PCOS Message Board - View Single Post - Routine Use of Metformin for Ovulation Induction in PCOS is No Longer Recommended

KatCarney · 03-03-2008, 06:51 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by KatCarney

The didn't 'write met off'. They simply looked at the available research and drew conclusions based on that research.

more on this...

Clomiphene alone and NOT in combination with Metformin as first-line help for PCOS

Clomiphene, metformin, or both for infertility in the polycystic ovary syndrome

Metformin Mania - should all cysters take Metformin?

EXCERPT FROM ONE OF THE ARTICLES:

Quote:

This is the largest, most comprehensive effort yet to compare the two drugs in helping PCOS patients achieve successful pregnancy. The findings appear in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"With this study, my colleagues and I recommend and support the use of clomiphene alone and NOT in combination with Metformin as a first-line therapy for infertility in women with PCOS," said Christos Coutifaris, MD, PhD, Director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility and the principal investigator from Penn. "These results emphasize the need to test any new application rigorously, no matter how promising it may seem initially."

According to the study authors, women who took metformin ovulated more that the women who were given the standard treatment. Similarly, women in the combination therapy group ovulated more frequently than did the women in either the clomiphene-alone or the metformin-alone groups. However, as the current study revealed, an increase in ovulation did not result in more successful pregnancies and deliveries for either the metformin alone, or combination group.

"The bottom line here is that ovulation does not necessarily result in a successful pregnancy," said Coutifaris "The results suggest that an ovulation due to clomiphene is two times as likely to result in pregnancy compared to an ovulation caused by metformin."