If you have PCOS or are on Metformin come in!!

lynsie86

I was put on Metformin last week for possible PCOS. I was prescribed 500mg 3x per day. It makes me very nauseous, by the 4th day I couldn't function and was throwing up so I stopped taking it. I didn't have any stool issues, just nausea. Actually I had the opposite as most, I didn't have a bowel movement for 3 days. I plan to call my Dr. today to see if I can try the ER version.

Has anyone had symptoms similar to mine? Is it normal? I have a 3yr old son so there is no way that i will be able to continue taking it if it makes me that sick again. It was worse than morning sickness when I was pregnant.

Dragonwolf

I was put on Metformin last week for possible PCOS. I was prescribed 500mg 3x per day. It makes me very nauseous, by the 4th day I couldn't function and was throwing up so I stopped taking it. I didn't have any stool issues, just nausea. Actually I had the opposite as most, I didn't have a bowel movement for 3 days. I plan to call my Dr. today to see if I can try the ER version.

Has anyone had symptoms similar to mine? Is it normal? I have a 3yr old son so there is no way that i will be able to continue taking it if it makes me that sick again. It was worse than morning sickness when I was pregnant.

Yep, those symptoms are normal, particularly if you don't ramp up the dose. The GI issues can be either way, or even both. Usually, they're transient, until your body gets used to the medication.

It's generally recommended to start with 500mg a day, usually in the evenings, for a week or two, then add 500mg in the morning for a week or two, and so on until you reach the full dosage. This supposedly helps with the side effects, and it sounds like you'd benefit from doing it this way (it varies -- ie, for me, it was just better to go up to my dose, both for compliance and to just get the side effects done and over with, because they were the same no matter if I was taking 2x500mg or 4x500mg).

Dragonwolf

I did low carb for a long time in the past and it's not something you can do for the rest of your life especially if you do intense exercise or weight lifting,your body needs carbs to function,especially your brain,in the end of doing low carb I was sluggish,exhausted,depressed and just not happy so I do not restrict my carbs and have been improving my body composition through heavy weight lifting,i'm trying to get into power lifting and I do HIIT 20-30 mins before every weight lifting session

As a powerlifter and boxer, I have to disagree on both fronts of this, as would Vince Gironda and his old-school bodybuilder trainees, and probably a few thousand CrossFitters.

First, low carb is very much sustainable, but you have to make sure to do it right -- don't increase your protein to replace the carbs, increase your fat. The biggest mistake I see people making is replacing carbs with protein. Doing that deprives your body of fuel (protein is for building and repairing, and makes for a very expensive fuel), as well as essential nutrients from non-lean-protein food sources.

Second, you can very much do high intensity workouts on a low carb way of eating. Again, you have to make sure you get enough fats, since fat becomes your primary fuel source.

It does take time to "recalibrate" your body to use fat primarily, and during that recalibration time, your performance will very likely decrease. This is due to the fact that when you first start, your body is still used to burning carbs primarily, and is inefficient at burning fat during exercise. But just like your body will gradually be able to lift more weight, your system will gradually get more efficient with the glycogen stores it does keep and at burning fat.

Here's a really cool breakdown of the athletic performance changes experienced by a keto-er -- http://eatingacademy.com/how-a-low-carb-diet-affected-my-athletic-performance (his site also has a ton of information about the state of ketosis in general, as well as the mechanics of it and how it affects athletic performance).

Then, there's also the fact that it's not really an either-or kind of thing. There's also cyclical low-carb diets, where you do very low carb some days, and "carb up" on others (usually workout days).

Third, it is true that the brain needs carbs to function, but gluconeogenesis can handle the bulk of the brain's needs, and in fact, the brain actually works best on a combination fuel of ketones and glucose, because ketones are a more stable source of fuel and less damaging to the nervous system (the ketogenic diet was originally created for epileptics, to control seizures, and has since been proven effective in improving a number of other neurological issues). Again, though, you need to make sure to get sufficient fat.

shaunam_32

I was diagnosed with PCOS about 2 years ago. I got really serious about the weight loss about a year ago. I decided to take martial arts (not sure WHY I chose that) but it did help with some weight loss. I was doing series of boxing/kick boxing boot camps about 4-5 days a week. I did lose about 25 pounds but ended up gaining about 5 pounds back, since I've stopped and found out that my body just isn't helping me lose more weight. I spoke to my doctor, and he prescribed me Metformin. I just started taking 500mg that I need to take for a week, and then double my dose (1000mg) a day after the second week, and then work my way up to 1500mg a day. I'm hoping that this will help me lose more weight, since I'm at complete stop. I've read on all types of blogs that women can lose a variety of weight on this drug. I'm curious how/or if this med works! :happy:

