Went to Dr. today - they want me on Metformin

[ChicagoCubFan]

So I went to the OB-GYN today - they want me on Metformin for my PCOS. I am not diabetic (that I am aware of) and I am not having any infertility issues (becuase I am not married and not trying to have a baby). I hope Metformin is a good option for me. I have been doing research on it since I got home and I can't really figure out a reason for me to be on it. So far, I am on Yasmin (birth control) and Spironalactone. Do you guys know why Metformin would help me out?

THANKS

[californiacasey]

What is Metformin for? What is the doctor trying to correct?

[2big4mysize]

:wave :wave :wave yep I know

Did you have some blood tests done that indicated you were insulin resistant? that is the aspect of PCOS that metaforin helps with. ( it will also help your weight loss too :nod)

The basic workings of PCOS is your body for whatever reason is insulin resistant and that causes your body not to be able to convert the androgen females normally produce and convert to estrongen to be converted in your system so you have the expression of some male characteristics like the facial and chest hair to go along with the inabilkity to get preg and have normal monthly clycles and various other things that are all lumped together in teh diagnossi of PCOS.
SO your low carb diet choice of Atkins will assist your body in overcoming your insulin ressitance and control the blood sugar aspect of insulin production and the metaforin will help your cells become better users of the insulin when it is being produced ans thus less will need to be produced.

Happy low carbing.

[Mariposa79]

Re: Went to Dr. today - they want me on Metformin

So I went to the OB-GYN today - they want me on Metformin for my PCOS. I am not diabetic (that I am aware of) and I am not having any infertility issues (becuase I am not married and not trying to have a baby). I hope Metformin is a good option for me. I have been doing research on it since I got home and I can't really figure out a reason for me to be on it. So far, I am on Yasmin (birth control) and Spironalactone. Do you guys know why Metformin would help me out?

THANKS

I too have PCOS and am on Yasmin and Metformin. The reason they put you on Metformin is because it will help combat your resistance to insulin. Many women that have PCOS use it to help with it. Here is some information on why Metformin (aka Glucophage) helps with PCOS.

Diagnosable Insulin Resistance occurs with PCOS in about 40% of the diagnosed PCOS cases. In essence, someone who is insulin resistant is on the total opposite end of the spectrum than someone who is diabetic. In a diabetic, they either do not produce enough insulin on their own or none at all. For someone who is IR, they produce WAAAAYYY too much. The effect of all this extra insulin floating around in your system is much like taking too many antibiotics...over time, your body builds up a resistance to all this extra insulin, and ignores it.
What happens, in layman's terms, is this. You eat a meal, and your insulin is released to carry the glucose to your cells. Your cells have become resistant to your insulin, so it has no where to deliver the glucose. After a period of time, your brain senses that your sugar level is still too high, and orders more insulin to be released to bring it down. Thus begins a nasty cycle. For someone who is insulin resistant, it becomes gradually worse as time passes, and it gets very easy to gain, but very hard to lose weight.

It's a catch 22 situation...as your weight increases, so does your insulin resistance. Luckily, the converse is also true. As you lose weight, your insulin resistance also decreases.

This is where metformin can be helpful. What metformin does is to resensitze your cells to your own insulin, so that you can use your insulin more efficiently. The drug itself is NOT a weight loss drug. All it will do is "level the playing field" so that if you follow a healthy diet and exercise, you can lose weight like normal people.

Now, the side benefits. Insulin is a master hormone. When one of your hormones gets out of whack, the other hormone levels in your body move up or down to compensate. This changing of the levels can cause all kinds of problems in a woman's body...hair loss/growth, reproductive problems, skin problems, and a general feeling of fatigue and even water retention. For many women, whether they are overweight or not, met helps to get these hormones back into balance by working on your insulin. Often times, taking Birth control pills or other medications that work on your hormones can sometimes throw a monkey wrench into the works...they may mask or "undo"the work that the met is doing. For others, their docs recommend it, and they do not seem to have problems. This is where communication with your doctor is vital.

