Metformin is an oral medication (tablet) that is prescribed to manage Type 2 Diabetes in children (10 years and older) and adults.
Let’s talk about metformin metformin is a generic name of a medication and glucophage is actually the brand name the branding may vary based on what region you’re in but a doctor will most likely refer to the medication as metformin your doctor are your healthcare provider now metformin would be prescribed as a first-line treatment for adults and children
And moisture would mean children ages 10 and older with type 2 diabetes and type 2 diabetes is when the body is not producing enough insulin and that’s when you’d have type 2 diabetes and also if your hemoglobin a1c levels are greater than 6.5 percent and i did discuss um hemoglobin a1c in my previous video regarding blood glucose um regarding blood monitoring
Additionally to if the kidney function test and the test that we use for that is abbreviation gfr if that is greater than 30 then it’ll be safe to prescribe it for you additionally it’s encouraged to be used with diet and exercise so medform is not only used to measure type 2 diabetes but it works along with diet and exercise now let’s look at some common side
Effects because it’s not always smooth sailing the most common reported side effect is nausea and vomiting however this usually resolves in two to three weeks so i know it may be a bit aggravating to deal with this symptom while you’re trying to control your your situation diabetes but taking the medication with food if that’s something the provider said it’s okay
Or having a snack you know shortly after also chewing gum sugar-free gum make sure sugar-free gum could also help with nausea diary is also a common side effect additionally vitamin b-12 serum levels may be lower because of this so you will find that your doctor will probably do blood work and include your vitamin b12 levels to make sure that this is not lowered
Because of an adverse effect of the medication additionally there’s this thing that’s called metformin associated lactic acidosis and this is related really to in patients who have renal impairment so that your kidneys are not working at a hundred percent or as they should or also with advanced age and we say advanced as you’re really talking patients are over
The age of 65 years old now the american diabetic association is a insecure group that does provide research studies and recommendations regarding diabetic management and what is suggested is that the a1c level which we discussed earlier to be monitored at least twice per year in patients who are meeting treatment goals or who have a stable glycemic control this
Means you go to your doctor your a1c levels are good a doctor like you know we’re within range everything is going that well and they probably say see you in six months while if the a1c is not being managed or you’re not reaching the goals that were set with your and your provider you may have the glycemic level be monitored quarterly as compared to twice per year
And one other thing is that a doctor will provide a diabetic screening um there will be some education follow up on your results and then you know will work with your doctor to let them know what works for you and what doesn’t because even though we’re trying to give this medication to treat diabetes end of the day it also has to just with lifestyle so be honest
About you know what you can and can do what accommodations you have maybe you can’t go to the gym twice a week but you know what you could walk back and forth up the road you know what accommodations can you do so that we can work together to create a plan that could get us to the number that we want to manage our health now here are some things to remember now the
Fda which is the food and drug administration hasn’t give recommended a maximum dose however typically what they recommend is that the dose do um in a daily dose should not be greater 2 50 milligrams in adults and pediatric patients so even a doctor may say take 500 milligram twice a day or a thousand milligram twice a day the maximum dose is recommended not to
Go higher than 250. so if you miss a dose um or let’s say you find that you want to get a higher management misnox is different from doubling up on your dose when it’s not prescribed so do talk to your provider about this there’s an xr right here means extended release so it means that it stays in the body longer and takes a longer time for the levels to be seen
So that max dose is 2 000 milligram and your doctor will assess your renal or kidney function before they start taking this medication because you know medications are processed through the kidneys and we just want to make sure that everything is good before we give you this medication now as you can see here are some this is metformin so it depends on one the
Dose it depends on where you are in terms of what brand you are prescribed but metformin does come in different color so one of the thing is that it may be a different color than the one you got like three months per hour or a month ago just be sure to check with your your pharmacist to just make sure that you are getting a medication that you know offered the
Color is different just the clarification all right so thank you for watching and i hope you have a great day and i hope everything goes well and let’s try to see how best we can manage our health and do the best we can take care thank you bye bye
Transcribed from video
Let's Talk About: Metformin By Nurse Rhule