#metformin #diabetestreatment
Ladies and gentlemen welcome back to the channel for yet another video today we’re going to be talking all about the medication metformin specifically a little bit about how it works how it’s useful for diabetes and most importantly three crucial side effects that you have to be aware of metformin is one of the most commonly prescribed medications for diabetes and is
Actually the best medication that we have to date at lowering your overall a1c values if you’re unfamiliar with what a hemoglobin a1c is don’t worry there’ll be another video linked at the end of this video so make sure you stay tuned until the end diabetes can essentially be boiled down into two words and those two words are insulin resistance insulin is a hormone
That is excreted in our body after we eat food and is primarily involved in allowing our cells to uptake all the glucose that we get from our food in order to maintain our overall energy levels for when we run and read and binge watch netflix diabetes occurs when insulin can no longer do its job and this leads to a buildup of excess glucose within our bodies one
Of the ways metformin works is it allows our bodies to be more sensitive to the insulin allowing insulin to do its job more efficiently the more efficiently that insulin can actually do its job the more the glucose floating around in our bloodstream can be taken up by our cells and used as energy another way that metformin works is that it inhibits a biochemical
Process in the liver that continually makes sugar a common misconception i think that’s going around in the health and wellness world as of late is that we don’t need glucose or sugar or carbohydrates in order to really live and thrive as humans this concept is absolutely false and a prolonged state of ketosis is actually not an ideal operating system for our
Bodies especially in a long-term setting even when you’re in a state of ketosis your body is constantly making glucose because there are certain cells that only can operate based on glucose and not operate with ketones one of these biochemical processes is called gluconeogenesis and this is just essentially a fancy word in saying that it’s a process that makes
Sugar the reason this is important for metformin is that metformin actually inhibits a specific and crucial enzyme within the process of gluconeogenesis ultimately decreasing it so the two major things that metformin does within our bodies is that number one it reduces how much natural glucose is being made by the body and number two it more efficiently allows the
Sugar that you eat to go where it’s supposed to go so the most common doses that you will see prescribed either for you or someone you know for metformin is roughly 500 to 1000 milligrams twice a day now it’s really important to know that if you do end up taking metformin you really should take the metformin with meals i really cannot emphasize this point enough
That especially within the first few weeks really try to take metformin when you’re having those bigger meals this is really important in order to combat one of the most common side effects of metformin which speaking of is an upset stomach more likely than not especially in the first two to three weeks you will experience some sort of nausea and or diarrhea
This is honestly almost normal and expected with how often it occurs i highly encourage you to keep going and be persistent with it as much as it kind of stinks no pun intended but the side effect will likely to diminish and even go away after the first two to three weeks of use again because of this it’s really important to drink a lot of water in order to stay
Well hydrated especially if you’re having bouts of frequent diarrhea another side effect to look out for although not quite as common is low vitamin b12 levels it’s important when you’re taking metformin to keep adequate levels of vitamin b12 by regular ingestion of animal products such as eggs beef and or organ meat you can also buy over-the-counter vitamin b12
Supplements as well if you choose to do so the third and final side effect isn’t super common but it is something to be aware of and that is a very rare but potentially deadly metabolic disturbance that can occur this really only ever happens if you have underlying liver and or kidney disease but if you’re a new patient to a physician’s office and you haven’t had
Any labs or blood work especially recently and you do know you do have some sort of underlying kidney and or liver disease it’s really important to share this information with your physician again more likely than not the health care provider will have all their ducks in a row and this should never be an issue for you but again it’s just something to keep aware
Of in the back of your mind thanks so much for sticking with me through the end of this video if you want to know more about what a hemoglobin a1c is click on this video here right right right here right here this one
Transcribed from video
Metformin: 3 Side Effects You NEED to Know By Dr. Mitch Rice
