glucotrol/metformin side effects

[Cloud Burs]

Dear Group,

My doctor recently put me on very low doses of the following
medications. I had always been able to control my blood sugar
levels before this with exercise and diet, but not anymore.

1/day 2.5Mg glucotrol
2/day 500Mg metformin
3/day 5Mg lisinopril (for blood pressure)

He said my blood pressure wasn't that high, but for a Type II
diabetic they want to keep the blood pressure lower than would
be acceptable for a non-diabetic, thus the lisinopril.

Anyway, I started waking up with numb fingers on both hands.
Numb all the way up the fingers and maybe a little bit into
the hands themselves. The best way I can descibe this is like
when you sit cross legged for too long and your foot or leg
goes to sleep -- like that.

This was after about 7-10 days or so of taking the meds.

I re-read the possible side effects from the pharmacy and it
looks like glucotrol can cause tingling of the hands or feet,
which looked suspiciously like numbness. Metformin can also
cause the same side effects.

So after a few days of thinking about it, and trying to decide
if indeed the numbness and pills were related time-wise, I saw
my doctor again.

He was very adamant about me not stopping my medication, but I
was also adamant that I thought there was a connection. I said
"Why even read the possible side effects on the Rx if when I
come in with a side effect you ignore it?" He said my symptoms
were classic carpal tunnel syndrome and that I should get
wrist splints to keep my wrists straight when I'm sleeping.

He also said to get another fasting blood test.

I got the blood test the next morning.

I didn't get the wrist splints because I thought it would be a
waste of my money.

The doctor got the test results, called me, and said the test
revealed some new lactic acidosis (which was another listed
possible side effect) and immediately took me off glucotrol
and metformin. He kept me on the lisinopril.

He put me on 1/day actos 15MG for two weeks, to be increased
to 1/day actos 30MG for four weeks. After that, I'll go get
another blood test and see him again.

So after a little more than a week of the actos, the numbness
has virtually gone away. I say virtually because now when I
notice my wrists curled up when I'm sleeping, I am aware of it
and consciously straighten them. I actually do think there may
be SOME correlation between the curled wrists and the numbness
-- but the point is I NEVER had this problem before the
medication.

So, why this post? Not to denigrate my doctor I assure you. I
think I have a really good doctor and would not change by
choice. I just wondered if anyone else in the group has had
these symptoms with these medications and, if so, what they
did about it and what the results were.

Or any other useful input.

Thanks.

Sunshine

[T2_lurking]

Good for you! Not only did you check the side effects sheet,
but also you were firm with the Dr. I have never thought that
my Dr. was anything but competent, but I don't think he knows
it all either. How could any Dr.? (rhetorical)
--
--

t2_lurking geabbottATabbottandabbottDOTcom Do not mail to
t2_lurking (auto-delete)
============================
Well, i dreamed i saw the silver Space ships flying In the
yellow haze of the sun -- Neil Young --

"Cloud Burst" <sun@shine.com> wrote in message
news:l7uarvkg6ato7mmlc1egm4fftsbvu85hhk@4ax.com...
> Dear Group,
>
> My doctor recently put me on very low doses of the following
> medications. I had always been able to control my blood
> sugar levels before this with exercise and diet, but not
> anymore.
>
> 1/day 2.5Mg glucotrol
> 2/day 500Mg metformin
> 1/day 5Mg lisinopril (for blood pressure)
>
> He said my blood pressure wasn't that high, but for a Type
> II diabetic they want to keep the blood pressure lower than
> would be acceptable for a non-diabetic, thus the lisinopril.
>
> Anyway, I started waking up with numb fingers on both hands.
> Numb all the way up the fingers and maybe a little bit into
> the hands themselves. The best way I can descibe this is
> like when you sit cross legged for too long and your foot or
> leg goes to sleep -- like that.
>
> This was after about 7-10 days or so of taking the meds.
>
> I re-read the possible side effects from the pharmacy and it
> looks like glucotrol can cause tingling of the hands or
> feet, which looked suspiciously like numbness. Metformin can
> also cause the same side effects.
>
> So after a few days of thinking about it, and trying to
> decide if indeed the numbness and pills were related
> time-wise, I saw my doctor again.
>
> He was very adamant about me not stopping my medication, but
> I was also adamant that I thought there was a connection. I
> said "Why even read the possible side effects on the Rx if
> when I come in with a side effect you ignore it?" He said my
> symptoms were classic carpal tunnel syndrome and that I
> should get wrist splints to keep my wrists straight when I'm
> sleeping.
>
> He also said to get another fasting blood test.
>
> I got the blood test the next morning.
>
> I didn't get the wrist splints because I thought it would be
> a waste of my money.
>
> The doctor got the test results, called me, and said the
> test revealed some new lactic acidosis (which was another
> listed possible side effect) and immediately took me off
> glucotrol and metformin. He kept me on the lisinopril.
>
> He put me on 1/day actos 15MG for two weeks, to be increased
> to 1/day actos 30MG for four weeks. After that, I'll go get
> another blood test and see him again.
>
> So after a little more than a week of the actos, the
> numbness has virtually gone away. I say virtually because
> now when I notice my wrists curled up when I'm sleeping, I
> am aware of it and consciously straighten them. I actually
> do think there may be SOME correlation between the curled
> wrists and the numbness -- but the point is I NEVER had this
> problem before the medication.
>
> So, why this post? Not to denigrate my doctor I assure you.
> I think I have a really good doctor and would not change by
> choice. I just wondered if anyone else in the group has had
> these symptoms with these medications and, if so, what they
> did about it and what the results were.
>
> Or any other useful input.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Sunshine

