When I take a metformin you can hear my body start to gurgle and clank like an
old steam engine. People in the room with me can hear it - no kidding. Then I
do a system dump for about 8 hours. I can’t work. I can’t go to classes - and
I can’t afford to miss a class. I can’t do anything but sit there and flush.
The first time it happened it hit me at school on a day when I was in class and
working in the lab. I literally was trapped in the bathroom with no way to get
home because I’d have pooed all the way out to the car and I don’t have "bucket
seats." The professors were worried about me and kept bringing me water to
drink because they were afraid I’d keel over. My boss was worried about me, but
he was not going in the ladies loo. Heck, I was worried about me. The next
time I took it at home and it was worse, but at least I was home. We called the
pharmacist who told me never to put metformin in my mouth again and I never
have.

Sadly, looks like what Andrew takes is just plain metformin in a different
package.

Marsha

I am allergic to dust mites, dog dander, cat dander and horse dander; all tree
pollens, all grass pollens, (but not ragweed, oddly enough) and sage brush. I’m
also allergic to mold that grows on leaves in the autum that give that lovely
autumnal smell, and mold in general, including the mold that is endemic in the
water in New England (I only drink filtered water here, but in Alaska I could
drink the natural water as it was glacier fed). One of the reasons I loved
Alaska is a dearth of mold, a short pollen season and a short bee season.

I evidenced allergies early in life (I used to be allergic to eggs as a young
child) and then they really took off when my family moved from North Dakota to
Idaho. At that point I developed asthma (which I now know was exacerbated by
grains, which my mother used in her donut shop - about the only form of bread I
was really into eating) and was a sick little kid until about age 13 when I

white knuckled it through a summer season without medication.

It seems to run in the family - my aunt (who is in her 80s) lives on baby foods
because of her severe allergies. She has her own little refrigerator full of
allergy drops and potions, poor woman. I usually do well on Zyrtec and benedryl
as well as prescription allergy eyedrops to prevent my eyes from swelling shut
during the heavy pollen season. I am also deathly allergic to bee stings and
have an epi pen with me during the bee/wasp/hornet season.

I’m actually fortunate in that regard (having the epi pen) as I had so much
allergy medication here at the house I was able to intervene in the analphyaxis
of the insulin and not die. On the flip side if I were not allegic to so much I
might not have needed it, eh?

I seem to remember that metformin is made from wheat products and that might
explain the severe reaction. My husband has minimal intestinal problems with it,
but still has some. He actually does exceptionally well on the Chinese herbs
and ALA.

I was checked for coeliac and do not have that. So it is not the gluten in the
wheat, it is something else. In fact, I can have gluten in small amounts and
not have the same problems. My daughter also has severe allergies to all raw
fruits, many raw veggies, milk and beef (she does better on hormone and
antibiotic free meat and milk products). My granddaughters are both milk
intolerant and the 4 year old has asthma from allergies - primarily the horrible
mold in New England.

There are getting to be more and more chemical sensitivities (I have a friend
with full blown MCS whom I attempt to watch out for at law school) and people
with allergies - I have another friend who is life-endangeringly allergic to the
pseudo butter stuff in microwave popcorn and also to the coating on Doritos corn
chips - when other people are eating them the particulate matter that gets into
the air can cause her severe breathing problems. It is so bad that the school
has had to ban popcorn from the building. Her spouse goes shopping because
walking down the popcorn aisle in the market can make her ill. When she comes
to visit I take any popcorn and double seal it in my vacuum packer and then put
it in an airtight box in the back room.

I have a hunch, which I cannot prove, that all the toxins we put into the water
and air now have contributed greatly to the profound upswing in asthma and
allergies in America. I hate to see my grandchildren raised back here in MA
(toxicology central if you remember the horrible problems with WR Grace and all
the children and adults who died from cancer), but that is where we are for the
time being.

You’re right, being this allergic is miserable. It is like walking through a
mine field and you never know when something might blow up under your foot.

The doctor called and we’re going to try a morning/evening rhythm of the new med
to see if that works. If not, then I’ll call Tuesday and probably go back on up
to see him and we’ll discuss byetta in addition to the oral meds.

What makes me really nuts is that there is no ostensible reason for the high
BG’s from what I eat. I have been pouring over Bernstein’s books and trying to
find out what he would look for if I were able to get in to see him. I would
move heaven and earth to do so if I could find him. It appears his clinic in NY
is no longer open.
Cheers!
Marsha

Jeanna

Either kind puts me in the bathroom for about 8-12 hours without let
up - everything in my entire system, digested or not, is pushed on
out.

I wish I could take either one (extended or regular), but I can’t
tolerate 1/2 of a 500 mg one and the pharmacist said I should never
take any metformin again and doctors have agreed that this extreme
reaction with the attendant severe dehydration is dangerous.. I
don’t know of any metformin analogs on the horizon.

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I wish I could take either one (extended or regular), but I can’t tolerate 1/2
of a 500 mg one and the pharmacist said I should never take any metformin again
and doctors have agreed that this extreme reaction with the attendant severe
dehydration is dangerous.. I don’t know of any metformin analogs on the
horizon.