Non-Insulin Resistant PCOS, and metformin issues.
arwenbutterfly
Posts: 8 Member
I have been on metformin for about two months now. At first, I had no side effects other than tiredness. I slowly increased my dosage, and the exhaustion got worse. It has not gotten better. Also, in the last week, I have started having the gastrointestinal issues the others are having. I am not sure what changed in the last week to make it that much worse, but I considering stopping the metformin. I spoke to my doc, and he said it wouldn't matter if I were on it or not as my PCOS is the non-insulin resistant kind.
Anyone else in this boat where you are non-insulin resistant? What worked for you? I am on BC, and I am trying to keep up with exercise. This week was harder because I feel pretty horrible energy and tummy wise.
For the record, I did see an improvement in my weight loss for a bit, but since I am tracking and exercising, I am not sure I can say metformin was the true push into what I needed. I was able to get pregnant taking metformin before, but I wasn't on BC.
Anyone else in this boat where you are non-insulin resistant? What worked for you? I am on BC, and I am trying to keep up with exercise. This week was harder because I feel pretty horrible energy and tummy wise.
For the record, I did see an improvement in my weight loss for a bit, but since I am tracking and exercising, I am not sure I can say metformin was the true push into what I needed. I was able to get pregnant taking metformin before, but I wasn't on BC.
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So...why are you on Metformin? If your doctor prescribed it just because you have PCOS, then get a new doctor. Ones that do that, especially knowing that you're not insulin resistant, don't know jack about PCOS. Metformin works for insulin-resistant PCOS because the insulin resistance is the largest underlying cause of the issues, but not all PCOS comes with insulin resistance.
The GI issues are common when you increase the dosage, as well as if you eat certain trigger foods (details vary, but often it's really carby foods, some react to really fatty meals, too, though).
As for what can work, the friends I have with your variation of PCOS have benefited from whole foods based diets that limit carbs somewhat (ie - around 100g, give or take), and get them mostly from complex carbs (ie - greatly limit refined sugars, watch the sugar from fruits and favor low-GI fruits like berries over high-GI fruits generally, favor carbs from non-starchy vegetables in general), and that has ample amounts of good fats (monounsaturated, saturated, some polyunsaturated with favor given to Omega-3). These fats (yes, even saturated fat) help balance hormones, including endocrine hormones. There's also some evidence that links PCOS with gluten intolerance, so it's probably worth cutting out at least the gluten grains for at least a month and see if it helps you (just make sure you don't replace it with fake-wheat, choose alternatives over replacements).
Avoiding xenoestrogens and endocrine disruptors may also help -- so avoid unfermented soy products, don't heat things in plastic containers (they leach BPA and other chemicals), avoid canned foods (or carefully research what they use to line them, most use BPA), buy as high a quality of foods you can (local, pastured, organic, etc), install a high quality water filter system in your home (at least for drinking water; there's a ton of crap in most drinking water), and switch from Teflon to stainless steel in your cookware (PFCs).
http://www.ewg.org/research/dirty-dozen-list-endocrine-disruptors0 -
Thank you. That is a lot of good information that I will look into! My doctor put me on the met before my insulin resistance test came back. The test came back negative, and he ordered me off of it because I started having GI issues. Months later, I found my lower dose met pills, and hypothesized that maybe he had started me on too strong a dose. I decided to try getting on it again. For a time, it seemed to be working, but then I got to 1500. It ended in the same way, so I get the message. I''m not going to take it anymore.
I am going to work on my diet. I did find that I felt better when I ate less carby stuff. I ate cubed pastrami, muenster, and some strawberries, and felt better.
I will read up on the stuff you mentioned. Thank you!0
