Suggest Remedy For Gas, Diarrhea And Excessive Sleepiness When Suffering From Diabetes

Posted on Mon, 11 May 2015

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

Mon, 11 May 2015 Answered on

Mon, 8 Jun 2015 Last reviewed on

Question : I am a male 50years old. Have had type 2 diabetes since I was thirty just controlled my sugars with food diet excersise. Have taken pills the older I got lost my regular doc three yrs ago had not been on any mess until three months ago. Doc started me with metfomin, for sugar control, Lipitor, for high proteins in my urine, lisinopril,for bp. Have found some coflict while taking these three drugs. Sugar levels are higher than ever, 250-380 or higher. Also the metfomin iam taking is 1000mg tablet 2pills inthe am and 2 pills in the pm. Nothing shows a positive help. Everything I eat turns to a gassy diarrhea watery very foul smelling. Sometimes my urine is dark green strong odor. I am sleepy all the time. Before istarted onthismedical regime my blood sugar was 170-250 . Now I don't where I am for even close avg. isn't 4000mg of metfomin a lot?

Answered by Dr. Binu Parameswaran Pillai (49 minutes later)

Brief Answer:
Very high dose of Metformin

Detailed Answer:
Good day,

Noted your concern.
4000 mg Metformin is really large dose and is more than recommended dose. The maximum recommended dose is 2500 mg to 3000 mg. In my practice, I never go beyond 2500 mg.

For your level of blood sugars, Metformin alone is not sufficient. You need to be started on other medications like Amaryl or Januvia. Discuss with you doctor. If your HbA1c is more than 8.5%, you may also need insulin for a short while.

Lipitor is not for proteins, it is for high cholesterol. Lisinopril is for high BP and proteins in urine.

Gassy stomach upset and diarrhea are side effects of Metformin. You need to bring down the dose to 1 tablet twice a day.

Regards
Binu

Above answer was peer-reviewed by : Dr. Chakravarthy Mazumdar