Has anybody had their periods stop after increasing their dose of glucophage? And not because of pregnancy?
I had been on 1000 mg and had not terribly regular periods, but at least one every two months. In the three months I have been taking 2000 mg of glucophage xr, I have had two episodes of spotting during the week I usually have a period. But nothing more.
It's not pregnancy, my husband has had a vasectomy and sterility has been confirmed. I also had the doctor run a pregnancy test just to be completely sure and nope, not pregnant.
I really would hate to drop the dose back to 1000 mg, because the 2000 mg is really curbing my appetite and allowing me to lose weight a lot more quickly. But, if I'm not having periods for months at a time, I'm at increased cancer risk.
Has this happened to anybody else? Did you just have to lower your dose? Or take something else to induce a period maybe? Exactly how dangerous is not having regular periods?
As noted in my signature line, we're child-free by choice and I do not wish to ever become pregnant. Honestly, if it weren't a major surgery, I'd just have my uterus removed and be done with the whole period thing altogether.
Tracy
__________________ "Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo"....... H.G. Wells
My periods didn't stop, but they did stay pretty wacky my first year on Met. I would have a 32 day cycle and think.."WOOHOO! I'm REGULAR!" and then have a 63 day cycle. So it takes a while for things to really settle into place. In my second year, things improved dramatically, and I am a regular 31-34 days now. Met really took it's time to lower my hormones..after 2 years on the meds, my testosterone, insulin and androgen are all in normal ranges for the first time. It's just a slow process for some of us with more stubborn bods.
My advice would be to speak to your Dr about maybe having some bloodwork done (at 3 months on Met your Dr should be running your liver enzymes anyway) and see if your hormones are dropping. It will help to see where you are at and assess if this is why your periods are being affected.
It is dangerous to not have periods long term, but the rule of thumb for most Dr's is they induce a period with Provera every 3rd month or so to reduce the risk of endometrial cancers. Every Dr has his own guidelines on that.
Good Luck!
PS: Checked out your web page...thanks for sharing! My Dh and I were HUGE Chai tea fans this past winter too!
__________________ Christy
33 yrs, 1 precious hubby, 2 miracle kids, At Goal Wt for 4 yrs, Trygly's down 445 pts, Free Androgen down from 20 to 2, 3 half 'thons ran, 2 mtns hiked, 1 crazy run in the Rockies, 4 forest trail races, profiled in 2 magazines...1 woman determined to kick PCOS butt!
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I go back to my doctor at the end of the month, and will definately be following up with him and see what my options are.
I won't be going the Provera route. I subjected myself to at least six courses of Provera from a reproductive endocrinologist over the span of two years, and only once did it induce menstruation in me (and when it did, it caused what would be accurately labeled as "hemmoraging"). It also caused me to have progressively worse emotional mood swings that were truly disturbing and frightening in their severity each time I tried it.
He tried two formulas, neither gave good results, both caused unacceptable mood altering complications. I finally just said no more, and if the uterus had to come out, it had to come out. I found another doctor who prescribed the Glucophage and after a couple months, I started having semi-regular periods again.
Frankly. If it came down to Provera or hysterectomy, I would get down on my knees and beg for a hysterectomy. I'm not sure exactly how I can express just how frightening and disturbing the emotional side-effects of the drug were. But during the last course of it I had, I came very close to having to be taken to a psychiatric emergcency room. And I had no period, so it was all for nothing.
I had been on 1000 mg of glucophage and then glucophage XR since 1998 and had the most normal periods of my life for nearly 5 years. (at least once every two months, sometimes regular cycles for months at a time) When the doctor increased my dose to 2000 mg in May, I had one month heavy spotting/light period, one month light spotting, and then one month of nothing. So far for August, nothing either. The doctor wanted to see me after 4 months of the new dose anyway, so at least I know I'm being followed up with soon.
He checked my liver enzymes every 2-3 months for the first 2 years with no problems, and ever since, he sees me every 3-4 months for a followup/bloodwork.
Probably if he finds nothing else in the bloodwork, I'll ask him to just decrease the Glucophage back down to 1000 mg. and see if my period comes back like it was before my dose was doubled.
If it doesn't come back, I don't know what I'll do. I don't even know what the alternatives to Provera are, if there even are any.
Tracy
__________________ "Moral indignation is jealousy with a halo"....... H.G. Wells
I'm not a big Provera fan either, which is why I was relieved when Met finally got my periods in gear.
There are alternatives to provera you could ask about...I had planned to use Progesterone Cream if the Met didn't work for me. I've never used them, so I have no idea if you would have the same experience as on provera, but I have read it is all natural (as opposed to synthetic hormones in provera). You may also have success with an herbal remedy...the alternative remedies section would know more about those than I would.
Hope it helps!
__________________ Christy
33 yrs, 1 precious hubby, 2 miracle kids, At Goal Wt for 4 yrs, Trygly's down 445 pts, Free Androgen down from 20 to 2, 3 half 'thons ran, 2 mtns hiked, 1 crazy run in the Rockies, 4 forest trail races, profiled in 2 magazines...1 woman determined to kick PCOS butt!
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Metformin increase, periods stopped. 
