Question:
Diabetes and weightloss

I have heard that some people have had to take Metformin (glucophage) for diabetes and actually lost weight. Has any one out here had this happen to them? How much weight did you lose? How much time did it take to lose it?    — candy L. (posted on February 15, 2008)

February 15, 2008
I am on metformin and byetta they are trying to prevent me from being a diabetic and so far I have not lost any weight ,but it has kept me from gaining which is a plus.
   — dawnspaints

February 15, 2008
Metformin is also used as a method to manage some symptoms of Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome (PCOS). I have been diagnosed with PCOS for almost 15 years. I take metformin because PCOS can make you resistive to the insulin your body produces which makes your body produce more insulin and can raise your insulin levels which makes it impossible to lose weight. This medication is a treatment for this illness. It's not a weight loss drug. For some, weight loss is not a guarantee, as in my case. I've been on Metformin for years. It helps with many of the issues of PCOS, and maybe it made weight loss a tiny bit easier, but that's it.
   — Shirley D.

February 16, 2008

   — CyndiLee

February 16, 2008
I took it for at least 10 years, but the only thing that allowed me to loose weight was a Gastric Bypass (RNY WLS). I use to take 8 dibetic drugs, and now I take none after loosing 57 lbs following surgery. So Diabetic medication will cause you to gain weight, so watch what you are taking.
   — William (Bill) wmil

February 16, 2008
Hi. At my highest weight almost 300 pounds (about 4 years ago) I started taking metformin. Im a type 2 diabetic, and take actos too. I am 4 days away from my RNY, and weigh 235. Now the metformin alone didnt make me loose weight, I was a heavy drinker (a drunk) and would eat Taco Bell and Mickey D's all hours of the day and night. Once I knocked that off, I changed my eating habits, ate regular healthy meals at normal times, exercised a bit and the pounds went away. Im sure if I exercised WAY more and changed my food intake, I would have lost more quicker. Metformin is prescribed for several reasons, but just like surgery, its not the cure all, you have to work for it and make it work for you.
   — clh333

March 6, 2008
I was diagnosed as a Type II diabetic in April 2007 (you can fight the obesity, but you can't fight the genetics -- both my father and paternal grandmother were diabetics). I was prescribed Metformin and my PCP told me that it "could" cause me to lose weight and also lose facial hair (double win/win, if you ask me). I was on the lowest dosage of Metformin and lost about 30 pounds in about 3-4 months; it had, I think, as much to do with paying more attention to what I was eating as it did to the Metformin, although I didn't really change what I was eating all that much. Not so much luck, however, with the facial hair, but you can't have everything.
   — Cheryl Denomy