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Medication · Medication

Metformin

The first-line drug for type 2 diabetes, also used in prediabetes and PCOS.

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A medication reference built from the interaction graph. It is not prescribing information — the label and your prescriber are.

What is uncertain

Read off the same rows as above. Nothing here is added that the entry does not itself record.

  • Caution with Panax Ginseng: Additive glucose lowering — watch for lows.
  • Caution with Fenugreek: Additive glucose lowering.
  • Caution with Berberine: Additive glucose lowering — hypoglycemia risk; monitor.
  • Caution with Cinnamon: Additive glucose lowering.
  • Caution with Alpha-Lipoic Acid: Additive glucose lowering — watch for lows.
  • Caution with Gymnema Sylvestre: Additive glucose lowering.
  • Caution with Banaba (Corosolic Acid): Additive glucose lowering.
  • Caution with Bitter Melon: Additive glucose lowering — hypoglycemia risk.
  • Caution with American Ginseng: Additive glucose lowering.
  • Caution with Apple Cider Vinegar: Additive glucose lowering.
  • Caution with Gynostemma (Jiaogulan): Additive glucose lowering.
  • Caution with Mulberry Leaf: Additive glucose lowering.

Interactions

Documented pairings with supplements and medicines. A medicine on this list is a conversation for whoever prescribes it.

The evidence in words

What it is

The first-line drug for type 2 diabetes, also used in prediabetes and PCOS.

How it works

It lowers hepatic glucose output and improves insulin sensitivity, largely via AMPK — the same target as berberine.

What it's used for

Type 2 diabetes, prediabetes, PCOS.

Supplement & drug interactions

Metformin has 13 documented interactions mapped below and in the interactions graph. It depletes vitamin B12 over years (test annually), and any glucose-lowering supplement (berberine, alpha-lipoic acid, cinnamon, fenugreek, ginseng) stacks additively — hypoglycemia risk that needs monitoring, not avoidance.

Nutrient depletions

Drug-induced nutrient depletion is real and under-recognized: Metformin can lower Vitamin B12. Long-term metformin lowers B12 in up to a third of users — test annually.

The rule

This is a medication reference for spotting interactions, not dosing advice. Every change to a supplement stack around a prescription belongs with the person who prescribes it.

Related reading

Entries that share this one's tags or conditions.

  • PPIsProton-pump inhibitors — powerful stomach-acid reducers for reflux and ulcers.Evidence grade A
  • ADHD StimulantsPrescription stimulants for attention-deficit/hyperactivity disorder.Evidence grade A
  • AlcoholEthanol — a CNS depressant and hepatotoxin with a broad interaction footprint.Evidence grade A
  • Aloe VeraTopical aloe helps minor burns; oral aloe has modest glucose and IBS signals but a laxative/safety caveat.Evidence grade C

Sources

This entry lists no references of its own.

Last revised . A grade is this entry's reading of the evidence, not medical advice.