I was on Metformin during the pandemic. It actually helped me shed some weight by itself. Eventually they wouldn’t give me any more refills but I continued back then with a low cal diet and went on to lose close to 50lbs. The weight has since come back but I just try to watch calories. Keto and low carb never really worked for me. I always ended up just eating too many calories on those diets. I always end up just going back to lower calorie and lower fat. I know the science behind low fat and lower calorie is outdated but it’s what always worked for me. If you manage to burn more calories than you are eating then you will lose weight. The metformin GI issues were very temporary for me and they interrupt my day to day but everyone is different.