Times to take Metformin er?

[Sheri8870]

Can 500 mg of metformin er be taken at breakfast, lunch, dinner and before bedtime?  Trying to get the morning sugar counts down.

[diabetes86]

Met ER is now available in 1000mg in Massachusetts.

[allofusos]

My doctor has allowed me to adjust times/dosages on the metformin based on my blood sugar readings.  What seems to work best for me is metformin ER 500 mg after supper, short acting metformin 500 mg after breakfast and one after lunch.
This seems to stabilize my blood sugar the best.  I've had normal sugars since starting this.  It took about two months to find what worked the best for me.

[WaveRider]

Correction to my comment; "For the long-acting form, metformin ER, the starting dose is metformin ER 500 mg once daily, and the maximum dosing is metformin ER 2000 mg once daily (or metformin ER 1000 mg twice daily)."

[diabetes86]

Met ER is not available in 1000mg dose (in Massachusetts, USA)

I take two 500 mg in the AM and 2 in the PM

[WaveRider]

Advantage? I'm no doctor but I have never heard of multi dosage of Metformin ER, as the ER stands for Extended Release, works for 24 hrs.Too much can cause dangerously low blood sugar [hypoglycemia]. It also depends on your doctor. If he/she Rx'd 1000mg in AM and 1000 mg in PM that is the dose to follow as he/she has knowledge of your medical history/records, not us or anyone on the Internet. Splitting and/or adjusting dosage without first discussing with your doctor is ill advised.

[Sheri8870]

what is the advantage of taking 1000 mg at breakfast and 1000 mg at supper versus taking 500 mg at breakfast, 500 mg at lunch, 500 mg at supper and 500 mg at bedtime?

[diabetes86]

Your right WaveRider let me change that

"it can take up to  8 weeks"

[WaveRider]

"Metforman is not like taking an aspirin, it can take 6 to 8 weeks to build up to full strength."

I've had patients say they reached full efficacy within 3 weeks. That's about the time length when I noticed the difference. Not everyone is the same and it can take longer for others.

[diabetes86]

Metforman is not like taking an aspirin, it can take 6 to 8 weeks to build up to full strength.  

Its not a drug you take for a short term goal, like take it because your going to have a high carb dinner to night, but tomorrow you wont take it because your going to eat a low carb dinner.  dont work like that.

[WaveRider]

I'm unsure if you meant to say if 500 mg of Metformin ER can be taken at breakfast, OR lunch, OR dinner, OR before bedtime. The answer to that is yes, but at your doctor's discretion. Call/email your doctor and inform him/her of your reason to change times. Do not do so without their approval.

Metformin is a drug which is effective only if it is present in your body at the time the food is being assimilated. That makes Metformin ER a good drug of choice for those who eat many small meals. If you are a person who tends to eat two to three big meals a day, it really is a lesser choice than regular fast-acting Metformin.

If your liver is dumping unusual amounts of glycogen in the morning try cutting way back on eating carbs @ dinner and/or after dinner snacking. Carbs after digestion turn into sugar, simple carbs quicker than complex carbs. HTH