I Have Started Taking Metformin HCL Er After Being Diagonosed

I have started taking Metformin HCL Er after being diagonosed with diabetes about 2 months ago. I started with the one pill a day for a week , went to the 2 pills a day for and week then started 3 pills a day. I could not tolerate the 3 pills Had severe diahreea . I am back down to 2 pills a day but find the pills in the commode afeter a bowel movement. My patient instructions said that a empty medicine shell could sometimes be found in a bowl movement but these are not empty . Is any medicine getting into my system? Is there anything else to take other than Metformin ? Thank you