[Eldritch]

Cloud Burst wrote: e point is I NEVER had this problem
> before the medication.
>
> So, why this post? Not to denigrate my doctor I assure you.
> I think I have a really good doctor and would not change by
> choice. I just wondered if anyone else in the group has had
> these symptoms with these medications and, if so, what they
> did about it and what the results were.

Well, good for you! You stuck up for yourself and did
the right thing. Lactic acidosis is a side effect of
metformin, Metformin, as you've probably already read,
is potentially lethal. It's a good thing that you
noticed the side effects quickly and stopped the drug
almost immediately Your doctor was clearly mistaken to
insist your symptoms were from carpal tunnel syndrome.
That might have endangered your life had you not
insisted otherwise.

Frankly, I've never heard of numbness as a symptom of
lactic acidosis, though clearly in this case it was.
As far as I know this is not a symptom which is caused
by glucotol. Neither have I seen others post these
kinds of symptoms for these drugs before.

E

[Hi_therre]

On Sat, 15 Nov 2003 01:33:50 GMT, Cloud Burst
<sun@shine.com> wrote:

>Dear Group,
>
>My doctor recently put me on very low doses of the following
>medications. I had always been able to control my blood sugar
>levels before this with exercise and diet, but not anymore.
>
> 1/day 2.5Mg glucotrol
> 2/day 500Mg metformin
> 1/day 5Mg lisinopril (for blood pressure)
>
>He said my blood pressure wasn't that high, but for a Type II
>diabetic they want to keep the blood pressure lower than
>would be acceptable for a non-diabetic, thus the lisinopril.
>
>Anyway, I started waking up with numb fingers on both hands.
>Numb all the way up the fingers and maybe a little bit into
>the hands themselves. The best way I can descibe this is like
>when you sit cross legged for too long and your foot or leg
>goes to sleep -- like that.
>
>This was after about 7-10 days or so of taking the meds.
>
>I re-read the possible side effects from the pharmacy and it
>looks like glucotrol can cause tingling of the hands or feet,
>which looked suspiciously like numbness. Metformin can also
>cause the same side effects.

This is the first time I heard of glucotrol having side
effects. I've used it on and off for the past 18 months with
no problems. I also get tingling/burning in hands and feet.
But it is from bad neck verterbrae. A pinched nerve can cause
all sorts of problems.

_____________________________________________
http://www.tcainternet.com/retired/index.html

[Eldritch]

Eldritch wrote:

Lactic acidosis is a side effect of metformin,
Metformin, as
> you've probably already read, is potentially lethal.

I meant to say "lactic acidosis is potentially
lethal."

E

[Guy]

I had problem with metformin years ago and discontinued it.
Later I found out I did not have an insulin resistance
problem. Allegedly some side effects persisted for years. Many
profit from it's use. It was counter indicated in my case.

That is the reason I believe in adequate tests before med use
of any kind. At the time I also had sore muscles and muscle
"tiredness". but did not make the connection.

Be careful to question any thing that happens when a new drug
is used. Adequate testing of diabetics is expensive and rarely
done. Cost me a lot.

