Another contributing factor is a higher dosage. If the starting dose is high or increased too quickly, this can cause diarrhea. The drug is available in the following forms:
• Oral immediate release tablet
• Oral extended release tablet
• Oral solution
Patients on oral immediate release tablet are at a greater risk of experiencing Metformin with diarrhea after eating when compared to those on oral extended release tablet; it’s advisable to take the drug with food. An individual on the medicine may experience weight loss due to loss of appetite and diarrhea. This explains why the medication is prescribed for weight loss particularly, on obese patients who need to shed off the …show more content…
Dehydration may occur if the losses aren’t replaced with immediate effect; consequently, severe dehydrating which is life threatening occurs. Thus, as mentioned earlier, if diarrhea doesn’t stop on its own, one should seek medical attention. Below are tips on how to stop diarrhea from Metformin:
• Patients should be started on the lowest effective dosage, to get the desired response, the drug is increased gradually such as 500 mg per week; it can even take a month to get the correct dose, all these helps the body get used to the medication.
• If an individual is on the immediate release tablet, he or she should switch to extended release tablet since minimal diarrhea is associated with it. Nevertheless, it should be started at a low dose and increased slowly, if necessary.
• A Patient on a higher dose which is intolerable is