Metscot

What Metscot (Metformin) is used for

Metformin is a prescription medicine for diabetes from a group called biguanides. It lowers blood sugar (glucose) in three ways: the liver makes less sugar, the gut takes in less sugar from food, and the body uses its own insulin better. It controls diabetes but does not cure it. It comes as ordinary tablets, slow-release (extended-release) tablets, a liquid and a powder to mix with water, and it is also found in combination tablets with other diabetes medicines.

• Type 2 diabetes, usually when a healthy diet and exercise have not brought blood sugar down enough
• Type 2 diabetes together with other diabetes medicines, including insulin
• Type 2 diabetes in children aged 10 and over, under a doctor's advice
• Diabetes that starts during pregnancy (gestational diabetes)
• Symptoms of polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS, now also called PMOS). In some countries this is an 'off-label' use, which means it is outside the medicine's licence, but a doctor may still prescribe it if the benefits are greater than the risks
• In the UK, sometimes alongside insulin in people with type 1 diabetes

Side effects, warnings and interactions for Metformin

Prepared from the sources listed by the MedInfoBase team. General information, not medical advice: it gives no doses. Your doctor or pharmacist decides the medicine and dose for you.