Its simply known as Metformin, or by its brand names which include: Fortamet, Glucophage, Glucophage XR, Glumetza, Riomet, It is the most prescribed Oral medication of choice for people with type 2 diabetes to help control their blood sugars.

Metformin has shown to hold some promise in the prevention of tobacco-induced lung cancer as well and its potential benefits do not end there, I for one take about 2000mg of these little pills a day, but it wasn’t until a bad experience with my Metformin prescription recently that I decided to delve further into the inner workings of this drug.

For many we accept  these drugs that heal what ails us  with little or no challenge over the usual allergic reaction issues, but sometimes the risk vs rewards ratio encompasses a lot more and here is why.

A few months ago I received a New Metformin prescription from my doctor, It wasn’t anything New, just a renewal, I have been on Metformin for about 4 years now and it has been working great at controlling my blood sugars.

Something was off about this batch though, as soon as I started taking the Metformin dose, my blood sugars went haywire, In the first week, I experienced high’s on 5 of the seven days.

After years living with diabetes, it is natural to sometimes get a little lax with diabetes management, and  this could have been a legitimate reason for what was going on with me at this time but I just couldn’t shake the notion that  my unusual highs had something to do with that Metformin prescription. When I voiced  my concerns to the Endo, he quickly switched the Metformin and had me keep more of a closer eye on my blood glucose numbers.

Its taken me a few months to get back to my regular diabetic self but my curiosity was peaked to try and explain why?

Did I merely get a bad batch of Metformin?, had someone tampered with my prescription (a life fear of mine after the Chicago Tylenol murders and that case remains unsolved)?, Maybe I had been given a placebo?, I surely had to know.

Since I am surely lacking one of those Beckman-Coulter Array 360 Protein and Special Chemistry Analyzer thingy and couldn’t channel my inner Mcgyver, I did what most of us Insomniac cooks do when faced by such Metformin dilemmas, I took to Google.

Beckman-Coulter Array 360 Analyzer

And here are the five things I learned about Metformin.

1. Anyone can manufacture Metformin since the patent for its brand name has expired

2. The FDA only requires that Generic Metformin contain the identical active ingredient at the same dosage as the brand name product, however it  allows colors, flavors and other inactive ingredients to vary between manufacturers.

3. All branded Metformin have a generic name (Metformin) in this case

4. The Approval process for the generic Metformin is not as stringent as the Original brand name Metformin.

5. There are 7 different Manufacturers for Metformin.

• GlaxoSmithKline
• Andrx Laboratories, Inc
• Bristol Myers Squibb
• Par Pharmaceutical, Inc.
• Watson Laboratories, Inc
• Mylan Pharmaceuticals, Inc.
• Sumitomo Pharmaceuticals

Now I am not one to complain especially since my Metformin comes free thanks to Giant Eagle, and I am a trusting kinda a fellow so I tend to believe that the FDA has a handle on things and my Metformin is Safe but I cant help but wonder, with all those Metformin manufacturers out there, how exactly did I end up with a free Metformin pill and what exactly constitutes an inactive ingredient in it or am I just….

“Every artist was first an amateur.” –Ralph Waldo Emerson

From the genius mind of  Lee Ann Thill of the Butternut compartment, (she is the beautiful lady in the at the beginning of my piece) came the idea of Diabetes art day.

My piece is called Random Diabetes

Diabetics come in all shapes and sizes, you could be sitting next to one reading this blog and not know about it. So as random as we all are, we are a force of nature that cannot be messed with.

thanks to my tweeps @thepoordiabetic for being such great muses.

The artificial pancreas is considered the “Holy Grail” in Diabetes management and is one of the Focal points of this year’s Diabetes Technology Meeting, which is presented by the  the diabetes technology society and is being held  in Bethesda Maryland on Nov 11-13  2010

The meeting’s goal is to assemble technology developers and users to facilitate creation of new and cost-effective tools including  the artificial pancreas to help people with diabetes.

