Metformin Smell (Page 2)

Updated

why does it smell like fish?

117 Replies (6 Pages)

Page:First Page2Next PageLast Page
Earliest Newest Votes
21

Walgreens began giving me the fishy metformin in August but after a few weeks I felt like it was not working as well as the previous ones were. Then I got the meds from Walmart and no more fishy smell and I've started losing weight again. My blood sugars seemed to be out of whack too, but I'm not sure as I don't have to check them yet. I'm very grateful to hear that others have had issues with this new fishy product. Strangely, the fishy metformin was manufactured by the same company as the ones I was taking previously (I checked with Walgreens today).

Was this helpful? 0
22

The pharmacist from Target told me that Teva bought out the competitor that were producing the 4331 pills. Teva allowed the 4331 surplus to run out then substituted their stinky pills. I'm still having issues with the new ones from Target they smell too but not as bad and they are causing low sugar spikes unlike the 4331. I need to check my wieght I have a bad feeling that these pills are making me gain weight. My doctor might need to increase my dosage for this new brand. Oh and they are affecting my memory too.

Was this helpful? 0
23

I also filled Novo Metformin at Costco. Had nausea and headaches. Costco called company & they did replace it with another supplier. It took me 3 days to get back to normal.If you don't feel well do not use.

Was this helpful? 0
24

70 Z 500 gives me stomach and muscles pains. My thighs seems as if they were on fire. I called walmart and they had another brand that seems to work now. I was on 397 at the base

Was this helpful? 0
25

this smell made me go and have std test. i thouhght my husband had an affair, but i found out it is the med. if this is the best they can do i would rather do without the meds and suffer

Was this helpful? 0
26

i actually thought i was losing it! i have been on metformin for almost 6 years and this is my first refill that had the fishy stench! i usually fill at walmart and never had a prob... i got a refill at target and they reek! awful!

Was this helpful? 0
27

My daughter was put on Metformin 500mg and every refill we have gotten smells and tastes like rotten fish! When she was in the hospital they gave her their Metformin pills and the were smaller (which was good) and had no smell or taste. Her pills at home are manufactured by Zydus and have Z/70 embossed on them. The hospitals version is manufactured by Aurobindo Pharma but I can't find them anywhere. I went to Walmart to see how those smelled and theirs was fishy too. The pharmacist told me that they all prett much smell the same way unless they were the extended release pills. Evdently the extended release tabs are coated and dont smell. Does anyone know of a pharmacy that has the rugular Metformin 500mg that doesn't smell? Please help, she has started to hide pills or spit them out when I turn my head!

Was this helpful? 0
28

I've noticed the small in the last two batches from CVS, smells like old semen if you can believe that. Spoke with the pharmacist...i'm not the only one. They have complained but right now that's their choice of suppliers, TEVA?

Was this helpful? 1
29

Expired medformin is being sold with fish smell. It does not work I was experiencing high sugar levels w/ hypertension and shortness of breath

Was this helpful? 0
30

I had been on Metformin 500mg TEVA since 2004. I never had any trouble until I got a refill at Wal Mart(I had had other refills at WalMart for Metformin) but this was for a 90 day supply and I noticed right away the differance. I started having GERD symptoms at night along with bouts of diarrhea. The final straw was about 2 weeks after taking this new brand (SANDOZ), I had a sudden bout of vomiting, diarrhea,and rectal bleed with stomach cramps. I went to my primary and from this encounter had to undergo a colonoscopy and 2 types of endoscopy. I changed type of manufactured drug (no easy task due to insurance) and am on a similar drug to the one I had taken in the past. Conclusion: Doctor needs to note on RX in ( ) the type or manufacturer for any kind of overide from the pharmacist. Insurance people complain and pharmacy complains due to cost but I am human and I demanded my rightful right to a compatible drug.

Was this helpful? 0
31

I have been taking both the fishy smelling ones and the non-fishy ones for years; I don't notice the difference, except that the fishy ones taste bad. I don't see any difference in effects.

