Metformin Overdose. What Happens if You Accidentally Take Too Much Metformin

Metformin is a medicine used to treat type 2 diabetes and to prevent type 2 diabetes if you are at high risk of developing it. Metformin is used in the action of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), while it is not formally accepted for the treatment of PCOS. Type 2 diabetes is a condition in which the body does not produce enough insulin or the insulin it produces does not work properly. This can cause high blood sugar levels (hyperglycemia).  Metformin overdose is rare but can be serious. Case reports and small case cycle of serious toxicity from metformin overeat can be found in the medical prose, often describing extracorporeal treatments for subsequent severe lactic acidosis.

During overdose situations, lactic acidosis is greatly more general, although the accurate incidence of occurrence is unclear. Lactic acidosis was observed in 1.6% of cases of metformin exposure reported to poison control centers; however, only 10% of these contacts were due to intentional overdose.

Signs and symptoms of a metformin overdose

Metformin overdose associated with lactic acidosis presents with nonspecific symptoms and includes severe nausea, vomiting, diarrhea, and epigastric pain, and thirst, loss of appetite, lethargy, and hyperpnea. Hypotension, hypothermia, acute renal failure, coma, and cardiac arrest are also important clinical signs. The predictable death rate from metformin-associated lactic acidosis is between 30% and 50%, but can be as high as 80%. This condition most often occurs in patients with serious co morbidities (mainly renal failure). Mortality is not fully correlated with either metformin or lactate levels.

Hyperglycemia associated with metformin overdose has occasionally been reported, although less frequently than hypoglycemia. Such hyperglycemia has been linked with sharp pancreatitis in numerous cases of metformin toxicity due to together therapeutic dosing and deliberate overdose. Another potential complication is an increased gap (without exposure to toxic alcohols).

What is an endocrinologist?

An endocrinologist concentrates in diagnosing and treating hormonal imbalances, diabetes and other problems with your body’s endocrine glands. The endocrine glands include the thyroid, parathyroid, pancreas, ovaries, testes, hypothalamus, pituitary, and adrenal glands. An endocrinologist is a diabetes specialist but is also responsible for the complex medical needs of adults with a myriad of other endocrine, metabolic, or glandular diseases that often affect many systems in the body.

Who should see an endocrinologist?

In most cases, people visit an endocrinologist when they are referred to by an attending physician. The aim of the direction is expert diagnosis or treatment of endocrine problems. However, an endocrinologist is not a surgeon. If you need surgery, an endocrinologist will refer you to a surgeon. If you require ongoing treatment for an endocrine disorder, your endocrinologist will tell you whether you should continue to see him or her or return to your healthcare provider. In general, your healthcare provider can treat and manage uncomplicated hormonal imbalances. For more complex hormonal conditions, your endocrinologist will likely continue treatment.

What does an endocrinologist treat?

An endocrinologist treats conditions and diseases that are associated with hormonal imbalances or other problems with your body’s endocrine glands. Hormones act as chemical messengers in your body. Because of this, hormone or glandular problems affect many systems in your body and are often linked.

What procedures and treatment does an endocrinologist perform?

Endocrinologists prescribe or perform various procedures and treatments to control hormonal conditions. If you require surgery, the endocrinologist will pass on you to a specific surgeon or a particular surgeon, depending on your situation.

Endocrinologist diabetes is predominantly outpatient specialties, but some patients require hospitalization for complex examinations or treatment of complications. In addition, at least 15% of hospital inpatients suffer from diabetes mellitus or other endocrine diseases.