This year’s Diabetes Technology Meeting will include sessions on:

• Technologies for Metabolic Monitoring
• Biomarkers for Early Diagnosis of Diabetes
• Artificial Pancreas: Performance of Closed Loop Systems
• Alternative Delivery Routes for Insulin
• Diabetes Telemedicine
• Panel on Improving Adherence to Therapy
• As well as a live demonstration of some of the products  on the diabetes technology radar including the  Artificial Pancreas project.

Aggressive research in diabetes technology IS pushing  for more advanced solutions to diabetes, including novel insulin delivery methods, pancreas transplants, islet cell transplants, stem cell approaches, antibody treatment, vaccines, novel drugs, new continuous blood glucose monitoring systems and  a closed-loop blood glucose monitoring and insulin pump system, which is one diabetes technology product that may be approved for marketing in the very near future.

These diabetes technology products represent an enormous $36 billion global market annually, encompassing insulin, blood glucose meters, lancets, test strips, insulin pumps, syringes (and other delivery devices), continuous blood glucose meters and a broad range of anti-diabetic drugs (oral hypoglycemic agents) and other advancements in diabetes technology.

Like a jacques lemans watch, Innovation and functionality as well as a coolness factor are  being sewn into the fabric of some of the new diabetes technology products coming to market today and from this meeting, participants will be able to:

• Differentiate emerging technologies for measuring analytes affected by diabetes
• Define what is a biomarker for type 2 diabetes
• Identify barriers to development of an artificial pancreas
• List two new methods for insulin and metabolic peptide delivery besides needle and sponge injections
• Identify two necessary components of effective telemedicine solutions for diabetes care
• Describe technologies for improving adherence to diabetes therapy

While diabetes technology efforts are being dispersed in the search for a cure, it is the status of development of novel products including noninvasive monitoring, oral/inhaled/other insulin delivery that is the focal point until that happens.

I hope to see you all at the Diabetes Technology Conference

It was Friday the 13th after all and I must admit, even though I am bit superstitious, this was certainly not the time to tempt fate.

I thought I would  just tuck the envelop from the healthy kids healthy weight program.

I knew these certainly were the results from the glucose tolerance test. The results  that would tell us if  the son was pre diabetic or not.

Sunday after church, a prayer and (drum roll please) an “official” unveiling tells us the good news. The glucose tolerance test was normal, so the little guy is not pre diabetic after all, thank you God.

For a moment it seems like the weight of the world has been lifted off my shoulders, and I was so relieved I must say. Now all we have to worry about is controlling his weight, If we  can get that down then everything is right with the world.

One Instant of pure unadulterated Joy had me in a jovial mood all of yesterday, I was on a good high for once, everything from that moment on seemed to just go right for once. Good news of this magnitude has a way of lifting your spirit and melting all your troubles away, but that was yesterday.

I can  sense the smile on my face before I even awake, today. My morning routine goes down in a  flash, until I look at the meter and everything that was good about IT just disseminates in a cloud of smoke.

My fasting BG by the way is 317

I am feeling “Normal”,However, No high symptoms, no shivers, no thirst, not running to the bathroom every 5 minutes or any of the other diabetes signs and then it hits me like a bag of bricks.

This is the Normal Me, the every day me, the guy I see when I look into the mirror, that guy from yesterday, the guy who was on cloud nine was a complete stranger.

I am trying with all my might to replicate that guy, but like a fist full of sand, the harder I try to hold on, the more he slips through my fingers.

I truly want to escape this daily grind that is Diabetes If only for a moment but I know yesterday is gone and the psychological toll that this disease has borne on me is greater than any physical scars ever will  for such are the effects of diabetes.

Can you honestly remember as a diabetic, the last time  you had a feeling of pure uplifting Joy and how long were you able to hold onto that feeling before the effects of diabetes came bursting in?

