# Prediabetes and metformin **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [October 23, 2016, 3:50pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediabetes-and-metformin/769484 "2016-10-23T15:50:20Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 7\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 26, 2016, 3:05pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediabetes-and-metformin/769484/21 "2016-10-26T15:05:42Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > The benefit of metformin may not be directly tied to its glucose control impact alone and much tighter control achieved with certain _other_ medications added may in fact be of harm. If I was a diabetic I’d be very hesitant to be on that metformin with a sulfonylurea combo for example! Well don’t just leave me hanging! Tell me whyyyyyy!! ☹ My doc did want to switch me to an injectable drug and left me to read about the two different ones and decide which I wanted. But, both of them worked by slowing digestion and I already have gastroparesis and it is awful and I don’t hardly eat much as it is so slowing digestion would do nothing for me. So, we’re sticking with glimpiride. Am I fucked??? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 1:51am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediabetes-and-metformin/769484/22 "2016-10-27T01:51:07Z")
> [@ZipperJJ](#): > > Well don’t just leave me hanging! Tell me whyyyyyy!! ☹ … From my post above: > [@](#): > > metformin with a sulfonylurea was associated with 96, 60, and 9% increases in diabetes-related and all-cause mortality and in myocardial infarction Metformin alone did fine but metformin with a sulfonylurea increased mortality risks dramatically. ---
**Author:** ![Dr\_Paprika](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dr_paprika/32/3042_2.png) [@Dr\_Paprika](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Dr_Paprika)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 2:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediabetes-and-metformin/769484/23 "2016-10-27T02:59:12Z")
Adding a sulfonylurea certainly increases the risk of hypoglycaemia, by an awful lot. ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 3:43am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediabetes-and-metformin/769484/24 "2016-10-27T03:43:37Z")
To those who know more than I do - why would **ZipperJJ** ’s doc not move the plan onto insulin? ---
**Author:** ![psychobunny](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/p/54ee81/32.png) [@psychobunny](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/psychobunny)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 4:29am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediabetes-and-metformin/769484/25 "2016-10-27T04:29:00Z")
I guess it’s time to chime in here. First-I offer metformin to prediabetics with HBA1C \>6% but I offer a choice since the data is not absolutely clear. While metformin does seem to decrease the rate of progression to full-blown diabetes, the effect is less than that of diet and exercise and there is no good data combining both. You also run into the problem of having to explain that while a HBA1C of 6.5 is considered good control on diet and exercise, you are recommending starting “diabetes medication” for a level that is already considered better than ideal. Metformin is also not without side effects (nausea, diarrhea and let us not forget that it is a big-ass pill that should not be crushed and a LOT of my patients literally cannot swallow it-and I do mean LITERALLY). That said-I do strongly encourage metformin for all prediabetics and certainly as a first line therapy for diabetics. There is also the issue of patients being extremely resistant to injectables. In addition, there is a price issue. When you are dealing with Medicare patients who have to pay for multiple medications, you have to remember that the only inexpensive generics are metformin and sulfonylureas. Insulin is not cheap (I paid $500 for about a 4 month supply for my cat-and she only takes 6-8 units a day while my patients often take more than 20 times as much). Needles for insulin pens cost me $45 for 100 needles. The companies that make the GLP-1s, the SGLT-2s and the DPP4s all provide coupons that bring the monthly cost down to anywhere from$0-25 monthly but they cannot be used for any patient with government insurance, which includes Medicare, which leaves patients paying up to $400 monthly for their pills-especially when they get into the “doughnut hole” with Medicare. Sulfunylureas cost literally pennies. The 2016 AACE/ACE algorithm goes as follows: Metformin GLP-1 SGLT-2 DPP4 TZD Basal insulin Others However, given the side effects of SGLT-2s and the resistance to injectables (as well as patient concerns when they read about medullary thyroid cancer), I often end up skipping to the DPP4s, which tend to be well-tolerated and are easy to take since they come in combination with metformin. Also remember that when you have a patient with significant renal insufficiency or heart failure, you are even more constrained in your choice of medications. In short, sulfonylureas are low on my list but there are circumstances where they are still a viable option. ---
**Author:** ![ZipperJJ](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/zipperjj/32/211_2.png) [@ZipperJJ](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ZipperJJ)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 5:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediabetes-and-metformin/769484/26 "2016-10-27T05:16:59Z")
> [@DSeid](#): > > To those who know more than I do - why would **ZipperJJ** ’s doc not move the plan onto insulin? Insulin resistance? ---
**Author:** ![DSeid](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/dseid/32/20194_2.png) [@DSeid](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DSeid)\ **Post date:** [October 27, 2016, 6:04am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediabetes-and-metformin/769484/27 "2016-10-27T06:04:09Z")
I guess part of me is wondering to what degree elevated glucose and its proxies (e.g FG and HgbA1c) are _the_ pathological pathway and how much they are a correlate of it. Again, it seems that the benefit of metformin exceeds its impact of glucose control. The concept is of course not unprecedented. Statins work partially by lowering “bad” cholesterol but also in other ways (e.g. on inflammation), which was not recognized for quite a while. HgbA1c is thus perhaps the least poor proxy we have, and thus one we need to use, but not the Holy Grail in and of itself. Do you think Zipper JJ might be well advised to discuss if the metformin/DPP-4 combo is a reasonable option with his/her MD? [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/prediabetes-and-metformin/769484.md?page=1)