Metformin Smell (Top voted first)

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why does it smell like fish?

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4

my metformin smells like a woman with a yeast infection

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9

Got Metformin prescription at CVS/pharmacy. As soon as I removed the cap to take one almost I faint with that disgusting smell, very ugly, repugnat.! What a disgrace for patients. ;-(

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94

I totally agree with this person. Not only does the metforman smell like fish,, my urine also smells like fish!!! HELP!

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13

I have been taking metform for years & it has little or no odor... just opened the new bottle & it smelled like buck urine... the pharmasist traded it off & let me smell the stock bottle & it stunk too! I cannot take it now... :(

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6

i was getting my metformin from target pharmacy, they were not smelly, and i was actually not as hungry and lost some weight with it. then i switched to bi-mart pharmacy and now my metformin smells fishy (YUCK!) and im hungry a LOT, haven't lost any weight with it...
is it just because its a different manufacturer? the target one better? because i wasnt as hungry and i actually lost some weight with that one, is the new one helping?
im thinking maybe i should just switch back.

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10

I was getting mine refilled at CVS, and had no problem with the smell, until the last refill, they told me thta they changed manufactures, and this last one smelled horrific, I went shopping to different pharmacies, Walgreens had the same bad one, Wal-mart gave me a better tolerating brand made by Sandoz.

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90

I have been taking two 1000mg tablets of Metformin daily for 3 years. I have noticed that the pills have a slight urine smell and they sometimes make me gag because of the taste they leave on my tongue. However I just got 2 bottles of pills from Welldyne which is our mail order pharmacy and they smell and taste like grape flavoring has been added to them. Are the drug companies adding flavoring to mask the taste or should I be concerned and call Welldyne?

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93

Horrible fish smell. Last year this smell was not in my pills. What the hell are they giving us?

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2

It is an odor from one of the fillers they use in making the medication, nothing to worry about.

Since each company that makes the generic version of med can use different fillers, then some might have the odor and some won't.

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89

Trying to find out WHY my Metformin smells like fish. Every googled answer gives me what to do to deal with it but not WHY it smells. I take my Rx anyway, i just want to know what they are using as filler that makes it smell that way. Are they using fish cells to deliver the medication?

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99

As long as I was getting Metformin made by Teva, I had never smelled anything. Then my pharmacy switched suppliers and the Metformin manufactured by Aurobindo smelled like a rotting fish. I'm getting back to Teva now.

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1

I got my script refilled the other day and the new one smells like fish too! My first bottle (different manufact) did not smell like fish. Beginning to wonder if it is of good quaility

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11

I have been taking Metformin (500 mg and 1000mg) over a year(bought from Cub Foods and Caremark). Recently my doctor changed the dose to 850 mg. I bought this from Sams Club. The taste is awful (cannot tolerate especially being vegetarian)

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12

I found that keeping the pills in an open box (in the air) removed the new fishy odor totally and made it again possible to swallow the 1000 mg pill.

But the open to air pills do not have the same metformin odor that the non-fishy smelling previous ones had, namely, slightly starchy. That was not at all an unpleasant odor.

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14

Been taking Metformin for about a year now and the previous refills did not smell like fish. They are both manufactured by Teva the only difference is the non smelly ones had 4331 and 500 stamped on the pill. The smelly ones have 93 and 48 stamped on them. Getting not only Nausea, stomach upset, diarrhea but extreme flatulance which was not happening with the previous pills. Also, day 2 of taking this new pill I had chest pains. It was a similar incident that made me switch pharmacies 2 years ago. Walgreens listen to the complaints or you will loose customers.

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15

Chace or any other person that have been taking the smelly Metformin pills. Have you notice any long term effects? Did the doctor increase your dosage after taking these new pills? have you had any other health issues? Maybe with your heart?

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16

I have been taking Metformin for a few yrs. Last month Walgreens changed from 4331/599 to 93/48 and the smell is terrible, also leaves a bad taste for hours. Called Walgreens and Teva, awaiting an answer. I was going to switch to CVS until reading this website, I heard Target has a different supplier. We all need to located a better supplier/store! I think the problem is too new for doctors to know about.

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17

Manufacturer TEVA said they are aware of the problem and are trying to correct (make the smell better).
Target said there's smell bad too, Jewel/Osco didn't smell as bad.

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19

I went on this stuff 3 weeks ago. Target generic product stinks bad, even in the bottle. I was in a van with 6 other people 2 weeks ago. I blamed someone else. Now, I think it was me, and I feel quite embarrassed. I have been changing underwear mid-day, and that helps. One small drop of urine has enough stench to wipe out all of Afghanistan. And, much worse than a bad yeast infection. I am going to try drinking more water. If the odor persists, I will give it up, or go to another drug. This smell has got to go!

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69

I've been on Metformin for 8-9yrs for insulin resistance. I was doing fine with the Met from Ivax (not smell) until about 2yrs ago when Teva pharmaceuticals bought out Ivax . Teva, as most of you know, has the fishy odor. My metformin always worked for me and I could tolerate the smell of the Teva when I learned I had to do so because of no more IVAX. Most all metformin generics have inactive ingredients that will cause some side effects which are mostly gastro, ie; nausea & diarrhea. If one looks up those inactives you will find they are preservatives and solvents to help the tabs dissolve. Strange to find what they REALLY are too! I went on a search to find out the difference in the generics because I had done pretty well getting used to the Teva when Riteaid changed me to AuroBindo Pharm metformin a couple of months ago. No smell which was good BUT after a few weeks I noticed weight gain, tired all the time, bloating, constipation. Checked blood sugars and found metformin not keeping me level but letting me drop to lows thus making me crave sweets and carbs which is what insulin resistance is all about. Although I feel full and bloated, still feel hungry because of the lower blood sugar. In all of my searching for differences in the generic metformin, only the inactive ingredients were different according to info online. I searched for specific difference or trouble, weight gain with Aurobindo pharm and got to this thread where I learned the pharm companies are allowed to vary the amount of actual metformin in the generic drug by 20%. The coating to keep down the fishy smell evidently adds cost to processing so hypothetically if they add cost with the coating they decrease cost by adding less of the actual drug metformin. Looks like I found the ultimate answer to my problem and need to go back to the fishy smelling Teva or ask for increase in dosage as I cannot continue with the bloating, constipation and certainly not with the over ten pound weight gain. For those that DO have an allergy or problem with the inactive indredients in the generics, I found two excellent sites that list many pharmacies and each ingredient. Some are the same but they do vary. One ingredient common among many is also a common ingredient in laxatives by the way: Polyethylene glycol (PEG) or carnaubo wax. These are the links where you can look up ALL of the ingredients. The first is daily med where you can look up any med. You must search the pharmacy along with the drug. For instance: Aurobindo pharm metformin.

http:/­/­dailymed.nlm.nih.gov/­dailymed/­drugInfo.cfm?id=9344

The other is another forum where someone researched many of the pharmacies ingredients already. You must scroll down to find the post. I copied and pasted it to word so I would have it in case my pharmacy ever changed me again.

http://www.soulcysters.net/showthread.php?307236-Please-help-me-Check-the-manufacturer-on-your-Metformin-for-me

It is well worth the hunt to access all of the information she compiled. Good luck to everyone! By the way- I'm an RN with years of experience and KNOW what you go through from my own experience plus, admire you for digging to find the source of your problem. Many times the doctors office is a dead end street. May God Speed!!

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