Update: Aug 17 2010

Some facts on diabetes and depression thanks to D- blogger extraordinaire  David Mendosa

“Diabetes and depression go together. Research research found that 19 percent of people with type 2 diabetes probably suffer from major depression and an additional two-thirds of us have at least some depressive symptoms. People with diabetes are twice as likely to be depressed as other people.”

Beachwood OH,(Aug 5 2010)—At a highly anticipated media event Friday at Cleveland’s Marriott East, Diabetic Solutions Inc. CEO Ronald Gregory will introduce a new Diabetic product he said would “revolutionize” the global diabetic market.

“Get ready for the future of diabetes management,” said the Enigmatic CEO to us, looking resplendent in a black turtleneck and faded jeans as we sat down  for the lone Q& A session allowed preceding tomorrows press conference. We wanted  to get an in depth insight to Diabetes water and how he hoped this product would help the ailing diabetic community.our

Below is a transcript of conversation with the Diabetes water Inventor.

thepoordiabetic: Could you please tell us what diabetes water is?

Ronald Gregory: Diabetes water was a product that was formulated by a couple of events in the last few weeks.

Diabetes and water is share a very symbiotic relationship and the intertwined core values are tough to ignore.

One of the major onset diabetes signs is the big thirst and even though Chris from the life of a diabetic blog doesn’t follow this recommendation, it is generally advisable to drink as much water as possible when experiencing a case of high blood glucose, so I thought to myself, If you are gonna need to drink water anyway as a diabetic, why not drink our diabetes water.

thepoordiabetic: How did diabetes water come into existence

Ronald Gregory: A few things came together for me in the last few days that brought the diabetes water idea from the drawing board to conception

1. I was on a typical blood glucose high a few days back and I wanted to put the theory of drinking diabetes water and flushing out ketones to the test and EUREKA to my amazement it worked.

2. A couple of days after that, I stumbled upon a news item that cemented my this is cosmic event, A federal judge ruled that those other guys were simply selling sugar water and branding it as healthy water. Shame on them, I thought as I figured this must be fated.

3. I put my market research team to work and they brought me some numbers, I couldn’t ignore.

• Diabetes affects over 285 million people globally
• Water is the most abundant resource on the planet
• Diabetes and water are symbiotically intertwined entities.
• I am a diabetic and I drink water every day
• water is good for your health
• diabetes water is even better for your health

4. I opened an email last week and found out that I had won the Spanish lottery, I had never entered the Spanish lottery but hey YIPPEEEE   I WOOONNNNNNN,

Now I was a billionaire ten times over and I could bring my diabetes water idea to market.

5.  I met a man named Dr. Jason, who had heard about my lottery winnings and my diabetes water idea and he offered a unique proposal that I couldn’t refuse.

You see the man had pitched this idea to another millionaire who had turned him down, but I wasn’t as foolish.

Click here to view the embedded video.

6. I used my marketing team I fondly call Gimp to cut and paste the label and viola the final details of diabetes water were complete.

7. Tomorrow we will launch the greatest diabetic product since sliced bread.

(Disclaimer: Diabetes water is a fictional product and used for satirical purposes only, any product likeness is also used as such and does not reflect any real products and its owners.)

I was asked recently what advice I would give to someone with a brand spanking  new diabetes diagnosis.

We have a diagnosed with diabetes section here for more in depth coverage on this issue, but I wanted to specifically answer this question here.

so here are the 10 things I would tell someone who has recently been diagnosed with diabetes, I am assuming some of the technical what is diabetes and why do I have a lazy pancreas have been covered by the good ol doctor.

I know at the time of my diagnosis, I had a ton of questions going through my mind but I had very few answers because truthfully a diabetes diagnosis simply tells you that you have it, it does not explain how you got it? even  who is responsible? its purely conjecture.