Guy

On Fri, 14 Nov 2003 21:45:33 -0800, Eldritch
<TiredofSppam@hotmail.com> wrote:

>Eldritch wrote:
>
> Lactic acidosis is a side effect of metformin,
> Metformin, as
>> you've probably already read, is potentially lethal.
>
>
> I meant to say "lactic acidosis is potentially
> lethal."
>
>
> E

[Jenny]

Your doctor does NOT sound like a good doctor. Nice and
pleasant maybe. Lactic acidosis could have killed you had you
not been so aware that the side effect was not normal. Most
people don't read prescribing information.

Also, neurological tingling (along with facial swelling) is a
side effect I experienced with lisinopril. If you continue to
have any such problem, you might ask your doctor to switch you
to Diovan which does pretty much the same thing but without
side effects.

-- Jenny

Cut the carbs to respond to my new email address!

Weight: 168.5/137 Diabetes Type II diagnosed 8/1998 - HBa1c
5.2 10/03 Low Carb 9/1998 - 8/2001 and 11/10/02 - Now

http://www.geocities.com/jenny_the_bean How to calculate
your need for protein * How much people really lose each
month * Water Weight Gain & Loss * The "Two Gram Cure" for
Hunger Cravings
* Characteristics of Successful Dieters * Indispensible Low
Carb Treats * Should You Count that Low Impact Carb? *
Curing Ketobreath * Exercise Starting from Zero * Do Starch
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Diabetes * NEW! Low Carb Strategies for People with Diabetes

"Cloud Burst" <sun@shine.com> wrote in message
news:l7uarvkg6ato7mmlc1egm4fftsbvu85hhk@4ax.com...
> Dear Group,
>
> My doctor recently put me on very low doses of the following
> medications. I had always been able to control my blood
> sugar levels before this with exercise and diet, but not
> anymore.
>
> 1/day 2.5Mg glucotrol
> 2/day 500Mg metformin
> 1/day 5Mg lisinopril (for blood pressure)
>
> He said my blood pressure wasn't that high, but for a Type
> II diabetic they want to keep the blood pressure lower than
> would be acceptable for a non-diabetic, thus the lisinopril.
>
> Anyway, I started waking up with numb fingers on both hands.
> Numb all the way up the fingers and maybe a little bit into
> the hands themselves. The best way I can descibe this is
> like when you sit cross legged for too long and your foot or
> leg goes to sleep -- like that.
>
> This was after about 7-10 days or so of taking the meds.
>
> I re-read the possible side effects from the pharmacy and it
> looks like glucotrol can cause tingling of the hands or
> feet, which looked suspiciously like numbness. Metformin can
> also cause the same side effects.
>
> So after a few days of thinking about it, and trying to
> decide if indeed the numbness and pills were related
> time-wise, I saw my doctor again.
>
> He was very adamant about me not stopping my medication, but
> I was also adamant that I thought there was a connection. I
> said "Why even read the possible side effects on the Rx if
> when I come in with a side effect you ignore it?" He said my
> symptoms were classic carpal tunnel syndrome and that I
> should get wrist splints to keep my wrists straight when I'm
> sleeping.
>
> He also said to get another fasting blood test.
>
> I got the blood test the next morning.
>
> I didn't get the wrist splints because I thought it would be
> a waste of my money.
>
> The doctor got the test results, called me, and said the
> test revealed some new lactic acidosis (which was another
> listed possible side effect) and immediately took me off
> glucotrol and metformin. He kept me on the lisinopril.
>
> He put me on 1/day actos 15MG for two weeks, to be increased
> to 1/day actos 30MG for four weeks. After that, I'll go get
> another blood test and see him again.
>
> So after a little more than a week of the actos, the
> numbness has virtually gone away. I say virtually because
> now when I notice my wrists curled up when I'm sleeping, I
> am aware of it and consciously straighten them. I actually
> do think there may be SOME correlation between the curled
> wrists and the numbness -- but the point is I NEVER had this
> problem before the medication.
>
> So, why this post? Not to denigrate my doctor I assure you.
> I think I have a really good doctor and would not change by
> choice. I just wondered if anyone else in the group has had
> these symptoms with these medications and, if so, what they
> did about it and what the results were.
>
> Or any other useful input.
>
> Thanks.
>
> Sunshine

[Boelkowj]

I've had transient numbing of fingers while sleeping and was
told the same about TCS. After about 2 months it now seems to
have mostly gone away with no change with metformin dosing. I
have read that diabetes and TCS are possibly related.

Larry