Was this helpful? 0
32

During 1 yr on Fishy smelling Teva Metformin HCL 500 tabs, I had daily debilitating nausea. Today my doctor said people should be warned about these malodorous pills. I am allergic to them. Within 1 day of switching to another mfg, I no longer have any nausea. I have been diabetic 10 years with good control, but I had other problems with Teva's product like constant weight loss, unpredictable high and low blood sugars, super bad breath and flatulance. Worst year of my life!

Was this helpful? 1
33

I too was switched to another generic manufacturer of Metformin by the pharmacy (Jewel / Osco). I have been on the 1000 mg twice a day. A little fishy smelling, but I reallly didn't notice at first, since I also take fish oil supplements. I have had stomach and stool problems ever since. Also, my blood sugar levels were higher.At first I thought it was the flu, but after over a month, I decided to stop taking the metformin for a couple of days. My stomach problems eased and my stool began to be more normal. Restarted the metformin and problems returned. The old manufacturer was a Canadian firm (Apotex) and I had no problems. The new one is Solco, appears to be a firm from India. i tried today to get the pharmacy to get me the old manufacturer. No dice. I will do some research to see what other manufacturers are available. Thanks to the information on this forum, looks like I should stay away from teva. Any others I should avoid?

Was this helpful? 0
34

I've been taking Novo-metformin for almost 20 years, and for the past 5-6 years, the dosage was 4x500 mg a day (breakfast 1, lunch 1, dinner 2). Everything went well until late January this year when I got the very fishy smell pills (non-coated). The pharmacist said all Metformin pills smell, just some
are coated and some are covered with fruit flavours) To me, that was never the case, because it was the first time in 20 years that I got fishy smell pills. She did exchange the pills for me, same manufacturer, but film-coated. They did smell fishy too, just not too noticeable when they were fresh in smaller bottles with a large smell absorber (d....., I forgot the word) in each bottle of 100 pills. I started taking them, and about 10 days later, my ears started hearing extremely loud and high-pitched noises. One doctor said the inner ear tubes could have been plugged up and told me to use nose-rinse and try some counter-drugs with decongestive and anti-histamines, but no effects. Other 3 doctors, including an ENT specialist, said they could not see anything wrong in either ears.

A friend gave me some non-coated novo-metformin she has from an older batch, no smell, like my old pills, but they did not help stop the ringing in the ears (esp the very loud, sharp, high-pitched in the left ear.) I guess the fishy pills have done some ir-reversible damage to my auditory nerve. Those high-pitched noises never stop for a second and are driving me nuts.

Doctors can only say that is aging. My pharmacist keeps saying the fishy smell is natural and could not have done any harm.

I wonder if the fishy smell batches are contaminated in some way. I can't believe they are harmless

Was this helpful? 0
35

just diagnosed a week ago. I feel a little better,however, I have an enormous amount of flatulance. My husband thought the babys diaper was hidden the room, my son almost suffocated and fell of the chair after I came from using the restroom. I had to spray,light incense, and burn candles simultaniously. My pills have an M and 234. They don't smell bad, I think it is just a new foreign object and my body is trying to reject it. Drink plenty of water, it helps.

Was this helpful? 0
36

You're right, Joe Blow, it does smell horrible like a woman's yeast infection. I have often compared it to an old woman's diaper who lives in a nursing home and doesn't get changed regularly. I also get mine from Walgreen's and they never used to smell this bad, but the past year they've been packed with a horrible stench that is like fish soaking in ammonia. And maybe it is what's making us sick. My recent colonoscopy didn't show anything weird, and my issued parallel the Metformin stench. Maybe it will be one of those many drugs we see the TV lawyers advertising class action suits and side effects contributed to many other drugs. Hm.

Was this helpful? 0
37

My last script Metformin 1000 mg was by Teva and it smelled like urine; pharmacist said metformin is made from sulfonamide urea obtained from horse urine and likely that Teva cut manufacturing costs by leaving out masking agent heretofore used.Others are likely cutting costs also. My doctor verified that horse urine is the source for the sulfonamide urea. Horse urine, hmm, explains the smell. Makes me wonder, if they admit to horse urine in our meds, what else are they not telling us? Color me pissed.

