Diabetes is a crippling disease (that causes weight loss), and it is (indirectly) a leading cause of death in developed and under-developed countries. Sadly, it also has no cure, or so they say. The medications prescribed are only to control and regulate the effects and symptoms rather than remove the cause of the disease. How many people have suffered due to this narrow vision in the methodology of treating sickness? But there is hope; more of that later.
Metformin is one of the medicines widely employed to treat diabetes. We could begin with a dosage of 450 – 500 milligrams once or twice a day (as may be prescribed by the physician) which is not that bad in this medicine obsessed world we live in. It is quite an effective drug and surprisingly less harmful in this ‘side effect’ filled system of medication that we are made to follow, called allopathy (the modern western system of medication).
Metformin side effects are usually overly exaggerated
Side effects are common in modern synthetic drugs so metformin side effects are not totally out of place. Firstly a lot has been said about the lactic acidosis but this risk or its significance has been disputed Secondly there is the risk of hypoglycemia which is common to all people undergoing allopathic treatment for diabetes. Thirdly there is the possibility of internal sickness that should be regularly looked into by your doctor, for example kidney problems.
It is ironic that we use medicine to treat a disease by making ourselves susceptible to other diseases as I say to my parents who both have experience of undergoing diabetic treatment by metformin and other medicines.
In the gloomy frame of things metformin stands out as being not that bad. My parents both used it and have not encountered significant side effects.
One should just be careful enough to avoid hypoglycemia which is shortage of glucose in the blood and can also result in coma or even death. Hypoglycemia – characterized by dizziness, excessive sweating and then leading to unconsciousness – is caused by not replacing the glucose in the blood that is lowered by the medicine with glucose in the food. As I remember one morning my father had taken his medicine but then did not take his breakfast and after a while even though he was just resting, he starting sweating profusely and developed a feeling of uneasiness and dizziness. We immediately gave him some spoonfuls of sugar and then he had his breakfast. Things got back to normal pretty soon. So, we just need to keep glucose handy in some form or the other. We may have some glucose tablets, or a cup or two of fruit juice, or even just plain sugar. It should be immediately given to the patient and he would be alright in a while. This simple emergency measure is sometimes life saving!
To avoid hypoglycemia you should avoid means of lowering blood glucose too much like not taking your meal after having taking the medicine, or physical strain like exercise, brisk walk or plain simple gardening in the backyard, after taking the medicine. One may have to consult with his doctor to regulate the timing of his daily chores with respect to his medication.
Also it is important to keep a check on your kidneys regularly and the creatinine level, doctors say. Because excessive creatinine is said to be related to kidney failure.
With all that and with a little caution one may have no specific problems with this medicine.
The hope…
Allopathic drugs in general are prone to side effects and contraindications. So to treat one disease you risk acquiring another with it and then call it side effect!
Secondly, to treat one disease you may have to stop or slow down your treatment of another disease because the medication for that disease is a contra indication for the medicine you want to use. Contraindications also include among other things allergic reaction of individual people to individual drugs .
Add to that the drugs don’t even cure the disease many of the times like in the case of diabetes or asthma for example. So the way out is that you simply look for other ways to treat or even cure the supposedly non curable disease and I’m sure there is a cure for every disease only that not everyone knows it. As I said earlier there is hope. Since we are not discussing alternative medicine I will not go into details.
Diabetes in particular, can be controlled quite well just by diet control. It is not as far fetched as one may think. Even with medication you have dietary restriction and the medicine is not curing (only controlling) the disease either so you may as well control your diabetes with just proper diet and exercise and completely set yourself free from these toxic and harmful medicines. But be careful not to leave medication suddenly once you are already upon medication but taper down your usage and leave it slowly.
Then there are many ancient treatments for diabetes like the use of bitter gourd that is used by Indians (Asian not native American) and other Asians even in their cuisine. Other treatments may also be found on deeper research. Set yourself free and make your body toxic free and adopt natural medicine. Natural medicine is holistic and rarely is anyone allergic to natural substances. Side effects and contraindications will then not be a common feature in the instructions for usage anymore. Let’s hope.
