Metformin side effects on muscles

[ron_bucher]

Anyone experience muscle problems after starting metformin? I'm in good physical shape and very active, but a golf swing tore my hip muscle several weeks after starting metformin.

[Hidden]

Been on Metformin over 10 years, not an issue.

Could be another med? Or, maybe you took a bad swing!!!😇

[j-o-h-n]

Muscles? What are those? If your talking about Mr. Main Muscle.....he's hiding....

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Monday 05/15/2023 8:30 PM DST

[Kaliber in reply to j-o-h-n]

you wish bragger …. Rotflol

❤️❤️❤️

[Seasid in reply to j-o-h-n]

Metformin induces muscle atrophy by transcriptional regulation of myostatin via HDAC6 and FoxO3a

[j-o-h-n in reply to Seasid]

No wonder..... thanks...

Good Luck, Good Health and Good Humor.

j-o-h-n Tuesday 05/16/2023 12:25 PM DST

[Adlon57]

Extreme fatigue in the muscles?

[andy_diggs]

Have not heard about any detrimental effects of metformin on existing muscle, but there is some research on its blunting effect when trying to build muscle. I take it sometimes, but cycle on and off, specifically because of this. When I resistance train, it is pretty full-on, and I had no issues with muscle tears from the gym. I am also very active and still manage to damage myself, but I am confident it is age related, not other things. I need to remind myself I am approaching 60 and as long as I keep trying to keep up with guys 1/2 my age, I am bound to suffer along the way.

pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/315....

[Seasid in reply to andy_diggs]

Metformin induces muscle atrophy by transcriptional regulation of myostatin via HDAC6 and FoxO3a

[RS265]

I have been on 1000mg slow release Metformin twice a day for six years with no obvious impairment. For exercise there is mountain biking, hiking, heliskiing and Pilates reformer classes every morning.

I also use body composition analysis to track muscle mass and bone density ( its not as accurate as a DEXA scan, but once you have a baseline can see the relative changes). I am experiencing a muscle mass reduction over the years but it correlates to ADT cycles and aging.

[Boywonder56]

How long on adt....i tore forearm muscle on a golf holiday to harbour town...about a year after lupron...i would suspect that as culprit, as ive been on metformin for 20 years....also i dont think metformin stopped me from getting this lovely disease so ill debunk that theory whilst im at it....

[Seasid in reply to Boywonder56]

Metformin induces muscle atrophy by transcriptional regulation of myostatin via HDAC6 and FoxO3a

[ron_bucher in reply to Boywonder56]

The only time I've been on ADT was in 2017, and for only 9 months.

[mrvl]

Yes, when I first started metformin. I had my vitamin B levels checked, it did lower them. I added in a good B complex along with jarrow B-12 and folate. Use "methyl" type, less issues. That should clear up your muscle issues.

Please keep us informed on your progress, Vince

[ron_bucher in reply to mrvl]

I've been taking B-12 since 2017.

[mrvl]

balancewomenshealth.com/wp-....

[Rickmartin1948]

Hi Ron you should give HMB a try, I picked it up from somebody’s comment and followed up with my doctors and they confirmed it’s safe

In one month I regained a lot of muscle mass and lost some blubber

I think everybody in the journey should try it, and it will definitely strengthen your muscles

Also put your driver away for a while 😀

[ron_bucher in reply to Rickmartin1948]

I admit to being skeptical of supplements that are not backed by science, and my pill box is already pretty large. 🙂

webmd.com/vitamins/ai/ingre...

[Duk26 in reply to Rickmartin1948]

thanks for your comments. What is HMB? My husband just had to return to Lupron,Zytiga,prednisone after a good 6 month vacation due to PSA rising form .02 to 34. He golfs but is having trouble with losing weight and you mention HMB was helpful. He does not take Metformin like in other comments. Thanks so much. Keep well!

[Rickmartin1948 in reply to Duk26]

Sorry I thought I had answered, HMB is Hydroximethylbutyrate, and is derived form some amoniacid, think its leucine. It is produced by the body =, but like almost everything it declines with age. It helps in downregulating the rythm of destruction of old muscle which apparently accelerates with age an upregulates the rythm of creation of new muscle tissue. I am not a health pro so my understanding is limited, but I cleared it with my doctors and they confirmed it was safe for me. I am on ADT after RP and biochemical recurrence. My experience was very positive and I stated building muscle again and experienced very little discomfort when i over exercised, like last week I played tennis five times, doubles obviously, but still a challenge for me. Hope my info is useful and your hubbie's doctors feel its worthwhile

[dadzone43]

a real deal: effect on mystatin ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[Seasid in reply to dadzone43]

I agree. I digged up the same information when I noticed that I am much weaker on Metformin. I believe it also interfere with mitochondria. I stopped Metformin and I feel normal now. For me ADT is nothing in comparison with Metformin.

