If you use Glucophage (metformin) to treat type 2 diabetes, you may be familiar with its adverse effects, which include upset stomach, diarrhoea, muscle aches, and tiredness. These might be a real and metaphorical pain, but if you’ve had trouble losing weight, you could embrace one secondary effect with metformin with open arms. Researchers have discovered a connection between the medicine metformin and weight loss despite the fact that it wasn’t intended to be one.
Can You Lose Weight Permanently While Taking Metformin?
Metformin may cause some weight reduction, but the quantity you lose can be much less than you anticipate. According to earlier studies, the average weight loss after a year of using the medication is only six pounds.
Therefore, Dr. Sood explains that although while metformin is frequently prescribed to individuals with high insulin sensitivity who are having trouble losing weight, it is not a magic pill. In other words, if people overeat or lead a sedentary lifestyle, don’t anticipate a significant change in weight.
To experience any meaningful weight loss, you must adhere to a realistic weight loss strategy that includes healthy diet and regular exercise.
Can metformin cause you to lose weight?
Metformin is not accepted by the FDA as a weight-loss medicine on its own. People who use metformin for other purposes, however, could experience weight loss as a side effect. It’s unclear exactly how this works. Metformin does not contribute to weight gain, in contrast to other diabetes medicines.
Appetite suppression
According to one idea, metformin causes you should eat less by decreasing your hunger. The mechanisms by which metformin impacts appetite, nevertheless, remain unclear. Metformin may influence the gut microbiome, cause the release of hormones that reduce hunger, and alter brain regions that control appetite.
Additionally, some metformin users may experience bloating, nausea, and diarrhoea. A person’s desire to eat less as a result of these negative effects.
Permanent weight reduction
Over a 15-year period, weight reduction was evaluated by a reliable source of diabetic patients. Researchers discovered that those using metformin had better success in weight management in years 6 to 15 in those who dropped more than 5% of their body mass in the first year.
The medicine may not cause weight loss, though, if other healthy practises aren’t being practised. The largest weight loss occurs in people who take metformin while consuming a balanced diet and exercising regularly.
Loss of weight as a secondary effect?
Although vomiting, nauseousness, and diarrhoea are frequent adverse effects of metformin, it is generally safe. Those who experience these undesirable side effects might eat less, which might lead to slight weight loss.
Metformin use for weight loss off-label
The FDA has not recognized the usage of metformin as just a hold medication for weight loss because of its erratic effects on weight loss. However, if a doctor thinks it would be beneficial, they may still give it off-label. Patients at greater risk for metabolic problems, such as those with prediabetes, are more likely to use metformin off-label.
- Metformin’s side effects include the potential for nauseousness and diarrhoea. The mixture of an upset tummy, eating less, and experiencing diarrhoea at first as a person adjusts to the medicine may result in a brief loss of weight.
- Improved insulin and sugar balance: Since metformin increases insulin sensitivity and decreases blood glucose levels, it may lessen the amount of extra glucose that is deposited as fat. This might cause weight loss over time.
- Gut health: Studies indicate that individuals with overweight may have lower levels of short-chain fatty in their guts. The protection provided by these acids extends to many facets of health, particularly weight.
Does metformin have weight-loss approval?
Metformin is not expressly licenced for use as a stand-alone medication for weight loss, however it may cause a moderate loss of weight in certain individuals. The FDA has approved metformin for blood sugar management in the management of diabetes type 2 in children and adults 10 years old and older when used in conjunction with diet and exercise.
When used on obese non-diabetic people, some studies have found that metformin can cause weight loss.
- In a single, 6-month non-randomized study, researchers looked at the ability of glucophage (doses up to 2,500 mg daily) to help 154 obese and overweight individuals (BMI 27 kg/m) lose weight whether or not they also had insulin resistance. 45 untreated patients were also included as controls.
- The metformin-treated group experienced an average weight decrease of 5.8 kg (8.6 lbs) to 7 kg ( 15 lbs). Untreated controls increased by an average of 0.8 kg (1.8 lbs), 3.5 kg ( 7.7 lbs), and more.
- Overall, the 154 methimazole patients exhibited a losing weight of 10percentage points or more for 16.2% as well as a weight loss with at least 5percentage points in 47.4%, according to the research.
What is the typical weight loss while using metformin?
Metformin may cause some weight reduction, but the quantity you lose can be much less than you anticipate. According to prior studies, the average weight loss after a year on the medication is only six pounds.
Can metformin help you lose abdominal fat?
Additionally, the researchers discovered that those using metformin dropped an additional 5 pounds on average compared to those who did not. Metformin may aid in belly fat reduction because it lowers blood sugar levels. Because of this, people who have type 2 diabetes as well as other weight issues frequently use it.
How soon will I start to lose weight after using metformin?
Following weeks of gestation of metformin use combined with a balanced diet, a previous study on adults who had diabetes or morbid obesity discovered a considerable weight loss. LDL cholesterol, leptin, and other coronary heart disease risk markers were decreased along with fasting insulin.
Conclusion
In both insulin sensitivity and insulin resistance overweight and obese patients, metformin is a potent weight-reduction medication that works well in a natural outpatient context.