Don't assume that because you are not losing a lot of weight that the met isn't working. For some of us, it takes more time to get the hormone levels where they should be. Be patient with yourself...sometimes, it may take a dosage adjustment to find what's right for you.

For those who are not dxd IR, doctors are also using met to help cysters who are having trouble ovulating or other reproductive problems. There are many cases right here on this forum that met has helped bring on AF, regulate cycles, and even helped some to conceive, even after trying clomid. The underlying key to all this is the hormones....they must be tested, and re-checked to be sure the met is helping, and the levels are moving in the right direction.

Your way of eating is important to your success with met. Even if you are not actively trying to lose weight, your results with met will be enhanced by eating a lower to moderate carb diet and exercise. Think about it....met is a Type II diabetes drug. Obviously, for a diabetic, they would make things harder for themselves if they did not watch their diet in order to feel their best. Since this really is a diabetic medication, the drug will work its best when your body is not flooded with carbs. Don't make the medication work harder than it has to, and we cannot expect to sit back and let the drug do all the work. Now, I do not mean to make taking met sound like roses and wine. For some, they simply cannot tolerate the drug, and for some, they do not experience the results that others do. As far as allowing the drug time to see results, trust me...it will take more than a couple weeks to really see what's going on.


If you want more information on PCOS, check out www.soulcysters.net It is a great resource for PCOS. If you ever need to talk to someone with PCOS, let me know. I am always happy to talk to people about it.

Marisol

[ChicagoCubFan]

Marisol - thank you soooo much for your post. The explanation you provided regarding the Metformin was most helpful. I started the metformin today. I got my fasting blood test this morning, and then took my first dose. At this time, I have no idea if I am insulin resistant or not, but I will know soon. I see the Dr. again in a week or so - them more blood tests to titriate the dose correctly. I started a very low dose today at 2x500mg ER once a day. So I am only getting 1000mg a day.

Thanks again for your post and good luck to you. I hope this combo works for me.. Yasmin, Spironalactone, Metformin, and Atkins !!!

I am 20lbs down in the first month of Atkins, so I hope it continues !!! Sounds like Atkins (low carb) and MEtformin go hand and hand !!!!

Good luck to you!!! I hope to hear from you again !

[Mariposa79]

Glad that I was able to help. When I was diagnosed with PCOS, it was a very scary and confusing time for me. But learning more about it helps. There is no cure for it but hopefully with working with it, the symptoms will go away.


I would also recommend that you start with i dose (1 pill @ 500 mg of metformin) just to see how your body responds to it. I did ok until I was at 1500 mg of it. The third dose made me sick so watch out. They did tell you about some of its side effects, right?

If you ever need to talk, you can reach me on Yahoo Messenger or Aim.

[ChicagoCubFan]

I started Metformin on Friday. I have has some diarrhea which is completely managable. It doesn't bother me at all, becuase it is very little. But, I am have pretty severe nausea. The nausea doesn't really bother me all that much, I mean I know it is there, but I don't sit around with my head in the toilet. HOWEVER, I CAN NOT EAT !!! NOTHING, AND I MEAN NOTHING SOUNDS GOOD. Well, no meats or cheeses sounds good. Ice Cream and Pizza sounds great. But I just can not eat another bit of meat or cheese or SALAD !! I have only eaten about 500 calories a day for three days and I am gaining weight. I have gained 3-4 lbs. since I haven't been eating. WHAT DO I DO?

[2big4mysize]

hve you called your Doc and ask them about your symptoms and weight gain? You know it is fluids and will eventually go away. try to eat smaller meals and drink lots of water to assist you with the weight gain.

[Mariposa79]

I think those are just the side effects. How many pills are you taking a day? I know that I would get very nauseous when I was on Metformin and I ate high carb foods. But meat and cheese aren't high carb so I am not sure if maybe you are taking too much Metformin at once.