The physician at the time simply gave me a risk factors of what causes diabetes, at the time non of them fit me. Yes I was black but I wasn’t obese, my diet wasn’t  that bad and I was fairly active in my lifestyle’s so I couldn’t fathom just how I came to catch diabetes.

All I wanted to do with my diabetes diagnosis was tell the doctor to shove it and I know there are many of us who had the same reaction, since I couldn’t wish it away, here is a few things you can do with the diagnosis.

1. Do not blame yourself for the diabetes diagnosis – Type 2 diabetes is caused by the body’s increased tolerance to glucose, which simply means that your body cannot utilize the glucose produced by the foods you eat. while there is a direct correlation between obesity and diabetes, it does not mean that you caused diabetes by being overweight. I am personally 5’11″ and I weigh 200 pounds I have always been fairly active even before my diagnosis, but I am a diabetic so while I am not the exception to the rule, there are a lot of predetermining factors to diabetes like family history and race which are by no means your fault and there is no way you could have prevented your diabetes diagnosis.
2. Learn the basics of diabetes management – The basics of diabetes management will include an effective diet plan and this means learning a few things about it: – learn how to count carbs, since carbs provide 98% of the body’s glucose, 58% from protein and 30% from fat reducing the amount of carbs you consume is crucial. Do not be afraid to experiment when you get your blood glucose meter, test an hour after you eat a food to see how your blood glucose is affected and adjust accordingly. Start with about 50 grams of carbs a meal and adjust forward or backwards depending on your glucose levels.                                                                                     – Choose aerobic exercises that will increase your heart rate and keep it there are recommended, exercise will also increase insulin sensitivity and help in weigh loss.
3. Endocrinologist and medical team – One thing we do as patients is revere doctors and follow their advice blindly, they are doctors after all and yes we trust them. The right Endo will do wonders for your diabetes management, believe me and since this is a lifetime of visits, you need to shop around for one who is in tune with your needs, I have encountered many a people who say their Endo will not listen to their needs and are quick to just prescribe remedies instead of listening. Think of them as your pit crew and you the driver, their jobs are to offer advice and HELP you win the race not the other way around.
4. Understanding your new diabetes diagnosis – Diabetes is a progressive disease and diabetes management is always evolving, taking the time to understand diabetes and learning as much as one can of the disease is crucial to its control. Understanding diabetes from an insiders point of view, researching the disease from others is important, a good starting place would be the American Diabetes Association.
5. Keeping track of your diabetes management – Tracking  is a concept that is at the core of diabetes management, Keeping track of how many carbs one consumes will help with adjustments, keeping an overall food diary will help in determining the daily caloric intake. Keeping track of what times one takes their medications will help achieve optimal body acclamation to specific food and medicine intake times.
6. There is no cure for diabetes – Alas its true, diabetes has no cure, anyone who purports that idea is  a snake oil salesman.
7. Embrace the diabetes diagnosis – Diabetes is a major lifestyle  adjustment to the normal, it requires a commitment to change that can only be achieved if fully embraced, fighting or resisting simply will not  work and will delay the inevitable. Embrace the diabetes diagnosis and make the necessary changes to a healthier living.
8. Making changes in diabetes management- With a diabetes diagnosis in hand you are overwhelmed by all the information and all the lifestyle changes you have to incur, the trick is to make minor changes at a time over a longer period of time instead of immediate radical ones.
9. The importance of a support structure to your diabetes diagnosis – The changes associated with the diabetic lifestyle requires a major supporting cast in place and it is advisable to surround your life with those who will enrich your life and help you grow in it. If it is just friends or family who will work out with you or someone to talk to when you feel frustrated or down they are invaluable.
10. The DOC and charitable works – Reach out to the online diabetes community in order to gain insight from people who have had several similar experiences and also do some charity work with the American diabetes association to enrich your life, while these are secondary, they are very much a part of the diabetic life

Update: July 31 2010

This Related tips for people with diabetes article from Bob Fenton of Exploring type 2 diabetes is  interesting and worth a peek.