I was on Metformin, didn't gain the weight but diarrhea was my worse enemy! One minute I was fine and then, without warning.... Needless to say I didn't go out much :x Like you I whined to the doctor and also like you she wouldn't take me off of it even though I told her my brother and sister had the same reactlon to it. My brother stopped taking it so he could work! Eventually I switched doctors and the new doc immediately took me off--she agreed that I was allergic and changed my meds to 45mg of Actos. Actos is expensive but it works! Glipizide twice a day, Actos once a day and exercise (walking) helped me tremendously!
I also stopped using things made with white flour--everything is wheat or multi-grain.