[dadzone43 in reply to Seasid]

yes. rely on your own experience. Because someone did well with drug XYZ does not mean that everyone will.. There is a report just today of physicians who made a ton of money recommending bogus treatments for COVID; some people died.

[Seasid in reply to dadzone43]

I really don't want to use Metformin. I was thinking that maybe my dose should be lower or that I am using a CPAP machine and that is the problem. I may try 500 mg a day, but better no. I feel very good now. I believe that maybe I did drive myself into lactic acidosis and that was a problem. The best for me never try again except if I have to use antibiotics in order to avoid resistance to the doxycycline or to use it against resistant strains of bacteria.

[Seasid in reply to dadzone43]

And yes my vitamin B12 levels also dropped under the normal range. I had to supplement vitamin B12. I wasn't happy with that as I really don't think that want vitamin B12 because of the cancer.

[Seasid]

I stopped Metformin because I felt very weak. Now I feel normal again.

Yes it definitely has some effect on muscle. I believe it interferes with the mitochondria.

If you don't have a good reason to take it better if you stop it.

I would only take Metformin in order to avoid antibiotic resistance when I am and if I am using doxycycline.

[Seasid in reply to Seasid]

Metformin induces muscle atrophy by transcriptional regulation of myostatin via HDAC6 and FoxO3a

ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articl...

[Currumpaw]

Hey ron,

It is unlikely that Metformin caused a muscle tear. If you have been using any fluoroquinolones it is more likely ligament or tendon damage resulting from these drugs which are notorious for adverse reactions, even doubling the number of aortic aneurysms in those who have used the fluoroquinolone drugs. Common names easily recognizable are Cipro and Levaquin. A chiropractor that began her career when the fluoroquinolones became available noted over the decades that these drugs cause recurrence of old injuries to ligaments and tendons that have been long healed. Yes, I had my problems with the fluoroquinolones. A uro combined oral Cipro and a what one nurse described as, "a humongous amount of Levaquin", via an intramuscular syringe to prevent sepsis when doing biopsies.

When my old injuries recurred after the fluoroquinolone drugs they happened immediately, full force. A sciatic ligament ripped as I was getting out of bed. As I began to stand it ripped again almost putting on the floor. The original injury was in 1988. This recurrence was in February of 2015. In between these times I had been lifting rather heavy and in 2010 I was using over 350 lbs. for sets of deadlifts. That ligament had healed nicely until the fluoros ate it!

Cefdinir or Rocephin can be used rather than the fluoros to prevent sepsis.

There is much info on the fluoroquinolone drugs on the net and not much is good.

Dadzone's reply is interesting. The adverse reactions I experienced from fluoroquinolones occurred before I began using Metformin. A quick scan of the study seems to indicate that muscle tissue volume rather than ligament and tendon damage results from Metformin usage. I like the fact that the study Dadzone posted a link to is a 2022 study. It is recent.

My best to you,

Currumpaw

Edit:

I should have mentioned that in March of 2020 I began doing pathetic back squats using just the bar, 45 lbs., in the beginning. I had also had injuries recur in both shoulders from the fluoros. I was unable to even bend over long enough to even scoop my cat's litter box without stopping because of the pain. I rarely slept in one position for more than an hour before pain awoke me and I needed to find a new position. After a few months I was surprised that my back pain was lessened as was my shoulder pain. I began doing some upper body exercises. My testosterone was being tested with my blood draws and it was rising! Back squats are known for stimulating one's body to produce it's own hormones --naturally. I have read that the test for HGH, human growth hormones is involved and I wasn't tested for HGH but if my T went up I would expect that my HGH rose too. HGH is very healing which why injured athletes that get paid by stats and games played--football players--have tried to slip some HGH in to get back to playing sooner and get their stats up and also ensure that they won't be considered a risk when contract time comes. I am still taking Metformin without the old injuries coming back, but at times tender. The injuries seem to be resurfacing less often and less severely as time goes on. I am careful not to use heavy resistance and some exercises that would aggravate my old injuries such as a movement in a plane which stresses my shoulders.

[Hidden in reply to Currumpaw]

so your saying it’s not metformin?

[Currumpaw in reply to Hidden]

Terminal,

In my case, I was not taking Metformin when all my old injuries recurred. I had been dosed up with Cipro and Levaquin quite a few times for biopsy procedures and those two drugs combined at the same time. Was it wise for the doctor to combine two drugs that were known to have adverse reactions?

