My Husband Is A Diabetic And He’s Needing His Metformin

Posted on Sat, 13 Jul 2019

Medically reviewed by Ask A Doctor - 24x7 Medical Review Team

Sat, 13 Jul 2019 Answered on

Last reviewed on

Question : My husband is a diabetic and he’s needing his metformin but can’t get it right now. Is there something over the counter he can take?

Answered by Dr. Aaron Branch (1 hour later)

Brief Answer:
Unfortunately, there is no over the counter medication for diabetes

Detailed Answer:
Hello, I'm Dr. Branch,
Thanks for using 'Ask A Doctor' service.

Unfortunately, there is no over the counter alternative for Metformin that has been shown to help with controlling blood sugars in diabetes. The most important thing will be to get his Metformin as soon as he can.

In the meantime, just try to limit the number of carbohydrates as much as possible. If he is only on Metformin, it would likely mean his diabetes is not too severe, so not taking the Metformin for a few days will likely not cause any problems.

I hope that helps, please let me know if you have any questions, I would be glad to discuss it with you further.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee

Follow up: Dr. Aaron Branch (5 minutes later)

Do you all just answer questions or can you prescribe?

Answered by Dr. Aaron Branch (14 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Unfortunately, cannot prescribe online

Detailed Answer:
Unfortunately again, we cannot prescribe medications online.

There are telemedicine companies that can prescribe refills of regular medications over the phone, I cannot recommend a specific one but if you search for "telemedicine", you should be able to find a company that can help you.

Regards

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Arnab Banerjee