Dragonwolf

I was diagnosed with PCOS about 2 years ago. I got really serious about the weight loss about a year ago. I decided to take martial arts (not sure WHY I chose that) but it did help with some weight loss. I was doing series of boxing/kick boxing boot camps about 4-5 days a week. I did lose about 25 pounds but ended up gaining about 5 pounds back, since I've stopped and found out that my body just isn't helping me lose more weight. I spoke to my doctor, and he prescribed me Metformin. I just started taking 500mg that I need to take for a week, and then double my dose (1000mg) a day after the second week, and then work my way up to 1500mg a day. I'm hoping that this will help me lose more weight, since I'm at complete stop. I've read on all types of blogs that women can lose a variety of weight on this drug. I'm curious how/or if this med works! :happy:

You might be interested in the blog post I wrote on the basics of how Metformin works:
http://www.myfitnesspal.com/blog/Dragonwolf/view/pcos-insulin-and-metformin-614886

In short, Metformin is not a weight-loss medication. All it does is increase the insulin sensitivity of the liver, decreasing your fasting insulin. You may lose weight, if your insulin is too high and that's what's stopping you from losing weight. If it's not, then the Metformin will do nothing for your weight.

jolarocknrolla

I'm IR and on metformin but my sex-drive was always fine unless I was very overweight. My periods were always a little erratic and still are and we use condoms because no form of hormonal birth control works w/ my body it seems. Eating a high-protein, low sugar and low carb diet has helped my body stabilize really nicely, best of luck to you sister!

ShrinkinMel

I'm on 500mg twice a day. I'm not diagnosed PCOS because I couldn't get a Dr to look into it seriously. One just measured my belly and hips and said PCOS is hard to diagnose and usually from higher waist to hip ratio. Which mine are balanced. But I've had irregular cycles since they started at 13 and many other symptoms but no known ovarian cysts of course I've only had them checked ONCE when I was miscarrying many years ago.

No issues/changes in sex drive that I've noticed. I do however have a lot of intestinal cramping that is very annoying. Plus diarrhea like bms but its not quite the same as actual diarrhea. More of the urge and cramping and loose greasy bms. It doesn't really cause much trouble in general. But sometimes I hate it when I'm out and about and have to go. I've been losing since she increased my dose in March though. I was only on a few months before that at just 500mg at night. Gonna give it time and hope that as I lose the A1C reduces back to normal range and then I'll go off them as long as I keep losing. If it stops then I may stay on a bit longer. I suspect another 30 lbs or so and I'd be dropping that A1C to normal. Especially with more exercise and walking added.

I've not noticed a problem with my sex drive.

I took it for a little over 3 years (for diabetes), switched to insulin because we're trying to get pregnant, now I'm taking both to get my A1C under a certain number and to help with ovulation. I've had more times of throwing up and general stomach discomfort than I did the first time.

Consider going on the pill for cycle and then coming off and track temps. I conceived my daughter first cycle off pills despite having very irregular cycles before the the pill(in which it took me 11 months of no bcps and trying to get pregnant, I miscarried at 6 weeks though only a sac was formed). We back on to lose weight.

iquiltoo

I am on metformin due to type 2 diabetes, so I can't answer to the PCOS part, but as for the side effects, yes I have suffered from diarrhea. My doctor at the time insisted on increasing the amount of metformin dramatically after only a week or so because my blood glucose was not coming down fast enough for her. What I found out later from a pharmacist was that you should start low and go slow, especially if you get the runs from it. I had the runs for literally months, and yes had to be very careful about where I went out - if I didn't know there was a bathroom nearby, I wouldn't go. The pharmacist said you should start on a half or maybe one 500 mg for several weeks before increasing each time. And turns out what my doctor thought was so high wasn't actually that bad for a diabetic, so she caused me needless trouble for a long long time. When I got a new doctor due to that one leaving practice, she told me about the timed release one, as I would still have trouble frequently (once or twice a month). They do help but are a bit more expensive. Also when I was hospitalized for an unrelated matter, the pharmacist at the hospital asked why I was taking it one pill three times a day as the whole point of timed release was that you could take them all at once...! Yay!! no more forgetting to take a stupid pill when I went out to eat - now I take them all in the morning and am done with it. I rarely have the runs now and I think it happens when I overload on carbs. Since losing over 120 lbs (I know, my ticker only says 73, that's since on mfp) my A1C is around 5.8 and I am still lobbying my doctor to reduce the metformin so here's hoping for the next lab test results!

