Metformin VS Berberine

[RickN]

My sister has never heard of it but will check at work. It does not show up in any of my drug or supplement guides but they are several years old so that means nothing.

Take it for a few days, eat your normal diet and let us know if it helps. I would like to find something that helps as most of the meds they have me on cause weight gain while I am trying to lose. I would love to get on Janumet again as I lost weight on it but not sure my new insurance will cover it.

I wish I could eat a burger and have 98 BS. Mine would be over 200.

 

[OKCHunter]

My sister has never heard of it but will check at work. It does not show up in any of my drug or supplement guides but they are several years old so that means nothing.

Take it for a few days, eat your normal diet and let us know if it helps. I would like to find something that helps as most of the meds they have me on cause weight gain while I am trying to lose. I would love to get on Janumet again as I lost weight on it but not sure my new insurance will cover it.

I wish I could eat a burger and have 98 BS. Mine would be over 200.

I don't want to derail the thread but thought I'd pass along a little experience. I take Metformin and Farxiga for BS. My insurance changed this year to a high deductible plan. I went to pickup my 30 day supply of Farxiga and the co-pay was more than $500; last year it was $20. I refused it with the thought that I'll call the doc and get something else. In the meantime, I went to the manufacturers web site to look for other options. I found a coupon to assist with the co-pay. It took less than a minute to fill-out information (seems like just name, email, zip code, maybe something else). I printed the coupon and went back to the pharmacy. The manufacturer's coupon dropped the co-pay to $115.00. That's manageable for me until I hit the plan limits needed for co-pays to kick-in. You might check into this option.

What burns me more is why doesn't the manufacturer just price the med at the coupon price? Seems like they are raping the insurance company when a low co-pay for the patient exists. I would have never checked if I was still on a PPO plan with the $20 co-pay.

 

[264killer]

Thanks for info

 

[RickN]

I don't want to derail the thread but thought I'd pass along a little experience. I take Metformin and Farxiga for BS. My insurance changed this year to a high deductible plan. I went to pickup my 30 day supply of Farxiga and the co-pay was more than $500; last year it was $20. I refused it with the thought that I'll call the doc and get something else. In the meantime, I went to the manufacturers web site to look for other options. I found a coupon to assist with the co-pay. It took less than a minute to fill-out information (seems like just name, email, zip code, maybe something else). I printed the coupon and went back to the pharmacy. The manufacturer's coupon dropped the co-pay to $115.00. That's manageable for me until I hit the plan limits needed for co-pays to kick-in. You might check into this option.

What burns me more is why doesn't the manufacturer just price the med at the coupon price? Seems like they are raping the insurance company when a low co-pay for the patient exists. I would have never checked if I was still on a PPO plan with the $20 co-pay.

Most of those coupon discount deals are no good if you are on Medicare. Raping the taxpayer too. I just switched plans and are waiting to see what all they will cover. So far Medicare Part C is looking pretty good.

 

[SoonerP226]

FWIW, here's what WebMD has to say about it: https://www.webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingredientmono-1126/berberine

Looks promising in several related areas...

 

[tRidiot]

There have been a few foreign studies, and a couple of retrospective reviews that suggest it can be helpful, one I saw showed it's superiority to metformin, but I didn't read through the whole study to get the nitty gritty on their methodology yet. I would say it looks promising, but also several studies claimed there were absolutely zero side effects.

Let's face it, folks, when you give people a placebo, there are still reported side effects. We would need real, solid, high volume studies over longer term and much more controlled conditions to really say this is anything special. It's like the CBD and THC proponents - there are lots of anecdotal stories, but no serious proof because no real, good studies have been done that showed any repeatable results. And the whole "non-inferiority" aspect and the need to prove beyond a shadow of a doubt there are no side effects is practically impossible to meet these days, unless you've got a multi-billion dollar industry behind you.

Had this discussion with a woman the other day who quit her anti-platelet therapy she was on to prevent stroke in favor of a pine bark extract pill billed as an "artery cleanser"... because she saw a flyer that said it worked. Never mind the literally HUNDREDS of professionally-designed and -executed studies we have proving her other medicine worked - she stuck with the pine bark and decided to roll her dice and take her chances. That's a significant risk, in my opinion, but it's her choice.

Berberine may work somewhat for some things. We use lots of plant extracts in medicines these days. Like I said, some indications suggest so, but as for safety, we have zero data. Don't fool yourself that just because something is from a plant that it is harmless. Otherwise, well... good luck.

<edit> Oh, and the biggest retrospective study I could find had a total of I think 14 studies covering a total of like 2500 patients over a number of years. Very small scale stuff, but it seemed like it had helped some. Important to note, though, no one knows how, at all.

 

[SoonerP226]

Don't fool yourself that just because something is from a plant that it is harmless.

You mean I should stop my ricin therapy? My swami says it will cure all my ills.

 

[tRidiot]

You mean I should stop my ricin therapy? My swami says it will cure all my ills.

Hey, to each his own, right? I'm pretty libertarian in a lot of ways.

 

[264killer]

Wife told me to keep quite for a while. But had a sausage biskit & biskit & gravey & hash round taters. Two hours later B S was 102.

 

[O4L]

Wife told me to keep quite for a while. But had a sauage biskit & biskit & gravey & hash round taters. Two hours later B S was 102.

You're taking 500mg with each meal?