General characteristics of the drug
The drug belongs to the biguanide class.
It has a hypoglycemic effect (lowers blood glucose levels). The product was developed for people suffering from non-insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus, but shows good results in the fight against excess weight, so nutritionists recommend its use for weight loss.
Manufacturer
The developer of the drug is the French pharmaceutical company Merck Sante.
The medicine is produced at its production sites in Samois (France) and Barcelona (Spain). The manufacturer may also be indicated on the packaging (Russian Federation, Kirov region). In this case, the production of the drug takes place in France, and packaging in Russia.
Dosage form and packaging
The drug is produced in the form of round (dose 500 and 850 mg) and oval (1000 mg) streamlined tablets, covered with white cling film. Glucophage 1000 mg is additionally labeled indicating the dosage and has a division mark on both sides.
Pharmacies also sell a drug labeled “Long”, which has a prolonged effect. It comes in the form of streamlined, capsule-shaped white tablets with the dose indication on one side and MERCK engraved on the other.
The tablets are packaged in aluminum blisters of 10, 15 or 20 pcs. A cardboard pack can contain from 2 to 12 blisters (the number depends on the dose).
Compound
This is a hypoglycemic agent intended exclusively for oral administration. It belongs to the group of biguanides.
Tablets Glucophage 1000 mg
The main ingredient is metformin hydrochloride. Additional components are povidone, magnesium stearate.
special instructions
Patients undergoing elective surgery should stop taking Glucophage 48 hours before the procedure. Resumption of therapy is allowed 48 hours after surgery, provided that the kidneys are functioning normally.
People with heart disease should take into account that treatment with metformin can lead to the development of oxygen starvation and kidney failure. To avoid these consequences, you should regularly monitor the condition of your heart and kidneys while taking the medication.
Monotherapy with the drug does not affect a person’s ability to drive a car or operate complex machinery. But if the drug is used in combination with other medications to treat diabetes, then it can affect concentration. In this case, you should not drive.
Mechanism of action
After the next meal, the level of glucose in a person’s blood gradually increases. This is due to the fact that the pancreas begins to function intensively.
This organ produces insulin, its own hormone. Next, the tissues intensively absorb glucose, converting it into lipids.
After taking Glucophage, fatty acids begin to oxidize much faster, and sugar is absorbed more slowly. This medicine also has the ability to suppress increased appetite.
Some doctors insist that while using this medication you need to stop doing your usual physical activities for some time. Since the effectiveness at a high level of acidity in the blood decreases approximately several times. This phenomenon occurs because lactic acid is produced during physical exertion.
It is worth noting that after taking the next dose of Glucophage, the insulin content in the body decreases.
It also makes it possible to quickly and efficiently establish metabolic processes.
Thus, glucose production stops.
The medication promotes gradual weight loss and also effectively fights diseases such as diabetes.
It reduces the content of harmful fats - cholesterol in the blood. And, as you know, it is almost the main cause of diseases associated with blood vessels and the heart muscle. Among other things, the use of a drug such as Glucophage helps restore fat metabolism.
It slows down the processes of absorption of carbohydrate compounds and gluconeogenesis in the intestines. Due to many positive features, this medicine is approved by medical experts and is also considered absolutely harmless.
To obtain maximum results, you should completely eliminate the consumption of sweet foods, fatty and starchy foods.
It is advisable to limit fast carbohydrates in the diet. Equal importance should be given to daily routine and nutrition.
Doctors also recommend stopping smoking and significantly limiting the consumption of alcoholic beverages. It is important to adhere to the prescribed diet, since any deviation from the rules can lead to completely the opposite result.
The drug can be taken for no more than one month. After this you need to take a break for 60-90 days. The dosage of the drug, duration of treatment and other points are discussed with your personal doctor on an individual basis.
Reviews of Glucophage for weight loss
Marianna, 37 years old, Yekaterinburg, took Glucophage 500 for weight loss for 3 weeks.
Thanks to the medicine, I lost 9 kg, without particularly restricting myself in food and without playing sports. In the first days of taking it, there was an intestinal upset, but it went away when I reduced the amount of vegetables in the diet. I’m happy with the results of my weight loss, but I want to repeat the course after a while to lose another 5-6 kg.
Ksenia, 30 years old, Khabarovsk After her second birth, she gained a lot of weight. I decided to fight excess weight in the simplest way - with the help of pills. My choice fell on Glucophage.
I read on the Internet how to take it, and began to “lose weight.” But it didn’t work out, because after every pill I took, I felt nauseous.
In addition, there was a constant feeling of weakness. After 5 days, due to poor health, I decided to stop taking the pills, even though my weight decreased by 2 kg. I’d rather go on a diet, I’m afraid that the drug will harm my health.
