Glucophage - do you lose weight on it?
 

I saw my doctor today.
And I'm going to start taking Glucophage.
I've looked around and found that many people lose weight while taking Glucophage.
My question is, do you lose weight because of the drugs, or is that a result of an accompanying low carb diet?
I'll be taking it with Wellbutrin as well.

Any experiences?

Much appreciated!!!

Sorry cant help you with this one! But good luck with your weight loss.

I was put on Glucophage about 6 months after starting my low-carb lifestyle. I really couldn't tell that it helped or hindered my weight loss. My DR. said it would help, but I didn't see it.

I was on Glucophage for 2 years and it didn't do anything for me. Personally, I think it's best not to rely on drugs for weight loss. Making healthy food choices and getting exercise is much better in the long run. I did find that the diet the nutritionist put me on had too many carbs for me to lose weight. I suggest starting a food diary and cutting back your carbs slowly until you see a weight loss.

I was put on glucophage and the only reason I could see for WL is because of the nasty side effects. I had to stop taking it and now I'm on Fortamet, which is a form of it, but different.

:goodluck:

I'm on metformin (also a form of glucophage) for insulin resistace, my blood sugar levels were above normal, but not high enough to be considered diabetes. It brought my blood sugar down to normal, but it only helped me lose weight a very little bit. And I don't think it helped raise my metabolism or reduce my appetite at all, it just seemed to prevent those "no-loss" weeks when you do everything right and still don't lose. I say that, because I've had to go off of it on several occasions (pre-surgery, and for metabolic testing), and even though I was dieting as usual, the weight wouldn't budge those weeks.

My husband is on a higher dose (for diabetes) and he did lose about 10 lbs on it that seemed more due to the drug than any change in his diet (it took him a while to begin changing his eating habits - he is a major carb junkie and was in denial at first).

If your blood sugar is normal or nearly normal, my guess is that you probably won't experience much if any boost in weight loss.

The drug isn't going to cause weight loss... The loss will come from changes in food choices - which will happen if you don't want to be diabetic.
A friend of mine was on metformin for a few months and dropped about 30lbs - but she quit drinking regular pop, cut way back on ice cream and other junk food, started adding more veggies to her meals, and watched her portion sizes.
Although there are some exceptions to this idea, it is probably good to keep in mind that drugs don't usually cause weight loss, but behavior/lifestyle changes do.

Thanks for your responses!

I agree with the lifestyle changes bit - my hope is these meds will help me stay on the wagon.

I was taking Glucophage last year for about 4 months because I had insulin resistance and my blood sugar level was above normal. It did help me to lose weight, about 30 pounds. I know that part of the weight loss came from diet changes, but when I stopped taking the glucophage and continued eating the same as when I was on it, I didn't lose as much. Now that my blood sugar has normalized, I'm not taking it anymore. I also had side effects, but mine were tolerable, mostly abdominal cramps. I hope it works well for you!

Because of the boost it sometimes gives people in losing weight, it can be easy to forget it isn't being (or shouldn't be) prescribed as a weight loss drug. It's purpose is to normalize blood sugar (and not so you can eat whatever you want to and not exercise). This sometimes gives your metabolism a boost, but this is more a happy accident than a purpose of the drug.