Your experience with Metformin for PCOS?

[SaraJayne]

If you take metformin for PCOS, what has your experience been with it? I'm going in tomorrow to do my baseline labs to start taking it and I'm a bit anxious as to what to expect.

My doctor wants me to start taking it to help my weight, blood pressure and insulin resistance.

If you'd rather PM me, that's fine.

 

[2disneyboys]

Hi - I've been taking met for a year & 1/2... my 1st dr prescribed me a set dosage starting w/ 1 pill and working up to like 4 a day over a few weeks time. It made me DEATHLY SICK TO MY STOMACH..ughh...I kept being told that my system would eventually settle and not bother me. 8 months later I said FORGET it and stopped taking it. went to a new dr a few months ago & she wanted to put me on met and I told her how sick it makes me. She put me on Met ER (extended release) and that has been great. I haven't had near the stomach issues with it.

as far as weight is concerned, it didn't really help me lose any, but it helped me stop gaining weight. Before being on met, no mater how active I was or what I ate or didn't eat, I not only could not lose weight but would end up gaing a few pounds a month... which over time adds up. Since being on met full time, I haven't gained any weight at all so I consider this a good thing!! I have lost some weight in the past few weeks as I recently started the South Beach diet.. from what I have read this tends to be recommded to IR (insulin resistent) people and my dr told me to try & stay away from high GI foods as much as possible.

Good Luck!

if you tend to have a sensitive stomach to medicines, I'd make sure the dr knows this & might be able to give you something to help.

 

[SaraJayne]

Hi - I've been taking met for a year & 1/2... my 1st dr prescribed me a set dosage starting w/ 1 pill and working up to like 4 a day over a few weeks time. It made me DEATHLY SICK TO MY STOMACH..ughh...I kept being told that my system would eventually settle and not bother me. 8 months later I said FORGET it and stopped taking it. went to a new dr a few months ago & she wanted to put me on met and I told her how sick it makes me. She put me on Met ER (extended release) and that has been great. I haven't had near the stomach issues with it.

as far as weight is concerned, it didn't really help me lose any, but it helped me stop gaining weight. Before being on met, no mater how active I was or what I ate or didn't eat, I not only could not lose weight but would end up gaing a few pounds a month... which over time adds up. Since being on met full time, I haven't gained any weight at all so I consider this a good thing!! I have lost some weight in the past few weeks as I recently started the South Beach diet.. from what I have read this tends to be recommded to IR (insulin resistent) people and my dr told me to try & stay away from high GI foods as much as possible.

Good Luck!

if you tend to have a sensitive stomach to medicines, I'd make sure the dr knows this & might be able to give you something to help.

Thank you. My doctor told me I'll start with one pill a day and work my way up to twice a day (so it sounds like my dosage would be lower than yours). She did say it can cause some GI problems when first starting, so I was aware of that.

If stomach problems persist after a few weeks, I'll ask about the metformin ER.

 

[shortbun]

I take 2 Metformin extended release tablets a day. My girlfriend was prescribed 4 a day and she tried to take all 4 right off the bat. She was so sick, I thought we might have to take her to the ER for dehydration. Finally, her husband and I convinced her to go down to just one a day for a month, then she added the second. After 4 months, she on all four and feels 'decent' but not great. The good news is that her sugar levels have stablized and her tests are always good. She started losing weight during that awful time so she's been walking and doing some healthy dieting. She thinks she may be able to take her dose down to three or two next doctor visit. Definitely get the ER and start out small and build the dose.

 

[Tinkh]

I literally felt like an entirely new person! It was a miracle drug for me.

 

[Candy30]

I have been on it for 3 years now. Initially it gave me the worst Runs for about two weeks. Each day was better. Now I have added another pill in the evening and it is fine. I do not get sick unless I miss a couple of doses which I usually don't. No other side effects for me.

 

[SaraJayne]

I literally felt like an entirely new person! It was a miracle drug for me.

In what way?

 

[SaraJayne]

I have been on it for 3 years now. Initially it gave me the worst Runs for about two weeks. Each day was better. Now I have added another pill in the evening and it is fine. I do not get sick unless I miss a couple of doses which I usually don't. No other side effects for me.

My doctor told me that was an initial side effect. I'm hoping it goes away quickly.

 

[Tinkh]

In what way?

I lost almost 60 lbs the first year that I was on it. I had always been small and once I started getting massive cysts (2 of them had over a liter and a half of fluid drained out them) I started gaining weight. Really small on bottom and more upper body weight gain from waist up. Had horrible migraines (still do, but not as frequent) and I do not feel the overwhelming tiredness that I used to. If I did not eat frequently before the Metformin, I would get so shaky and weak. Now, I can go about 4 hours before I start wanting something small to eat.

One of my closest friends started Metformin after 10 years of not being able to get pregnant. Had taken shots and everything. Within 3 months of the Metformin she was pregnant! Her little boy is now 3 and we celebrated his birthday last week.

 

[SaraJayne]

I lost almost 60 lbs the first year that I was on it. I had always been small and once I started getting massive cysts (2 of them had over a liter and a half of fluid drained out them) I started gaining weight. Really small on bottom and more upper body weight gain from waist up. Had horrible migraines (still do, but not as frequent) and I do not feel the overwhelming tiredness that I used to. If I did not eat frequently before the Metformin, I would get so shaky and weak. Now, I can go about 4 hours before I start wanting something small to eat.