Was this helpful? 1
38

I have been on metformin since 2005. I lost 60 lbs on the stinky kind. Then, Rite Aid changed brands a couple of years ago & I started having trouble controlling my blood sugar & I stopped losing weight. I switched my script to WalMart & voila, sugars quickly got under control & started losing weight again. I have been having trouble again controlling my numbers and gained 8 lbs. since Oct. 2009, about a pound a month. I get a 3 mo. supply each time and about to run out of this one, but noticed it DOES NOT stink. For me personally, I think the smelly ones have more real drug in them. Metfromin is known to cause stomach upset, nausea, & diarrhea...this is a normal side effect. I will shop around to see if anyone has the smelly kind.....I prefer it. Also, my mom & my uncle also take it, & also noticed higher #s on the non stinky kind. As soon as they switched to a different manufacturer (the stinky one), their glucoses immediately lowered and they lost weight, too.

Was this helpful? 1
39

Stay away from manufacturer Teva. Their tabs marked 48 or 93 smells very bad fish odor and caused serious nausea and vomiting to me. Stay away from this manufacturer Teva

Was this helpful? 0
40

I never lost weight in all the years I was taking Metformin, whether it was the horse pee brand or not. I am totally disgusted, however, that horse pee is being used to formulate this drug, as is it used to formulate Premarin. They use pregnant mares for that drug and make them stand in little crates where they can't turn around, on wire floors so the urine flows through and gets collected in containers below the floors. The thought of how horses are treated just so us inferior-minded humans can control our blood sugars and hormones is very disturbing. So I have now switched to a once a day injection for my diabetes, called Victoza. It is not insulin and is very easy to use. The needles are short, small guage sharps in a pen that you just twist to the prescribed dosage, squeeze a little fat on your belly, thighs or wherever you have it, poke it in (you can't even feel it at all) and push the end of the pen with your thumb to inject the drug. My doctor said that everyone loses 10 pounds; some lose 50 pounds. I've been on it for less than a month and I've already lost 4 pounds. I'm thrilled! And no more stench! You realize to that when you ingest something that stinky that it eventually oozes out through your pores. Do you really want to walk around life smelly like an ammonia-soaked dead fish?

Was this helpful? 1
Page:First Page2Next PageLast Page

More Discussions:

metformin smells

metformin smells ## Yes, Metformin is well known to have an odor and it can vary, somewhat, from manufacturer to manufac...

3 REPLIES
Aurobindo - Metformin fishy smell

Aurobindo - SHUT THEY DOWN! When a manufacturer changes we should be notified. After all, it is our money going to these...

1 REPLY
Metformin tab 500 mg-the tabs ( white oval with 93 on one side48 on other side.)I ordered 08/ 2011 had a terrible smell.

I called the pharmacy that I always order from and they they told me they had no recalls on these 500 mg Metformion tabs...

2 REPLIES
metformin withdrawal symptoms

My dr stopped my metformin abruptly cause it made me sick now I having symptoms Muscle cramps headaches foggy vomiting b...

45 REPLIES
Metformin Hcl 500 Mg Side Effects

Can I use Metformin for weight reduction? I wanted to know about the side effects of Metformin... ## I wouldn't coun...

29 REPLIES
Metformin pill look like?

What does a Metformin pill look like? What is the lettering on the side of the pill? ## I have been taking 500MG Metform...

17 REPLIES
Metformin 500mg Tab Side Effects

I have been on this drug for almost 4 weeks now. I have had diahrea really bad. It is always like water. Everything I ea...

15 REPLIES
Metformin With Alpha Lipoic Acid

i recentaly knew that metformin is available with alpha lipoic acid.. is it true? can you suggest me the brand name of t...

15 REPLIES
metformin hcl 500mg

What is the difference between metformin hcl tab 500mg 93/48 and metformin 500mg tab sandoz? ## Only the manufacturer, j...

14 REPLIES
metformin hcl 500 mg

SIDE AFFECT OF METFORMIN HCL500MG TAB ## Metformin, a generic for Glucophage, is used to treat Diabetes. Side effects ma...

11 REPLIES