Chromium Picolinate & Liver (or kidney?) tests with Metformin or Glipizide

I believe the instruction from the manufacturer or either Metformin or Glipizide (both of which I take) say your doctor should test your liver or kidneys (I forget which) every 6 months, or yearly. Anyone have thoughts or experience on that? Liver. Lactic acidosis can be a problem with metformin. From what I understand, it's rather rare, but it does happen, and it can be life-threatening. This is only one reason why all diabetics need ongoing check ups with their docs at least every six months, with accompanying bloodwork...read more

Has anyone had experience taking chromium picolinate to help lower blood sugar? What kind of results, with what dosage, and what brand? (The latter two can make all the difference in the first, of course. And there is a dose level, as with many helpful supplements, where it gets toxic.) I took Nature's Way - Blood Sugar with Gymnema when first diagnosed. I was on Metformin then so I was not worried about hypoglycemia. I know that many people are skeptical of these supplements. From my experience, I can say that this did help keep my sugars in good control. I took 6 capsules daily, 2 with breakfast, lunch and supper. If you are taking any hypoglycemic drugs you should talk to your doctor before taking such as the probability of going low is likely. Now I am on Prandin and as part of a test I took the supplement once along with the medicine and went really low. So my experience tells me that it does work.