When I figured that I had to try something different as all the rehab I had done hadn't worked, or worked for long, I went to back squats knowing that they would stimulate my body to produce the highest level of healing hormones it was capable of. Surprisingly, I read that vegans tend to have higher T. I have been a vegan since 2017 and probably have been on Metformin since 2016 maybe? That would be around that time.

All I take for my joints is some black seed oil and occasionally, Sun Warrior Collagen Building Protein Peptides, which--duh--is a supplement mostly for women--hair, nails and skin--right. It is also good for ligaments and tendons--good--not wonderful --but a vegan does what he has to.

The first old injury recurred in August of 2014. Ligaments in my right shoulder audibly shredded just by unracking a bar with just my warm up weight on it for a bench press. I hadn't even began to let the bar down. That was when the chiro told me about fluoros and old injuries. I was just one on her list of patients that had old injuries come back after being prescribed fluoros. She asked about fluoroquinolone drugs--Yep. I called my uro right away as she, the chiro, told me to advise him of the adverse reaction. My uro blew it off and told me to have therapy as he had done when a sore shoulder interfered with his golfing. Six weeks after that round of fluuoros is when the SI ligament ripped as I was getting out of bed. I do not expect that I will ever fully recover but, at this time my injuries are the best they have been since 2014 and I take Metformin daily.

Metformin interferes with one's body using glucose. The link supplied by dadzone, in the first sentence under results, states that using Metformin affects "muscle volume". The fluoros, however, are known for attacking ligaments, tendons and even detached retinas among other adverse reactions. Put that in your search bar for an interesting read!

My best to you,

Currumpaw

[ron_bucher in reply to Currumpaw]

I don't take those.

[Currumpaw in reply to ron_bucher]

Those?

Currumpaw

[ron_bucher in reply to Currumpaw]

The drugs you mentioned.

[MateoBeach]

Suggest getting a DEXA scan that includes body composition analysis. Total body fat, visceral fat, lean mass (muscle) index and appendicular lean mass index. Not all DEXA scan centers report these, just bone mineral density. But the data is all there on the scan. So check and request body composition analysis. I am restoring muscle mass and strength quite nicely while being on Metformin from resistance exercise generous protein intake.

[ron_bucher in reply to MateoBeach]

How have your DEXA scan results affected what you do? I get them every two years.

[MateoBeach in reply to ron_bucher]

My previous DEXA scans only reported BMD scores. Monitored my osteopenia. Now resolved I extended Xgeva dosing from every 3 to every 6 months.

Next scan in June will include full body composition metrics. So I can see how recovered I am from sarcopenia and how far I still need to go.

[Rickmartin1948 in reply to MateoBeach]

Never tried HMB? I am not selling it lol, but it had such a dramatic effect on me that I want to share. Last year I spent 3 months in bed after serious 3rd degree burns on my feet, rather under than on, and had SBRT one week befor that, the perfect storm. Two months ago I started on HMB and all of a sudden exercise started building muscle and almost no pain when I over exercised. Well that is my exoerience and my doctors told me there was no risk associated, actually they use it for elderly people that cannot exercise to preserve muscle mass

[MateoBeach in reply to Rickmartin1948]

Thanks for that tip, Rick. Quick search and I’m sold on trying it. 💪👍

[Rickmartin1948 in reply to MateoBeach]

Good luck and let me know how it goes

[SteveTheJ]

AFAIK, that is a valid side effect. I started taking Metformin long before the cancer with no side effects at any time.

[London441]

Ron I can appreciate that you’re ‘in good physical shape’ but your profile says you’re 71. Tearing a hip muscle with a golf swing at 71 is effortless regardless of your fitness level. I’m sure you know this but I’m just sayin.

Since you’ve only been taking the metformin for several weeks I wouldn’t be looking there if I were you. Heal up and keep hittin ‘em though!

[ron_bucher in reply to London441]

I've since seen a couple papers on metformin interfering with building muscle. Here is one:

onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi...

Coincidentally, the past few weeks I had been doing physical therapy to build my core muscles and gluteus muscles.

[London441 in reply to ron_bucher]

Yes metformin appears to inhibit muscle growth, but then again so does age. Building muscle when older is a lot of work for ever more modest results, unfortunately. Still profoundly worth it of course.

Your PT specific to the area is also a likely culprit, depending on how much you took on and especially how much you stretch. Adding strength is a double edged sword. It’s great, but must be matched with equal attention to stretching. Many pulls and tears are the result of not diligently stretching fresh muscle.