Denied Met

venusg1 · 10-01-2004, 04:18 PM

Ok so just recently i spoke to my doc about the posibility of starting the met, even though i carry a light amt of symptoms of PCOS. IR not being one of them. She said that she doesn't prescribe the drug to patients that are not IR because of the increase of some liver disease. After poking around the message board i get the impression that most cysters are taking some amount of met regardless of their level of PCOS. Should i fight this a little bit further or should i trust my doctor's judgement??
Oh another thing now that I'm typing away is anyone else TTC, through IUI with just the help of Gonal F and how long b4 you became PG????

Venus 26
DH 29
DX 05/04
TTC 05/04

marU · 10-03-2004, 02:33 AM

my doctor didnt give me any tests and just gave it to me so i dont think it really matters but hey thats just me.

bloo · 10-03-2004, 07:44 AM

i never trust doctors

i try to get as much info on the internet and on this board i can get and then i discuss my research with my endo/gyn ...

if you are ttc and not ir, metformin might help anyway, i read that in other threads a lot. so if i were you, i would push my doctor to prescribe it on a temporary basis if everything else fails to get you pregnant. my endo would prescribe it if i take the responsibilty (i would have to sign a "disclaimer" or something)

i myself do not take met, bc. i believe that ir diet, exercise and alpha-lipoic acid helps me a lot and iÂ´m not crazy about meds.

do some research on this wonderful board!

pam

christyz · 10-03-2004, 10:35 PM

It really depends. Some ladies can manage things fine with diet and exercise changes, others of us need a jackhammer like met.

Since it sounds like your symptoms are pretty light and I'd try the diet and exercise aspect and if you're still struggling with hormones or the symptoms, then either get a second opinion on the met or try some of the other alternatives like chromium, progesterone cream or other non-pill options.

Good luck!

bbro · 10-05-2004, 02:22 PM

Just to throw my two cents in here, I am in the same boat as you are. I have light symptoms, but have a good number of them. My doctor ran all kinds of blood tests to make sure my liver and kidneys were ok. She also ran other tests to confirm the PCOS diagnosis. She said that I wasnt's IR, but could go on Met to help me lose some weight. The difference is that a lot of ladies here are on 1500-2000 mgs a day. I will only be on 500 mgs a day until I go back so she can check my liver and kidney functions again.

I believe that the reason I will be on such a low dosage is because she did not diagnose me with IR, but I am just guessing.

I also think that the IR diet would be a good idea to try if you want an alternative. What can it hurt? I just bought the book and am trying to follow that as well. It is really simple to understand, but will probably take some time to get used to (for me anyways

)

I think what it boils down to is how much you trust your doctor. I didn't trust my previous one that BCP was all I could take for the symptoms, but I do trust the current one because my father used to work with a woman that has PCOS and this doctor really helped her out. At this point, I am happy with any type of progress, even if it is slow.

Good Luck with your decision!

Angi5779 · 10-05-2004, 04:34 PM

i was givin a prescription for glucophage (insurance covers met) the day i left the doc office. my lab results weren't in until a week or so later. he started me on 500mg, then up to 1000mg, and now i'm at 2000mg.
i agree with you, i don't think there is a "level" of PCOS that would make someone a better/worse candidate for met. (btw, what does your doc think the "levels" are??? just curious...)

lissadell · 10-05-2004, 05:16 PM

I also didn't test as IR, but am taking 2,000 mgs of met daily. My initial doc didn't want to give me met (wouldn't even run tests, just suspected I it wouldn't help b/c I am thin). So I switched docs and found one that believes in met for all women with PCOS.

And it has made a difference. After 9 months of taking met, my testosterone (free and total) has dropped down into normal ranges! My cycles and ovulations are still a mess though b/c we've now discerned that I may have an adrenal problem (signaled by elevated DHEAS).

There is research showing that met helps non-IR women and some suspicion in the medical community that all women with PCOS are IR (just some of us may have subtle issues that aren't detectable on standard medical tests).

Oh, and I had my liver enzymes tested after 9 months on met - and they were just fine.

Tigger2Cute · 11-05-2004, 06:57 PM

Just wanted you to know that you're not alone! My dr put me through 2 Glucose tolerance tests and a fasting insulin. The results came back that I am obviously not a diabetic but have some issues with my blood sugar. i.e. Insulin Resistant/Impaired Glucose Tolerance and my stupid Dr STILL won't give it to me! After doing all that, he tells me that I should see an Internist (internal medicine dr) before he proceeds with any further meds. I'm thinking ~ ummmm....okay, why not just tell me that to begin with?? If my sugar levels had been normal he wouldn't have give it to me either, so why even make me take the tests if he still won't give it to me when they are abnormal. And btw, ALLL my other blood tests came back fine. (TSH, Thyroxine, or whatever all that crap is they test for) and the only problem with my GTT is that my blood sugar levels stayed a tiny bit elevated a tiny bit longer than they should have. My Fasting Insulin was 11.3 Sometimes I just don't get dr's. Which is why I'm changing to an RE.

I hope you have better luck with whatever you decide to do also!!

Tigger