Anyone taking Metformin to prevent reoccurrance?

dtad

Hi all. I take Glyco X 500. The active ingredient is Berberine HCL. I have also eliminated all high fructose corn syrup and limit my sugar intake. Hope this helps!

Jenwith4kids

ditto on wondering about the supplement! Is it Berberine?

Angtee15

So success with getting the Metformin prescription! Just left the endocrinologist. He thinks I do have metabolic syndrome and am at high risk for diabetes so he prescribed it preventatively to work with my efforts with improved diet and exercise. If it helps keep a recurrence at bay so much the better!

sbelizabeth

I participated in a metformin trial a few years back. I asked my oncologist if she would prescribe it for me when the study was finished, and she agreed. It's a pretty safe drug, and I'm very motivated to do anything I can to keep the door locked down on this beast.

Valstim52

Angtee15, I'm on it already for metabolic syndrome. My MO has neither said yay or nay but it does not matter. I'm on a mix called xigduo. It's a combination of farxiga and metformin. There have been studies in Europe done on both and they show it helps in staving off recurrence for TN's. Though farxiga is a new drug. I don't have access to that study and always worry who they are choosing for studies, only because my son is a research scientist for a large drug company and he admits they use 'studies' to get thing going their way, and you never really know who they are using. So we have to trust them.

sas-schatzi

I started metformin today. PCP very cooperative. My HBA1c cooperated too. Always 5.4 Last 3 value's 5.7. Not bad , but a change and the fasting glucose was 108 to 111. None of them were fasting, but works for getting the drug. By value's it put's me in the pre-diabetes range.

500mg once a day---------------am I on the right dose for the studies. In a period, I'm just studied out. I read the last two pages and it looks right.

PCP told me something I never heard of regarding Metformin. Take a 1/4 dose for a (I missed the time period), then another 1/2 dose for ___________she forgot to say-----we got diverted b/c I questioned why. She says it will cause diarrhea if started on full dose. She said she tells all her patients the same thing then they come back complaining of diarrhea and it's b/c &%%&* don't listen. We have a different relationship. nurse and doc thing. Since I react strangely to drugs b/c of metabolism thing. I'm going to go slow and have time to clarify with her.

I thought the diarrhea thing was important to post about metformin initiation.

sas-schatzi

My go to drug site for study of drugs is dailymed.nih.nlm.gov (hmm didn't hyperlink). The original manufacturer of a drug is required to post all the trial stuff. Subsequent manufacturers aren't, I called my pharmacy and they were able to tell me Glucophage by Bristol Myers was the original manufacture. This link is to the Bristol Myers info on the drug.

What surprised me is the drug is NOT metabolized by the liver. It is excreted unchanged. The surprise was other sources said to watch liver enzymes. No clue what that's about. If it isn't metabolized by the liver why watch liver enzymes. Anyone with a clue, obviously, post. I may have not taken a next step in review.

https://dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/dailymed/drugInfo.cfm?setid=a3878e6a-abb9-4994-8d5a-ea4dc2e85226

On the pervious page, I posted the history of the drug as what we now would describe as a weed, goes back centuries. Seriously, it is worth a read. The research on it in 1927 then again in the 1950's and how it was shelved b/c of a couple of other drugs. Then brought off the shelf for a relook when the other drugs were found to be dangerous.

If you are initiating the drug and are concerned about the "Black Box" warning if you read the whole history, it put's things into perspective i.e. less scary. I know in 1995, we as nurses were sooooooo cautioned about the drug and Lactic Acidosis. After reading the original article and the connecting articles, I feel very safe about taking the drug.

Smurfette26

Yes it can cause diarrhoea initially. Gradually build up to the prescribed dose.

Valstim52

I'm on a total of 1000 mgs extended release and it's mixed with faxiga. Called xigduo. I have metabolic syndrome but when I saw my PCP, she said thank god I'm on the metformin duo as there is a lot of 'chatter' in the bc community and beyond that it can hold off recurrence. She has me increased to take an additional 500mg along with the duo. It's technically for my elevated A1C but my MO was all for it.

sas-schatzi

Hi Val what were your HbA1c numbers and what is your total metformin dose? Since you are a believer in metformin, It will be fun to hear what you think of the whole history of the "weed" that produce the final drug.

For those that chose not to read it's history. The two researchers that did the 1927 research were on track to control type 2diabetes. Then Insulin was identified. It put the research they were doing on the shelf. Total bummer. Many many lost years of research.

Jenwith4kids

Sas - I'm not following you....

"Ya'll may say okay , but been talking this stuff in the sauce, without the sauce for years. Krips. This morning my last dream was teaching how to run a cardiac arrest. Sumpins not right"

Huh?

sas-schatzi

Jen, I was drinking wine , honey. sorry I'll fix it

Smurfette26

I take 2 x Metformin XR (Slow Release) 500mg daily. Was interested to read about the "duo" you take Val.

