Do doctors overprescribe?

OrangeDaisy · 03-17-2006, 04:08 AM

I've been taking Met for 18 months and I lost about 30 pounds. I should lose 30 or 40 more, but after the first 30, it stopped being easy.

My cholesterol went up 10-15 points during that time, to 236, with my HDL too high and my LDL too low. My GP insisted that I go on Crestor. I put up some resistance because these days I think they've all been indoctrinated by the drug companies. With my family history (both parents have heart disease) and PCOS diagnosis, she said it was important to control the cholesterol. After 3 months my cholesterol dropped to 141 and the LDL & HDL are in normal ranges. I'm thrilled with those results although a little nervous with all the bad publicity that Statin drugs are getting.

My Triglycerides dropped from 208 to 189, but at this 3 month followup visit, she insisted I add Tricor to my meds. She wants my Tris below 150. Again she was adamant that with my family history I need to get all these numbers in normal ranges. I've always loved this doctor for treating illnesses, and the whole office is pretty knowledgeable about PCOS. I just think it's a little over the top to take meds for Triglycerides at 189. Any thoughts?

beachlover · 03-18-2006, 08:31 PM

Hi, orangedaisy! I have just recently received a firm PCOS diagnosis, and I have just started posting. My cholesterol has been a little high, but my doctors seem to ignore that for whatever reason. I have actually thought that maybe I should be on some type of cholesterol medicine.
That's odd that your cholesterol would go up while you were actually losing weight.
Going off topic a little bit-I have noticed a lot of people have posted that they have lost weight while taking met, I haven't noticed it so much for myself. I started taking it in August and got up to 1000 mg, and went off for a month in Jan to get insulin testing by another dr. (I was put on the med for suspicion of the PCOS, and no actual testing was done by my endo-had to go to RE to get test done). Anyway, I am wondering if the weight loss comes with the higher doses? I am working my way up to 2000mg.

To me, and, I am not a doctor, but 3 months does not seem like a long enough time to give your initial medicine a chance to see how it's going to work. Maybe in 6-9 months if your levels aren't what they should be, consider adding this other medicine in. I wonder if you watched your diet (if you aren't already), and just took this one medicine, maybe that would be enough to get your tris in the desired range.

I do think some doctors are ready to hand out pills for anything and everything, and others are way too stingy with giving prescriptions. I think many times you feel worse taking all the medicine (albeit many times we need it) than you do when you take nothing at all.

I hope everything works out for you.

silentnomore · 03-19-2006, 08:02 AM

I have actually felt that metformin is keeping my weight on. I experimented a while back and quit taking it for a few days and i got really fatigued easily but i actually lost weight - like 10 pounds in a few days. It made me want to quit taking it all together as I desperately wish i could lose pounds (i only need to lose about 30 total) but the overwhelming fatigue was unbearable so I started it again. Am I doing something wrong? Should be exercising more? Any advice would be appreciated.

OrangeDaisy · 03-22-2006, 06:12 PM

I lost about 30 pounds when I started taking Met. It just melted away because my appetite was totally gone. In fact, I think I had food aversion to some foods. I got over that after about 4 - 5 months, and haven't lost anymore weight, but at least I haven't gained it back.

I try to watch what I eat, and I exercise some (not enough), but I'm definitely still overweight High cholesterol and triglycerides run in my family, and this doctor doesn't think I have much chance of overcoming them with diet and exercise since I've never been able to. She wants to treat all the metabolic syndrome stuff aggressively with meds. I can't decide if that's good or bad. I haven't started the Tricor samples yet because new meds always make me feel bad, and I've had some important & fun stuff going on in my life that I want to feel my best for. I did go ahead and place the mail order prescription, so I guess I'll try it. I have to go back in 3 months for a follow-up bloodwork again, so it will be interesting to see if I can tolerate both Crestor and Tricor and what they do to my lipids combined. I've read internet postings that say Tricor makes you hungry. If it does that to me, it won't be on my list of meds for long!!