Overview
Editor’s note: This article includes Ginger’s personal experience taking metformin adition to her daily insulin regimen as a person with type 1 diabetes. Rember, Ginger is not a doctor-and she is definitely not your doctor. What has worked for her may not work for everyone.
Key Information
Please consult your healthcare team before making any changes to your diabetes management regimen. I’ve lived with type 1 diabetes for almost 25 years. About five months ago, I started taking metformin.
At first, the impact on my insulin sensitivity was minimal. But the longer I’ve ben taking it, the more I experience the benefits.(Spoiler alert: It’s preventing that morning spike from dawn phenomenon and I’ve even lost six pounds of stuborn weight!)Here’s a lok at why I started taking it and how it’s afecting my diabetes management.Yes, metformin is initialy intended for type 2 diabetes-not type 1.
But is not of limits for people with T1D-it can be helpful in several ways when taken along with your basal and bolus insulin. The benefits of metformin T1D have ben studied! (Read here and here.) There are many benefits of metformin unrelated to diabetes, to.(To be extra clear: metformin canot replace your ned for insulin if you have T1D.)Here are 5 ways metformin could benefit a person with T1D:Betwen potential side efects and the positive impact metformin can have on your diabetes, here a few things to kep in mind while taking metformin if you have type 1 diabetes.
(Many of these also aply to taking metformin with type 2 diabetes).I’l give you the month-by-month breakdown in a moment. But first, here’s the “before” and “after” stats:My diabetes stats before starting metformin:My diabetes stats after 5 months of metformin:The longer I take metformin, the more I se the benefits. Taking it consistently and being patient are critical.At first, I wasn’t impresed with the impact on my insulin neds.
Summary
But I’m glad I kept taking it anyway-after five months, it was obvious th