metformin made me feel better- but periods never came

hellolilly · 02-28-2007, 01:53 AM

Metformin seemed to help with my blood sugar- BUT my periods never become more regular so I went off the drug- but now all the blood sugar issues are coming back and they seem to be worse than ever. I am starving ALL the time. get shakey- have to pee every half hour it seems.. and am feeling a little yeast infection coming on. I am wondering if I should go back on the metformin just for these symtoms even though it didn't seem to help change my hormone levels at all.. or enough to change my cycle (or lack there of). But if Its not helping with the PCOS and I'm not diabetic it seems crazy to be on medication. -I have been eating healthy- low carb and exersizing forever and that only takes me so far... has anyone else had this issue with metformin?

Allison. · 02-28-2007, 10:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by hellolilly

Metformin seemed to help with my blood sugar- BUT my periods never become more regular so I went off the drug- but now all the blood sugar issues are coming back and they seem to be worse than ever.

But if Its not helping with the PCOS and I'm not diabetic it seems crazy to be on medication. -I have been eating healthy- low carb and exersizing forever and that only takes me so far... has anyone else had this issue with metformin?

I am Not Diabetic. Metformin has helped me tremendously.
It took a while to kick in.

How long had you been on it?
It lowered my testosterone levels some. I also need to take an anti androgen medication to bring my testosterone levels low enough so that I have regular cycles.
Some of us need medication for our bodies to work properly.
It would be wonderful if Diet and exercise was all it took for my PCOS symptoms to subside. (of course it helps)
I must do a combination of meds, exercise and diet.
What are your testosterone levels? I do better when I keep my levels under 25.

hellolilly · 02-28-2007, 01:47 PM

I belive I was on the metformin for around 8 months. I started out with 1000, then went up to 1500 mg a day for only about the last month as a last effort to see if a higher dosage would make a difference. I guess I was feeling a bit better, but I didn't notice because it was gradual and i had forgotten how much worse I felt. My doctor just seemed to be really focused on me getting a regular cycle, so I thought that was the main goal of being on the medication. when metformin had no effect on my periods, she said- well, it was worth the effort- but you can stop since it's not working.
I don't know what my testosterone levels were. I will have to make another appointment with my doc and revisit this. I guess I am fairly recently diagnosed and felt sort of uncomfortable with the whole thing. The diagnosis seemed to come too easy for my doctor, although I really like her, I wasn't sure if I trusted the whole thing. She did do some blood tests, a pelvic and vaginal ultrasound, but didn't do many of the tests I see listed on this website. I didn't do a fasting blood sugar test. And she didn't give me any of the results of the blood tests so I will have to ask her for them.
thanks for your reply!

toriamae · 02-28-2007, 03:46 PM

My doctor has me on 2000mg per day. It sounds to me like you had improvement on your symptoms, just not enough to make your doctor happy. I would definitely consider revisiting the issue, this time with some lab monitoring of your levels to see whether you are improving.

Good luck!

Tori

hellolilly · 02-28-2007, 05:54 PM

thanks! yeah, I made an appointment to talk with her about it next thursday. Obviosly I am pretty ignorant about the whole thing. I thought the 1500 mg was a lot, and I only tried that for a month. Now I see so many people here that take 2000 mg a day. I s'pose I might have givin up too soon. I guess we were both a bit impatiant and she probably sensed my ambivilance about my diagnosis. Anyway- this time I will ask for more lab work (first time I asked she said it didn't really matter too much- what mattered was how I felt and if my periods were getting affected) anyway, if she is unwilling then I will find another doctors opinion.
thanks

toriamae · 03-01-2007, 03:03 PM

Good luck with your appointment!

Tori