Metformin is one of the most commonly prescribed medications for people with type 2 diabetes. It helps to control your blood sugar levels by decreasing the amount of glucose that your liver produces and by restoring your body’s ability to properly respond to the naturally produced insulin. In other words, metformin, which is intended to be taken for life, improves your insulin resistance and as a result, the insulin that you produce works more efficiently in your body. That is why it is often prescribed when diet along with exercise are insufficient in controlling your blood glucose levels.

For the medication to work properly, you need to take it appropriately, according to your doctor’s prescription. You must follow all the instructions printed on the label to make sure that metformin gives you the best results. If prescribed in tablets, metformin is often directed to take with a meal, with a glass of water, to reduce the chance of experiencing side effects, such as stomach ache, nausea, and diarrhea. Each tablet should be swallowed whole. If metformin is prescribed in a liquid form, make sure to precisely measure each dose.

It’s also imperative to take the medication at the right time intervals. This task might seem challenging for some people as metformin, in most cases, should be taken around the same time every day, for life and it’s highly important not to forget to take it consistently.

There are two types of metformin – standard-release tablets that quickly release metformin into your body and slow-release tablets that, as the name implies, release the medication slower than the standard type. If you are taking standard-release metformin, it may be prescribed to take multiple times a day, while a dose of slow-release metformin is usually enough for a day.