HELP! I can't get Met ER and regular Met is making me sick...now what???

kay21 · 11-25-2005, 07:59 AM

I have been taking 500 mg of the regular version of Met with dinner for about 1 month now. I am supposed to have gone up to 1000 mg by now, but the 500 mg alone is still making me sick...mostly nausea the next morning. i have a follow up appt with an endo in January, because he wants to retest all my hormones to see if the Met has helped after 3 months. since stopping yasmin in april, i have experienced an increase in acne, hair growth (on chin, mustache, arms, legs, etc.), weight gain and EXTREME hair loss. i knew i had some type of hormonal problem. i went to SEVERAL doctors and they (several family practitioners, 2 GYNs and 2 Endos) all told me that i did not have pcos, because i was not overweight. however, after demanding blood tests and an US, i was officially diagnosed with pcos by a new GYN and new Endo. the blood tests showed that my LH (i had a 4:1 ratio- LH:FSH ratio), total testosterone (72), free test. and andro hormones were all elevated. my prolactin, DHEAs (300), glucose (78) and insulin (6) were all normal. the GYN recommended i go back on bcps, i refused. the second endo recommended i "wait it out" to see if my ovaries would recover after being on bcps for 3 years. after my symptoms continued to get worse, i made an appt with another endo. as soon as he saw my labs and US results, he said "I am going to try you on Metformin." I asked why he was putting me on this if my insulin results were normal and he said that the insulin test was not really accurate or helpful. he also told me that metformin has proven to be helpful in most women with pcos with/without IR. he told me that it didn't make sense to put me back on a bcp or antiandrogen if i was planning to conceive in the next 2 years anyway. this way i could get my body ready when i wanted to TTC.

THe prescription for Met gave me hope. but now it is making me sick. after reading the boards and reading your comments about the postive effects (and lack of side effects) of Gluc XR and Met ER versions, I became hopeful again. I called the pharmacy and they said that Kaiser in Hawaii does not offer the ER or XR versions. She basically just told me to "follow your doctor's instructions" more carefully. Duh! Like I wasn't doing that already. Now what??? Should I see if Kaiser will cover it through another insurance company/pharmacy?

christyz · 11-25-2005, 08:59 PM

I always ask about diet when it comes to side effects...because for me, I was sick for over a year until I started eating to control my insulin with the IR diet. It was like a whole new drug for me without any of the problems I had been plagued with. I encourage you to re-evaulate your eating and see if there are any ways that are could help you.

Feel better soon.

konzter · 11-25-2005, 09:34 PM

If possible I would ask for Fortamet. It is just a new formulation of met, but lighter on the side effects. Met also made me sick, but I had no problems at all on Fortamet. I sure hope this helps!