I did a Google search on some of the side effects and here is what I found:

SIDE EFFECTS: The most common side effects with metformin are nausea, vomiting, gas, bloating, diarrhea and loss of appetite. These symptoms occur in one out of every three patients. These side effects may be severe enough to cause therapy to be discontinued in one out of every 20 patients. These side effects are related to the dose of the medication and may decrease if the dose is reduced.

I would call your doctor too about the gain weight. That is not common unless your period is about to start. Maybe you are bloated?

[ChicagoCubFan]

hve you called your Doc and ask them about your symptoms and weight gain? You know it is fluids and will eventually go away. try to eat smaller meals and drink lots of water to assist you with the weight gain.

Hi ya'll - thanks for all your comments. I called my Dr. today and told him everything that was happening. 2big4mysize, I can't cut down my meal sizes, because I am not eating !!! I think that is part of the problem. I have nausea so badly that I can not even look at a piece of meat, cheese, or a vegetable. I haven't eaten in 3 days. Today I did eat some bacon (I know it wasn't the best choice, but it was the ONLY atkins food that sounded good).

Anyway - my Dr. recommended that if Ice Cream was what I wanted, then I should eat it. He said I have to help me body adjust to the medication. And if that means eating 'normal' foods for a while, then that is what I have to do. He did say that a low carb diet is the best in combination with this medication, but I wasn't eating enough carbs - he said to have 15-30 carbs per meal. Right now I am eating 9 carbs a day !!! And that is all I have been eating for 1 month.

So, I feel like this is a catch 22. If I reduce the meds, I defeat the purpose. I am only on 1000mg to begin with. AND, I was experiencing nausea prior to starting the medication. I have seen an exacerbation since starting the meds, but I don't think I can blame it all on the meds. I think I am just entirely sick of meat, cheese and vege's.

On the other hand, if I eat something that has carbs, I have to start all over if I choose to stay on Atkins. And I don't really want to do that.

So, what do I do??? He doesn't really want me to cut down the meds but he said if I think that will help, then go ahead. But like I said, I really don't know that it is the meds in their entirety. I really think I am just burnt out on foods. Does this mean I am failing????

I am soo confused. I feel like whatever choice I make, it isn't going to be good for me. I know if I cut dowm my dosage, I will still have nausea.

OK - again, I appreciate all your help !!! Thank you for your posts !!

[2big4mysize]

okay did your doctor do a blood test doing an insulin testing to determine you needed the metaphorin or did he just say PCOS you need metaphorin?

Your Atkins will asssit your insulin resistance too. Have you discussed just doing a low carb diet with your doctor to see if the diet by itself would help your PCOS first?

[ChicagoCubFan]

Hi -

Yes, the Dr. did blood tests, he knows the results, but I haven't been to his office to receive them yet. When I talked to him on the phone today, he said he had the results in front of them, but he didn't tell me anything. So I still don't know if I have an insulin resistence or not. At my consultation with him, I did ask him what would happen if I didn't have an insulin resistence issue, and he said that he would like me to stay on the metformin anyway. So, I don't know. He knows that I have been on Atkins for a month, and he says that is great.

Oh heck, I wish I had the right answers. I have to call to schedule my f/u appt. with him tomorrow. I am anxious to hear what he says then....

Thanks again for your posts. You are all soooo helpful !

[2big4mysize]

good luck with your appointments When you see hime ask what metaphorin will do for you if you don't have insulin resistance I know many PCOS folk would be interested in learning why he'd use that med if you don't have insulin resitance.

[ChicagoCubFan]

I will definitely ask him - becuase I am really not sure of his reasoning !!! He just wants me on it !!! Either way !!! So we will see..... I ate some bacon and I feel better right now... I really think I was having nausea because of hunger !!! 3 days with very little food is not normal for me at all !!! Hee Hee - let me tell ya !!!

[2big4mysize]

not normal for anybody. now that you are feeling a bit better try to eat some more of your Atkins WOE foods and see how you feel.