Metformin and alcohol - are they compatible?

General

Metformin is a medicine that is given for type 2 diabetes mellitus, especially if you are slightly overweight.

It lowers the blood sugar level, which increases in diabetes is very effective and has been used for a long time.
The dosage of the drug can be very different. As a rule, however, it is always taken with meals once to three times a day.

Usually a small dose is started and then gradually increased, depending on how the patient tolerates it.
Metformin is a very strong drug that does have some side effects. These would mainly be gastrointestinal complaints such as diarrhea, vomiting and constipation.
In addition, some patients complain of severe stomach pain.

There are other side effects such as reddening of the skin, changes in taste, liver inflammation and anemia.
There is also the possibility of a more serious side effect, lactic acidosis, which is described below.

Metformin is a contraindication and is completely unsuitable for severe kidney and liver diseases, alcoholism, heart failure, hyperacidity as well as diabetes mellitus type 1 and diabetic ketoacidosis.

If the patient wants to become pregnant, she should urgently consult her doctor, because instead of the medication, blood glucose control is carried out by insulin injections, but can, if necessary, be taken during pregnancy - this is especially true for those women who in addition to type 2 diabetes mellitus also suffer from polycystic ovary syndrome.

Metformin also helps in weight loss in some ways. But it is not a real weight loss product. Since it helps to control blood sugar, it reduces side effects that are dependent on diabetes, but diet and weight loss are unavoidable.

Lactic acidosis

Lactic acidosis can be caused by the combination of Metformin With excessive alcohol consumption and is quite a serious condition.

Lactic acidosis means that the blood and tissues in the body increase angry are.
Of the PH value is clearly too low and the lactate concentration is too high.

These two symptoms, paired, also distinguish lactic acidosis from conventional ones metabolic acidosis which only manifests itself through a low pH value.

In this disease, the aerobic (oxygen consuming) Glucose breakdown disturbed, so it's a Cell metabolic disease.
Lactic acidosis is not entirely harmless and must be treated urgently, as it can even increase in severe cases shock and Kidney failure can lead.

Symptoms are deepened and heavier breathing, nausea and Vomit.
The symptoms are not very specific and clear which is why it is important to have one Laboratory examination is carried out.

This is the only way to say with certainty whether such lactic acidosis is present or not. The causes are varied and can be one sepsis (Blood poisoning), but also Liver or kidney damage be.

Some drugs, such as metformin, can also cause lactic acidosis. Lactic acidosis is not unlikely, especially if you consume metformin with a lot of alcohol.

You can only treat the disease if you remove the cause. Then the metabolism usually levels off again by itself.

Interactions

The drug metformin goes numerous Interactions with other medicines.

With some X-ray examinations or with other imaging procedures, a iodinated contrast agent injected, which is distributed and is intended to make individual structures and areas, but also tumors and so on, visible.

However, it is incompatible with the drug metformin. One should inform his doctor if such an examination should be performed.
It is necessary to take the film-coated tablets some time before and after the examination discontinue. It should be at least 48 hours. The attending physician can provide precise information on how long the break before and after should be.

In addition, the Blood sugar level is incorrect or the dose has to be changed if one of the following drugs is taken in addition to metformin:

Diuretics, these are diuretic substances that remove water from the body when the patient is taking, for example Edema or high blood pressure Suffer.
You also have to report it to the doctor if you Beta-2 agonists to treat asthma takes or one Corticosteroids, used to treat a variety of inflammation, such as rheumatism or also from Skin problems occupies.

Other drugs that are taken for diabetes can also interact with metformin. Therefore, increased caution applies here and you should inform your doctor directly. It is always best to list all the medications you are taking when you receive a new drug.
So nothing can be overlooked and the doctor has a direct overview of the overall situation.

Alcohol consumption and metformin

In connection with metformin, one should urgently avoid excessive alcohol consumption.

It is important to realize that this medicine significantly increases the effects of alcohol and accelerated. Most of those affected react much more sensitively than usual to the alcoholic beverages and the body tolerates significantly less. Patients feel significantly worse much faster.

The combination can also trigger lactic acidosis, for example Hypoglycemia condition. It also becomes very dangerous when patients overestimate their limits, what happens so quickly and one Alcohol poisoning follows.
Alcohol poisoning can vary in severity, but it always affects the functioning of the Brain strong.

Alcohol is one of the liver and brain poisons and affects them Blood formation.
Should alcohol poisoning or the Alcohol abuse occur more often, the liver can be irreparably damaged. If alcohol poisoning is very severe, it can lead to Deaths as it lead to a Apnea and also to one Cardiac arrest in conjunction with a shock can come.

Read extensive information on this topic at: Metformin and alcohol - are they compatible?

Hypoglycaemia with metformin

Sugar is very important for the body, without it, nothing in our body would function, because it is the fuel of the organism.

The energy required for all body functions is obtained from it. For this purpose, the glucose - glucose needed.
However, you do not have to feed the body in the pure form of the sugar, as it is made from the Carbohydrates can split.
Depending on the form of the carbohydrates or the sugar, this happens very quickly or takes a certain amount of time.

The sugar is absorbed in the intestine and fed into the blood. This means that it is obtained from food via the intestinal villi in the intestinal wall and then gets directly into the blood so that it can travel with it through the whole body to those places where it is needed.

If the sugar is not present in the body as pure grape sugar, the human body has so-called Enzymesthat break down the carbohydrates until the pure glucose remains.

If the body has an excess of glucose, this is stored in the body in the form of glycogen and is thus available to the body when there is a shortage.
Hypoglycemia occurs when the body is acutely lacking the sugar it needs. Failure to treat it can have far-reaching consequences. There are two different forms: the light form in which you can still feel good with yourself sugary foods or drinks such as cola or glucose can help and the severe form, where you urgently need an emergency doctor or other help, as you are in a shock-like state and ins coma and glucagon preparations urgently need to be injected.

The symptoms are varied. At first it is Cravings, sweats, paleness, muscle weakness, tremors and racing heart.
The further the hypoglycaemia has progressed, the more these symptoms give way to those symptoms that show a marked restriction of the brain.

These are Motor disorders, speech disorders, seizures, paralysis, visual disturbances and so on. In the worst case scenario, you can go into shock or fall into a coma. Since the brain is also affected, damage can also occur there in very bad cases.