My meds have not been reviewed for years. Going to ask my GP about the pros and cons of the duo for me when I see her next.

Was discouraged to read the link VLH posted earlier in this thread. Wasn't positive for those of us who have been taking Metformin prior to our BC diagnosis.

VLH

I don't want to be a Debbie Downer, Smurfette26, but think it's important that we review studies for both good and troubling news. I'm pleased to hear the drug may benefit some, but metformin obviously sn't a magic bullet fire many. The thing about studies is that they're imperfect, sometimes incorrectly identify cause - effect relationships and may be contradicted by another study. It's all just information, but this tidbit wasn't good news.

Outfield

I am not optimistic for a magic bullet of any type any day soon, but I am taking metformin. I met the big Canadian study's criteria and just couldn't get in to see somebody in our local participating hospital in time to get into the trial. So I'm following it and taking 850 bid, which is the Canadian MA 132 dose.

sas-schatzi

A few seconds ago sas-schatzi wrote:

Folks I think John's link should be posted around in the threads you frequent.

1.Reason is most here have sleep problems.

2. It is a naturally occurring in the body

3. we need to use any thing that gives us an edge.

My personal experience with it is I used it for several years after BC @ the 10mg level along with Ativan. I had horrible insomnia. My ER+ path report said unfavorable outcome in two places. Always wondered why I haven't met'sd yet. Now 7 1/2 years.

I keep wondering if there was "something" I was doing that was helping?

Recent research is keying in on other things other than standard chemo drugs we need to keep these on our radar and make the decision whether they are reasonable to add to our regimen.

We all know it's still a crapshoot. I find that word the most disgusting word in the dictionary. So, this is an emphatic statement.

John reposting on my usual threads. Thanks for all the research you do.

18 hours ago JohnSmith wrote:

New article: Pre-clinical models reveal that Melatonin reduced proliferation of breast cancer stem cells in ER+ tumors.
https://blog.cirm.ca.gov/2016/08/24/sleep-inducing-hormone-puts-breast-cancer-cells-to-rest

TAGS: CSCs, transcription factor OCT4, encoded by the POU5F1 gene, mammospheres, Bisphenol A (BPA), MCF-7 cells

53nancy

Hello everyone, I have been reading the posts about using Metformin for Breast Cancer and wondering if it is a special form of that. I have been on 2450 mg per day for years, and have now come down to 1500 mg.

Smurfette26, I am in the same boat as you. I have been taking Metformin for sugar control for over 25 years and when I asked the pharmacist about the effectiveness of it after all this time, she told me that it is still the best and most effect drug for Diabetes without a lot of complications. But I still got breast cancer.

VLH, I have to agree with katjadvm. I too wish you hadn't read that! Good luck to everyone who is giving it a try.

PeggySull

I continue to take metformin and I am almost 5 years out. My endocrinologist said she would prescribe it to prevent recurrence for ANY cancer. MOs are the last to know in general. It doesn't PREVENT the original occurrence but it seems good for recurrence.

Hugs,Pegg

53nancy

Thanks, PeggySue. I will remember that

sbelizabeth

PeggySull, what dosage of metformin do you take? How many mgs, how many times a day?

marijen

So it always helps when someone has taken a supplement successfully if they note the brand, because then we know it has been tested. In dtad's case for many years. As supplements are not regulated (obviously).

Sas, how much melatonin per night? I have 10, is that good?

PeggySull

SbElizabethI take 850 mg. in the morning and at night, although I confess that I sometimes forget the morning dose.  This was the dosage in the major clinical trial 4 years ago.  That research may have been updated since then.

dtad

My berberine is called GLYCO X 500 and the brand is Good State. I get it on Amazon. Good luck to all...

53nancy

Thanks for the info about Berberine, dtad. Hope everyone is having a good week.

marijen

Another question - if your cholesterol and blood sugar is already good, is Metformin needed?

53nancy

marijen, I think the important question would be, what would they be without Metformin, if you are already on Metformin. There are times when, due to circumstances, we ended up being away from home overnight without my medications, and the following day my sugars would climb, no matter how careful I was until I got home. I have gotten my sugars down and reduced my Metformin from 2500 mg a day to 1500, but I don't think I will ever be able to go off. What is helping me to keep on the lower dosage is that I have changed to a Alkaline diet as much as I can, and that has reduced my sugars to where I can maintain them, so far, on the lower dose of Metformin. My doctor, however, says that my sugars will get worse over time.

marijen

Well I would like to know if it would be helpful to take metformin if you don't have a blood sugar problem. I don't see how your answer relates to my question??

53nancy

marijen, I guess I didn't realize you had good sugar control without medication. Good luck in finding the info you are seeking

dtad

Hi everyone...I definitely feel the berberine helped me lose weight. I didn't have a problem with my blood sugar but it helps regulate it so you don't have so any highs and lows. Good luck to all.

marijen

Thanks dtad. Nancy sorry I didn’t word my question right