Dragonwolf

I'm on 500mg twice a day. I'm not diagnosed PCOS because I couldn't get a Dr to look into it seriously. One just measured my belly and hips and said PCOS is hard to diagnose and usually from higher waist to hip ratio. Which mine are balanced. But I've had irregular cycles since they started at 13 and many other symptoms but no known ovarian cysts of course I've only had them checked ONCE when I was miscarrying many years ago.

Please, please, fire your doctor and keep searching for one that will take you seriously. Doctors are human, and therefore shouldn't be held on pedestals. They need to be held accountable for what they do, and held to high standards. Staying with one that says crap like the ones that said that to you doesn't help anyone and may even hurt someone in the long run.

No, PCOS isn't as easy to diagnose as, say, Strep, but it's not about waist to hip ratio. And of course it's going to be hard to diagnose if they don't run the right tests for it! Yeah, it's kind of a judgement call (it is a syndrome, after all, which is simply a constellation of symptoms), but it's not that hard to run the tests necessary to confirm whether there's something going on with your hormones.

Fasting insulin (yes, insulin), DHEAS, progesterone, estrogen. These are the tests needed to help determine whether you have PCOS. If your doctor won't run them, can their *kitten* and find someone who will. If nothing else, you'll find someone who actually cares about your health and you as a person, because the ones you have clearly don't.

calibriintx

Can't say I ever had a problem with sex drive, with or without Met. BCP murdered my sex drive though, so I stopped taking it (and Met b/c my stomach hated it). Weight loss does so much more to "treat" my PCOS than BCP ever did, and bonus, it's improved my sex drive tons. Not sure if it has as much to do with hormones as not hating my body, but I'll take both. Good luck with getting everything squared away.

siratlas

i'm Transgender, FTM & was diagnosed with pcos back in 2007...opted not to take estrogen etc because i figured that i would eventually want to go on testosterone as my hormone replacement therapy...which i started almost 2 years ago. however, i have 0 sex drive now...not even a mental interest *sigh* It's been gone for about a year now & the endo is absolutely stumped. Usually taking T will boost your sex drive and it did for the first 6-8months but then it just ...disappeared. it's frustrating ...but i suppose at least i'm still able to lose weight this time. hopefully i'll start being able to get some muscle built up afterwards & magically my sex drive will return?

calibriintx

I'm on 500mg twice a day. I'm not diagnosed PCOS because I couldn't get a Dr to look into it seriously. One just measured my belly and hips and said PCOS is hard to diagnose and usually from higher waist to hip ratio. Which mine are balanced. But I've had irregular cycles since they started at 13 and many other symptoms but no known ovarian cysts of course I've only had them checked ONCE when I was miscarrying many years ago.

Ugh. Find a new doc. srs. I had a doc once tell me that there was no way I had PCOS b/c I wasn't morbidly obese and my hair wasn't falling out. No bloodwork, no u/s, nothing. Found a new doc who did u/s and b/w, although he firmly believed that I had it before even getting the results, based on many of my symptoms. Good luck

jolarocknrolla

also, if looking for motivation, here is an interview w/ a fitness competitor with PCOS: http://www.cutandjacked.com/Interview-Tamika-Webber

sophie_wr

bumpy bump

nikig2080

I was recently diagnosed with PCOS and insulin resistance. I've had ovarian cysts since I was 18 years old. My hormones have always been whack in and for the past few years I've been 200lbs overweight with no sex drive or feeling in my genitals. My PCP always told me it was all related to my weight but no matter how hard I tried I couldn't lose it. So, I asked to be sent to a Endocrinologist and he drew labs. It came back saying I had High T levels and extremely low estrogen levels. I've started Metformin a few weeks ago and I have lost 15 pounds. My energy is coming back. I'm also extremely horny. It's like am a teenager again. I can't get enough. Has anyone else had the same results?

azulvioleta6

I was diagnosed with PCOS about 20 years ago. I also have other metabolic problems. I've been on a high dose of Metformin for many years--at least 10, I think.

I have a ridiculously high sex drive, even at age 40, even though I have had a hysterectomy. Like wear out 20-year-olds kind of problematically high...

There shouldn't be any connection between the two. In fact, if you do have PCOS, you would have slightly elevated testosterone, which could contribute to an increased sex drive.

You do need to get a proper diagnosis. See an endocrinologist or a GYN who specializes in reproductive endocrinology. Other types of doctors should not be prescribing Metformin.

azulvioleta6

For those of you have stomach problems--see if you can try the extended release. It tends to be much better tolerated.