like to go back to exercising again because it was actually helping me sleep better. I plan to go to the clinic on Monday to pick up some free Blood check strips and the machine. If the doctor is there and I am still having these symptoms by then, I will make sure to mention what I have been going through and see what he suggests. I am scared to take this other pill if it could do the same as this one, the last thing I need is 2 meds making me feel sick. At the end of the day I still need to eat, but no one wants to feel horrible all day either as a result of eating. I can see why you would lose so much weight thou nothing stays in long enough to make you gain weight.
  • cowsanddogsarecute
    cowsanddogsarecute Posts: 156 Member
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    My advice is do not skip any Metformin pills. Symptoms can be worse if you do that! I found out the hard way as did my ex!

    So, keep taking the Metformin, drink water and eat when you can. The side effects should start to slowly subside.
  • jazzyrose017
    jazzyrose017 Posts: 2 Member
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    I wanted to repeat what everyone else said. I was on metformin and the first 7 to 10 days were brutal and I spent so much time running to the ladies room but advice is do not skip. It does go away once your body adjusts but I've found if I miss doses, I start feeling stomach issues. I'm not in for diabetes but for pcos but guessing the side effects are similar. It didn't cut my appetite a ton but cravings got much better. I'm on a much higher dose now but as long as I take it as planned, no side effects anymore and 2 years in it.
  • fitforfun1749
    fitforfun1749 Posts: 11 Member
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    Thanks to everyone for their feedback it has all been so helpful, by the way I am nut sure if anyone is notified when I respond to these messages or if I am doing this correctly or not but if so let me know :)
  • prozackat
    prozackat Posts: 4 Member
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    Metformin can be bad… for me I can’t take it as it gives me the runs
  • fitforfun1749
    fitforfun1749 Posts: 11 Member
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    Hello prozackat :) that happened to me as well for the first 2days both of those days I ate avocado and egg, I am thinking maybe that is not a good combo while I am on this medication. But day 3 and 4 have been a lot better no more runs and I did not eat eggs or avocado. I do get this weird heaviness in my head and sometimes I feel a little lightheaded after I take the meds but it seems to pass 15-30 mins later. I have anxiety so I am not sure if that might be causing these head feelings I am having, I have been scared to take the meds because day 1 and 2 was absolutely HORRIBLE! I also find I have this dull headache that comes and goes a lot since I started the meds as well.
  • fitforfun1749
    fitforfun1749 Posts: 11 Member
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    Well, update on my med situation... 5 days in and again this time at 3 am I had another painful episode that felt like someone was stabbing me in my stomach and squeezing my bowels. this went on for hours I could not sleep after because I felt like some beat my insides when I did manage to get a few hours to rest I still felt horrible when I woke up my stomach was still sore. I did manage to eat a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter and banana. That perked me up and I started to feel a little more energized but my tummy was still not happy. Because the pain was so intense I called my doctor today for this did not seem normal to me. The side effects called for cramping. Not pain where I considering going to the hospital both times. So when I spoke with him the first thing he does is ignore why I am calling about and started pushing another pill on me, this one was more expensive $285 per month.. I re-explained I just started a new job that I don't currently have coverage for meds, I also mentioned my concerns about the other meds because the side effects for this one is the same as the other I was reading reviews online and most responses were really bad or saying the effect was minimal. My other pill said the same thing, So the last thing I wanted was getting stuck on another med that was even more expensive that could make me sick that I would have to ween off later. I explained to the doctor the week prior to starting my meds, that I changed my eating habits, consumed fewer calories cut processed sugars completely, and ate less than the recommended amount of carbs. I lost 7 lbs in those 7 days and I also noticed I was feeling energetic that I started doing chair exercises and I noticed I was sleeping better. The moment I started taking the pills from day one I was sick every day, either I was in pain or suffering the after of the pain, lightheaded and foggy, contact dull headache and not sleeping well at all. So my question was how is this better than how I was feeling when I was managing my weight loss and diet without the meds? The doctor agreed that the pain I was having was concerning and also understood my hesitance for starting a new pill he advised that I stop taking the pills. And told me I could continue what I was doing prior to and after the meds in regards to my eating and exercise and that he will check in with me 2 weeks later to see if any positive results have come about. I was only taking the meds for 5 days the worst 5 days of my life, I asked if I needed to ween off these meds since it was a short time, he told me I could just stop taking them. So this is the plan to try to turn around my number with diet and exercise alone. SEND PRAYERS... so this will work, I hate to have to go back to pills where I feel horrible every day.
  • rheddmobile
    rheddmobile Posts: 6,840 Member
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    Well, update on my med situation... 5 days in and again this time at 3 am I had another painful episode that felt like someone was stabbing me in my stomach and squeezing my bowels. this went on for hours I could not sleep after because I felt like some beat my insides when I did manage to get a few hours to rest I still felt horrible when I woke up my stomach was still sore. I did manage to eat a whole wheat bagel with peanut butter and banana. That perked me up and I started to feel a little more energized but my tummy was still not happy. Because the pain was so intense I called my doctor today for this did not seem normal to me. The side effects called for cramping. Not pain where I considering going to the hospital both times. So when I spoke with him the first thing he does is ignore why I am calling about and started pushing another pill on me, this one was more expensive $285 per month.. I re-explained I just started a new job that I don't currently have coverage for meds, I also mentioned my concerns about the other meds because the side effects for this one is the same as the other I was reading reviews online and most responses were really bad or saying the effect was minimal. My other pill said the same thing, So the last thing I wanted was getting stuck on another med that was even more expensive that could make me sick that I would have to ween off later. I explained to the doctor the week prior to starting my meds, that I changed my eating habits, consumed fewer calories cut processed sugars completely, and ate less than the recommended amount of carbs. I lost 7 lbs in those 7 days and I also noticed I was feeling energetic that I started doing chair exercises and I noticed I was sleeping better. The moment I started taking the pills from day one I was sick every day, either I was in pain or suffering the after of the pain, lightheaded and foggy, contact dull headache and not sleeping well at all. So my question was how is this better than how I was feeling when I was managing my weight loss and diet without the meds? The doctor agreed that the pain I was having was concerning and also understood my hesitance for starting a new pill he advised that I stop taking the pills. And told me I could continue what I was doing prior to and after the meds in regards to my eating and exercise and that he will check in with me 2 weeks later to see if any positive results have come about. I was only taking the meds for 5 days the worst 5 days of my life, I asked if I needed to ween off these meds since it was a short time, he told me I could just stop taking them. So this is the plan to try to turn around my number with diet and exercise alone. SEND PRAYERS... so this will work, I hate to have to go back to pills where I feel horrible every day.

    I’m lucky enough to have zero side effects with metformin, but I understand it can be rough. If it’s causing actual pain you should definitely not be taking it!

    Diet and exercise, as well as losing weight, can make a huge difference. Time your cardio to after meals so it lowers your glucose, and do some strength training as well because it improves insulin sensitivity. You got this, I hope you continue feeling better! Maybe when your benefits kick in you can try the extended release met and see if it’s better for you. But as severe as your reaction was I wonder if you have a sensitivity to it or something.