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Can You Lose Weight with Metformin?
Diabetes is one of the conditions that affect most people globally. Luckily, there is medication for this condition.
The most common diabetes medication that can also improve diabetes management, according to research, is Metformin. According to research, it has been found that certain people might lose weight by using Metformin.
If you have type 2 diabetes, one of the first treatment options considered to help you manage glucose levels in your body is Metformin. There is research that suggests that Metformin may likely lead to a modest weight reduction despite it being not a weight loss drug.
Metformin and Weight Loss
People with diabetes were treated with Metformin, and they lost up to 8 kgs (around 18 lbs.) of their weight due to calorie intake, according to a small, 24-week study that was conducted in 1998.
Additionally, it was found that after using Metformin, over 4,000 people with type 2 diabetes experienced up to 2.5 kilograms (around 5.3 lbs.) weight loss for over four years when a much larger trial took place.
You are likely to lose a low amount of weight when using Metformin weight loss medication. Further, it was found that around 29% of people lost 5% or more of their body weight, and only 8% lost approximately 10% after using Metformin for weight loss.
There are various ways that using Metformin weight loss medication might have an impact on your weight. Reducing your appetite is one of the ways that Metformin for weight loss medication works.
Hormones such as Leptin and insulin have a significant role to play in your appetite. Using Metformin increases your body’s sensitivity to these hormones. Leptin is essential to your appetite since it is responsible for letting your body know when it is full and stop eating.
When your body increases its sensitivity to this hormone, you may feel less hungry.
Further, the hormone responsible for suppressing appetite is known as GLP-1. Using Metformin may increase the secretion of this hormone in your body which then suppresses your appetite and then leads to you losing weight in the process.
Semaglutide (Wegovy), a GLP-1 receptor agonist drug that precisely targets this hormone, has received FDA approval to treat both obesity and type 2 diabetes.
Reducing the amount of visceral fat in your liver and muscle tissue is another way of metformin weight loss. The abdominal cavity, which houses your liver, stomach, and intestines, among other internal organs, is where visceral fat is deposited.
It can also accumulate in muscles, including the muscle in your heart. Because visceral fat is linked to a higher risk of a number of healthy illnesses like heart disease, it is seen as being more harmful than subcutaneous fat.
Side Effects of Metformin
Generally, Metformin is considered safe. However, there are certain side effects that come along when using this medication.
Some of the common side effects include vomiting, nausea and diarrhea. You can eat less food if you are experiencing unpleasant side effects. Consuming less food is a modest way of weight loss.
Off-bale use of Metformin for weight loss
The FDA has not approved the use of Metformin as a stand-alone therapy for weight reduction. This is because the weight loss effects of Metformin are inconsistent.
However, if doctors believe Metformin could be helpful, they may still prescribe it off-label. There are prediabetes patients with a high risk for metabolic complications, and off-label metformin use is more common.
Best ways to lose weight
Although it significantly lowers blood glucose, the generic drug metformin is not a weight loss aid. Despite this, maintaining a healthy weight is still crucial to managing your diabetes and lowering your risk of complications while also enhancing your general health and wellbeing.
FAQ about Metformin and Weight loss
1. Why does Metformin make you lose weight?
Metformin works by lowering the amount of visceral fat in your liver and muscle tissue to reduce your weight. Several of your body organs, such as the liver, stomach and intestines, are found in the abdominal cavity, where visceral fat is stored. It can also accumulate in muscles, including the muscle in your heart.
2. Can you lose belly fat with Metformin?
Despite Metformin having a beneficial effect on lipids, it has no clinically significant effect in reducing visceral fat mass. This trail gives credibility to the emerging data that Metformin is not a weight loss medicine.
3. How quickly do you lose weight on Metformin?
Metformin is not a quick fix despite studies showing that it may help with weight loss. When using Metformin, you will lose weight gradually, with the results starting to show after a year or two according to one-long-term sturdy. The amount of weight lost while using Metformin varies from one person to another.
4. How do I know Metformin is working?
Your blood sugar levels will not reduce instantly when using Metformin. However, after taking Metformin, the effects can be noticeable within 48 hours. You will have clear signs that Metformin after using it for 4 to 5 days.
5. Does Metformin speed up metabolism?
The decline in fasting RQ suggests that fat was the primary energy source used during this time. Animal studies demonstrated that the administration of Metformin resulted in a decrease in body fat independent of its anorexigenic effects, which is consistent with energy metabolism results.
6. How long can you stay on Metformin?
Some patients with prediabetes are recommended to use Metformin by the American Diabetes Association. You will be on Metformin for the long term if it is prescribed for you.
Unless you experience changes that require you to stop using it or complications to your health, the long-term duration could take even decades.
7. Can a non-diabetic take Metformin to lose weight?
There is mounting evidence that Metformin may help obese non-diabetic people lose weight (6,33). According to a systematic review, orlistat and Metformin both effectively lower the BMI of overweight or obese women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS)
8. Does Metformin make you poop?
It is not clear which mechanism metformin uses in lowering blood sugar concentration. However, it was found that Metformin promotes the excretion of sugar into the stool according to the bioimaging study on humans.
9. Does coffee affect Metformin?
Coffee contains caffeine. Metformin works by reducing how fast how your body breaks down caffeine. Therefore, caffeine in coffee might have increased effects and side effects when you take it with Metformin.
10. Should you drink a lot of water when taking Metformin?
In order to help reduce stomach or bowel side effects that may occur during the first few weeks of treatment, it is recommended that you take Metformin with water. It would be best if you drank a full glass of water while swallowing the tablet or extended-release tablet.
11. Is Metformin best taken at night or in the morning?
It is best to take Metformin at bedtime instead of supper time if you are taking it as Glucophage retard to improve diabetes control by reducing morning hyperglycemia.
12. Do I need to check blood sugar while taking Metformin?
When taking oral medications like Glucophage (Metformin), home testing is not typically necessary. Every three to six months, doctors generally request a blood test called a hemoglobin A1C test in place of testing.
13. How long does 500mg of Metformin last?
After taking Metformin (Glucophage), it will stay in your system for up to 96.8 hours or around four days. The half-life elimination of Metformin is around 17.6 hours.
14. What is the most common side effect of Metformin?
There are side effects that you may experience when using Metformin for the first time. Some of the side effects that you may have are nausea, vomiting and diarrhea. With time, these side effects disappear. You can take Metformin with a meal to reduce the side effects.