Incitiatus is one of my lcosest friends, and one whose words I heed in matters chemical (and in other fields). My own contribution is based on that fact that I speak from personal experience, being a type 2 diabetic, and having taken four tablets of metformin hydrochloride at five hundred milligrammes a tablet for quite a while. No loss of weight (I wish!) or hair in my case. However, when I first started taking metforming, the diarrh'a was (1) quite unexpected, and (2) severe. Otherwise, nothing to report.