- Drug forms and analogues
- Principle of action
- Dosage
- Indications for use
- Contraindications
- Overdose: how to recognize and what to do?
- Side effects
- Are there any results?
- Can Glucophage be prescribed to children?
- Interaction with medicinal products
- Necessary changes in the dietary regimen
Today, when the majority of people follow a sedentary lifestyle both at home and at work, the country has a rather acute problem of obesity. With neither the strength nor the opportunities to regularly visit the gym and eat a healthy diet, they rely on various food additives and medications that allegedly can normalize their weight.
Glucophage is one of such drugs. But is it as effective as marketologists present it to us? And will its use lead to serious health problems?
Drug forms and analogues
In 2017, the Glucophage drug was available on the pharmaceutical market as white biconvex round tablets with the following active ingredient (metformin hydrochloride) dosages: 500, 850, and 1000 mg. They are packed in blisters with 10 pieces each, and 10, 15, or 20 blisters per one cardboard pack. The shelf life of the drug is 3 years; admissible storage temperature ranges: 15°-25°C.
Pharmacies may have Glucophage Long, a drug variation with a prolonged (extended) effect. Metformin dosage in it is 500 mg, while the excipients include: sodium carmellose, magnesium stearate, hypromellose 2208 and 2910, and microcrystalline cellulose. Such components help digestive organs take a much longer time to absorb the active substance, which means there will be enough of it even if it is taken less often.
Other Glucophage analogues include:
- Metformin;
- Metformin Teva;
- Siofor.
What drug should be ultimately chosen? If we consider the aforementioned drugs as hypoglycemic medications, then the final decision is up to the attending physician. If weight loss is the main priority, then the choice should be informed by the minimal number and severity of side effects of each drug.
Although the composition of analogue drugs is practically identical (metformin is responsible for weight loss in all of them), various sugar coatings, dyes, and other excipients (complementary elements that don’t play an important role), may have different purification levels, and thus cause different side effects.
Principle of action
Glucophage belongs to hypoglycemic medications. Due to metformin included in its composition, the drug decreases the manifestation of hyperglycemia in the body, while not contributing to the development of hypoglycemia.
In addition, it:
- stabilizes lipid metabolism by reducing the level of triglycerides, total cholesterol, and LDL (low-density lipoproteins);
- increases the sensitivity of peripheral receptors to a number of medicinal drugs (e.g., insulin);
- stimulates muscle cells for a better glucose assimilation;
- significantly slows down the absorption of carbohydrates by the intestines and ongoing liver gluconeogenesis.
Dosage
This is a potent drug. Therefore, determining the dosage and course of treatment that would be ideal for your body should be done by your attending physician. Being presumptuous in this matter may lead to extremely grave consequences (up to a fatal outcome).
Generalized instructions for use for diabetes look as follows:
- The drug may be taken both in combination with other medications and independently thereof.
- It is best to drink Glucophage during meals with plenty of still boiled room temperature water.
- To reduce the risk of developing side effects and accelerate the process of getting the gastrointestinal tract used to the drug, the dosage should be increased gradually. At the beginning of the course, the dosage (for one intake) should not exceed 500 mg in adults.
- Every day, a patient should take from 1500 to 2000 mg of the drug on average. Maximum admissible daily dosage is 3000 mg.
- To achieve an optimal glucose concentration in the blood, Glucophage should be combined with insulin.
- It is not recommended for elderly patients or patients under 18 years of age to take the drug. However, if such a need arises, kidney function and creatinine concentration in the blood serum should be carefully monitored.
As you can see, these recommendations are rather general. If you stick to them exclusively, you risk developing a whole bouquet of complications already at the initial stage of taking the drug.
We remind you that Glucophage is a potent drug, which is why preliminary consultation with a doctor is required!
Indications for use
As we already know, initially, Glucophage was not a weight loss pill at all, but an oral hypoglycemic drug. It is usually prescribed to those who need to reduce blood glucose levels:
- for patients with type 1 and type 2 diabetes mellitus;
- for people with severe obesity, who can’t handle either exercise or diet therapy;
- for those who take insulin or various oral hypoglycemic drugs, but do not receive enough benefits from them.
In other cases, doctors try to replace metformin-based drugs with their milder analogues, or with various dietary supplements and herbal remedies. The positive effect they produce is about the same, but they cause much less harm to health.
Contraindications
Like any other medication, this drug can’t only heal, but also harm. But if its effect on a healthy person, let’s say, on their kidneys, will be minor, then for those who suffer from acute renal failure, an attempt to lose weight can be tragic. Therefore, today this drug is sold at pharmacies only with a prescription.
Just look at this vast list of contraindications to taking Glucophage:
- insufficient (under 10 years old, or under 18 years old for Glucophage XR) or excessive (over 60 years old) age of the losing weight person;
- disruption of functioning of kidneys, liver, adrenal glands;
- hypoxia and respiratory failure;
- infectious, bronchopulmonary, and other serious diseases that may adversely affect liver and kidney health;
- diabetic ketoacidosis and heart failure;
- body poisoning (regardless of its etiology);
- pregnancy and breastfeeding period;
- lactic acidosis, even if it is currently in the anamnesis;
- consuming less than 1000 kcal per day by the losing weight person (e.g., as part of a low-calorie diet);
- chronic alcoholism and drug addiction (including cured forms);
- indications for insulin therapy (e.g., in the presence of certain injuries or in the postoperative period);
- participation of a losing weight person in X-ray or radioisotope studies.
Even though none of the above applies to you, it is important to remember that nobody has canceled the individual intolerance of the drug. Therefore, consult your doctor before taking Glucophage. Otherwise, you risk getting an overdose and all the consequences that entails.
