Translations:Biguanide/16/en

Side effects and toxicity

The most common side effect is diarrhea and dyspepsia, occurring in up to 30% of patients. The most important and serious side effect is lactic acidosis, therefore metformin is contraindicated in advanced chronic kidney disease. Kidney function should be assessed before starting metformin. Phenformin and buformin are more prone to cause acidosis than metformin; therefore they have been practically replaced by it. However, when metformin is combined with other drugs (combination therapy), hypoglycemia and other side effects are possible.