One of my closest friends started Metformin after 10 years of not being able to get pregnant. Had taken shots and everything. Within 3 months of the Metformin she was pregnant! Her little boy is now 3 and we celebrated his birthday last week.

The dr asked me if we were "done", since this can also be another side effect.

 

[Tinkh]

The dr asked me if we were "done", since this can also be another side effect.

LOL! Yeah, you for sure want to be careful if you don't want that bonus effect

 

[rewok]

It worked wonders for me on some points, but I also changed how I eat. I am not diabetic or insulin resistant (as far as I know), but have extra long cycles, some hair in places I rather wouldn't (just a little bit really, but one is too much), multiple cysts on my ovaries. I'm taking it to regulate my cycles and it worked. I almost feel normal now...

I was slightly overweight when I started (26 BMI), and I've lost over 40 pounds now. The Met didn't do it all, but I also changed a bit how I eat, in part because the Met made me! Gone are thays of a big pasta dinner with tons of garlic bread... If I do, I have horrible cramps. Now we limits the carbs at each meal, and I know that if I have pasta, it's a very very small portion with a big salad. I also drink alcohol less often (I get drunk so fast it's not even funny!).

I don't have other GI side effects if I control my eating. I started slowly 1/2 pill once a day, increasing by 1/2 pill every few days till I went to 3 pills (500mg) a day. It's the regular stuff, morning mid-afternoon and nights.

Good luck!

 

[Pea's Mom]

Metformin is my miracle drug ! I have PCOS and DH and I went through 4 years of infertility treatments...lots of money and needles One day my doc said there was a new treatment...after 4 yrs and tens of thousands of $..one cycle of metformin and our princess was on the way !!

 

[Lorem Ipsum]

WHAT???? I didn't know I could get pregnant taking it!!!

I have been on it for diabetes since August, 500 mg at bedtime. Never had any side effects, thank goodness.

I have lost almost 50 pounds on it, so that is good.

 

[Tinkh]

WHAT???? I didn't know I could get pregnant taking it!!!

I have been on it for diabetes since August, 500 mg at bedtime. Never had any side effects, thank goodness.

I have lost almost 50 pounds on it, so that is good.

Don't worry! I think that little side effect is for those of us who are taking it for POCS. I struggled for years to have my son.

 

[AlwaysMoving]

Immediatley after starting Metformin (2 times a day) I developed the gastro problems. It was awful, but I tried to make it work. By 8 months into it, I had gained 30 pounds and my eating habits had not changed to cause it.

I went to the doctor to see what I could do about the weight gain. I was sent for lab work and then sent to have an ultrasound, since my liver enzymes were through the roof (normally they had always been very low within the normal range). A week later, my numbers had jumped even higher. I was told I had severe fatty liver that was unexplained other than my weight gain. They could not figure out what was causing this problem. They swore it could not be the Metformin, because recent studies showed metformin helped severe fatty liver.

Other problems I developed were muscle weakness (more than 7 steps on the stairs and I had to rest), pinpoint muscle pains, loss of memory, tired all the time, and an overall feeling of permanent hangover. I just wanted to die.

Went to other doctors, who took me off of metformin. Immediately my digestive problems were solved. Took about 2 weeks, but all the rest of the symptoms disappeared as well. Within 2 months my liver enzymes were back in the lower end of the normal range and I had lost 20 pounds.

I have no idea why this medication caused such a reaction, but I will never take it again. The symptoms of PCOS were nothing compared to what I had on metformin. I hope nobody has a reaction the way I did.

 

[Bungle]

I've been on and off of met for a few years now. I still have gastro problems when I start back up. It helps balance my cycles but honestly I just take it because its the ONLY thing that makes my cystic acne stop.

When I initially started taking it I lost a ton of weight but not so lucky this time around. I find it helps if I take it with something like cheese and then wait an hour or so to eat.

 

[SaraJayne]

I took my first dose last night (with evening meal) and was ok.

I'm on the ER tablet (500 mg a day) and a few hours later, had only very mild nausea and a metallic taste in my mouth.

Other than that, so far so good.

 

[TLC371]

I was on it for several months for PCOS when I was trying to get pregnant. I had a chemical pregnancy, which was most likely caused by my insulin resistance and out of control blood sugars. So my RE put me on metformin and I was told to take a break from TTC until I could get my weight and blood sugars under better control. I had a few days where my tummy bothered me and I was running to the bathroom, but it got better after a few days. I ended up losing almost 30 pounds, and got everything under control so I could start start trying to get pregnant again. I ended up getting pregnant on my first cycle of trying after our break and now I have an almost 14 month old little boy. Because I had gestational diabetes, I was on Metformin for my pregnancy as well. It worked great for me!

 

[Swtcn]

I literally felt like an entirely new person! It was a miracle drug for me.

I started taking 1 tab a day on May 3 . I did have stomach problems for about 3 days and I am down 10lbs so far. I do feel like a new person, eatting more healthy and I have so much more energy.