Anyone taking Met that wasn't diagnosed as IR?

[ske101]

I am waiting to take a glucose test and get the rest of my results back from my endo as to whether I have PCOS and if I am IR. I have read alot on this site and others about met helping with many symptoms such as hairloss by lowering the testesterone. That is my main concern right now. Is anyone taking met that hasn't been diagnosed as IR? I have a feeling I won't be IR because I am very thin...and I need something to work!!! I am desperate.

[Kunkali]

I'm 25 and have had PCOS for 5 years now and just recently decided to go to an endo who put me on metformin (well...riomet since i cannot swallow big pills). I'm not IR...in fact my fasting insulin was 11 uIU/dl (whatever that means), my hba1c was 5.5, my fasting glucose was 78, and i weigh 111 lbs.

Anyway, he put me initially on riomet 1000 mg/day and i was sick all that same night of first trying it so i went down to 500 mg/day for 2 weeks, and just couldnt handle the symptoms anymore. I would be perfectly fine some days and then other days i would be what i call "bathroom plastered"...i would be so nauseaous that i would just be plastered to the bathroom floor not able to move all day. So just last night i started on Actos 30 mg/day. I hope this stuff works. I never get normal periods...only this ugly brown spotting for a little over a month every 4 months or so.

Anyone else on Actos? What about it causes a respiratory tract infection? Does it lower the immunity or something?

[esarah]

My doctor told me 10 or higher on the insulin level is considered high. Right now my insulin level is lower than that. I am in a normal range but I will still take met when I am done breastfeeding my daughter even if my insulin levels stay normal. Met helped to lose weight and have more energy and in the long run it helped me to become pregnant. If you are planning on taking met and do not want to become pregnant it is best to do something to prevent pregnancy just in case.
The reason met works to lower the testosterone is becuase it regulates your insulin. Once your insulin is under contorl you other hormones usually work themselves out too. Apparently you can be insulin resistant at times and not at others since I was insulin resistant before but I currently am not. Another thing that helps control your hormones is watching what you eat. I know you are thin but being careful about eating too many carbs and what kind of carbs you eat can have a similar effect to metformin. If you are insulin resistant eating less carbs and trying to make the carbs you eat good carbs should help you. Whole grains are best.

[Piner99]

I started met on 11/12 and am not IR. We will see how it works! I want the works: regular periods, less hair, less acne, less oily hair and the Big O -- ovulation.

[ske101]

How did you get your doc to put you on met if you aren't IR?

[Kunkali]

didn't have to do anything, my doctor just said that type 2 diabetes meds sometimes helps get the testosterone down and thus regulate my menstrual cycles.

[steph]

I have been taking Met but couldn't tolerate the s/e so we switched to Actos.I am NOT IR. :) I just asked my dr could I try it and see if it made my periods return, and so far it has NOT. :shock: I think it must only work according to how insulin resistant you are........ anyway I have to induce AF.

[MBAchick]

I too am a Thin poly-ci (120 and 5'7") with regular natural periods all my life (knock wood). Being thin certainly helps but does not gaurantee not having IR. My fasting blood sugars are in the normal range (but high normal). I use to work as a pharma rep and sold Avandia so I learned quite a bit about some drugs. There are many off label uses for Met. I am a super healthy person (outside of PCOS) with a strong excerise routine that I have put on hold because of time. recently. That can be the best medicine sometimes.
Anyway, the off label benefits may be why you are on it. I would get a good book with case studies and read about various different med options.

[skusisto]

My new RE put me on Met yesterday... he said that most women with PCOS (specifically he mentioned with symptoms of hirsutism and acne) are IR, but that it's very difficult to test for... he said fasting insulin levels are really not indicative and that the Glucose Tolerance Test is better, you can still be in normal range (though usually high normal) and be IR... he said the only reliable test would include being in the hospital overnight so they could closely control what went in and then do the GTT... so, he said he gives it as a first pass to all women diagnosed with PCOS... not testing required...

[Piner99]

I've now been on met close to a month with no results. I'm a thin cyster (5'8", 133 lbs) and have not test IR.

[dgbaby]

I never had a regular period (45 days at the most) and when trying to get pregnant was diagnosed with high prolactin levels (just slightly high). I started taking bromocriptine which lowered the prolactin right away but then went for 3 mo of not having a period (after having had them even though so sporadically). More tests (LH, FSH, an ultrasound, etc) showed I had PCOS. Although I dont have many of the other symptoms (insulin is 4.4, no acne, 5'4" and 125 pounds, etc) my ER put me on Metformin (500 then 1000 and then 1500 /day). I've been taking it for more than a month now (together with the bromocriptine) and have had no periods. I was lucky that I didn't have any side effects but haven't had my periods either ... I was wondering if Met has helped anyone with same/similar PCOS syptoms (cysts, high LH to FSH ratio and irregular/no periods) and with high prolactin? Also, has anyone tried acupuncture or other alternative medicines? --- Thanks!

[skusisto]

I don't ahve high prolactin, but my PCOS symptoms are the same...

After being on met for 3weeks, I started spotting... I spotted for 10 days but it never turned into full AF. Doctor put me on provera to induce a full AF... that's where I'm at. It does seem that the met is doing something, but I'm not sure what that is yet.

[dgbaby]

Thanks and good luck! I'll let you know if anything from my side ... nothing so far (yet).

[daybyday]

do you have to take met more than once a day if you are not IR. It's hard for me to handle taking 2 pills a day. Also, how do you ask your endo for met, if they are kind of sticky to get at?

[want2bemama]

I took Met 1500 mg without being tested for IR.I jus asked my obgyn and without blinking an eyelid..she prescribed it!!(I think the best thing she has ever done for me!)
1500 mg is the therapeutic dose and I took the Extended release tabs...The first month was tough becos i would be nauseated and had a really bad appetite.
I felt apples or drinking milk were the best ways to combat the nausea.
Later the symptoms became better and now I dont feel anything.
I am a thin pcoer and I think all pcos women irrespective of their weight have some kind of insulin resistance.
I know it worked for me becos i got pg on my 4th month of Met.

[want2bemama]

There r a lot of articles on the internet regarding Met..u can take printouts of that and show it to ur endo and insist on it.
If he/she still does not budge..ask ur obgyn.

do you have to take met more than once a day if you are not IR. It's hard for me to handle taking 2 pills a day. Also, how do you ask your endo for met, if they are kind of sticky to get at?

[daybyday]

I went to my gyno and asked for met. She doesn't want to perscribe it for me until I want to get pregnant. Right now I am on yasmin. It masks my symptoms so I will stay on it until I want to get pregnant and then I guess take met for the rest of my life. Can you take met for the rest of your life and have it always control pcos? What about after menopause?

[want2bemama]

If u r not planning to get pg..then its ok..but a doc i talked to said that if u take met along with BCP's...its easier to get pg after stopping the BCP's.I guess each doc thinks differently and its better to follow what ur obgyn says.
I have read that Met if taken intially to control Pcos..should be continued for life.I have also read abt some women who feel that they have become resistant to met after taking it for a long time.I am not sure abt it though.Ask ur doc abt it.
Menopause is a long way to go..so I guess I am not worrying abt that too much!!



I went to my gyno and asked for met. She doesn't want to perscribe it for me until I want to get pregnant. Right now I am on yasmin. It masks my symptoms so I will stay on it until I want to get pregnant and then I guess take met for the rest of my life. Can you take met for the rest of your life and have it always control pcos? What about after menopause?

[Piner99]

I think it's a better idea to at least try met before you want to get pregnant, that way you'll already know whether or not it works for you and you won't have to spend 6-12 months trying it out.