Is it worth taking the drug for weight loss?
For those who didn’t know, Glucophage are special tablets that are prescribed to patients with type 2 diabetes.
But those women who want to get an ideal figure are difficult to stop on the path to perfection. Often they are not satisfied with taking specialized medications, so they look for something new.
And then they begin to fight excess weight, using all the acceptable and unacceptable medications that they can find in pharmacies. Glucophage is especially often tested by women with non-ideal weight.
At the moment, it is unknown why this particular medicine was chosen. It is quite possible that the fair sex was seduced by the name of the drug, which in its exact translation has the promising phrase “fat eater”.
Or maybe they just haven’t lost hope that Glucophage will really help get rid of centimeters on the waist. So does it help in the fight against extra pounds or not?
As has already been noted, the medicine Glucophage was created for one purpose: to help diabetics cope with the disease.
The main active ingredient in the drug, metformin, is known for its ability to lower blood sugar levels. But the side effect of the component is that it burns fat deposits.
It is because of this undesirable effect of this drug that obese people began to use it for their own purposes. We must not forget that among diabetics many are overweight.
Among the so-called “advantages” of this drug:
- complete restoration of impaired fat metabolism in the body;
- inhibition of the process of carbohydrate breakdown;
- slowing down the conversion of carbohydrates into fat;
- regulation of glucose and harmful cholesterol levels in the blood plasma;
- natural suppression of appetite (usually decreased cravings for sweet foods). This is due to the fact that the process of insulin production returns to normal.
At the moment, there are several drugs similar to Glucophage, and those who are trying to lose weight quickly and effectively are familiar with them. These include Siofor and Metformin.
The main active compound found in anti-diabetes tablets is also present in Bagomet, Glycon, Metospanin, Gliminfor, Gliformin, Langerin, Formetine, Metadiene and others.
Human laziness is truly limitless, since many girls and women, instead of starting to eat right and go to the gym, are looking for easy ways to solve the problem.
They spend time searching for effective medications that have a “magic” effect. But, as you know, these are very dubious medicines that can not only not help, but also harm a person.
Diet pills Bagomet
At the moment, it is already quite difficult to remember who was the first to use Glucophage for weight loss. This drug was developed to treat an endocrine disease such as diabetes.
Still, no matter how much endocrinologists warn about the dangers of using this medication, this does not frighten serious girls at all. But if you think about it, taking the drug can provoke the appearance of dangerous problems associated with the performance of internal organs.
In addition, it is possible that the process of “losing weight” may end in a hospital bed or, even worse, a coma, from which not everyone recovers.
If you neglect such consequences, then you might think that Glucophage for weight loss really works. The whole point is that its use prevents carbohydrates from being absorbed.
Many believe that this indicates the possibility of eating buns, bread, confectionery and pasta, sweets, and some high-calorie fruits in unlimited quantities. After all, they enter the body and then, without subsequent absorption, leave it.
True, many are not at all afraid of the fact that such a process often provokes severe pain. It is accompanied by loose stools and an abundance of gas.
We must not forget that Glucophage has some side effects when losing weight.
As a result of the fact that glucose does not enter the blood, no unpleasant hunger pangs will arise. Sugar spikes are also completely eliminated. Among other things, without receiving energy from carbohydrates, the body will begin to break down existing fat deposits. This is exactly where the process of rapid weight loss lies.
Dose of glucophage long for weight loss. Useful properties of Metformin
Today, new properties of metformin are being discovered and its use is expanding quite significantly, using the drug not only in complex therapy for diabetes mellitus.
The drug Metformin has long been used to treat type 2 diabetes mellitus in conjunction with diet therapy prescribed by a doctor. It allows not only to normalize blood glucose levels, but also helps to reduce excess weight, which is especially important for people with this diagnosis.
To date, other features of the drug have also been identified. It has been scientifically established that a person can take Metformin to achieve the following goals:
- Helps protect the brain from aging, which allows it to be used for preventive purposes against Alzheimer's disease.
- Has a beneficial effect on the condition of blood vessels and arteries. Thus, with the help of Metformin, the development of vascular atherosclerosis, heart failure, hypertension, and vascular calcification can be prevented.
- Reduces the likelihood of cancer.
- Actively affects the improvement of potency in men, which was impaired as a result of various senile diseases.
- Neutralizes the development of osteoporosis in diabetics. Women especially often suffer from brittle bones after menopause, as there is a significant decrease in hormones - estrogens.
- Has a beneficial effect on the performance of the thyroid gland.
- Shows a protective function in relation to the respiratory organs.
Even though the drug has so many benefits, it cannot be said that it is healthy and can cure many diseases. Like other medications, Metformin can be used only as prescribed by the attending physician, taking into account the possibility of all its side effects and contraindications.
