abigail'smom

My almost-17 year old daughter has had problems with acne and hirsutism for 2 years. She is not overweight and exercises regularly. She has seen 2 reproductive endocrinologists who recommended bcp/spironolactone. She has had pretty good results with these meds and laser treatments. I am not thrilled with long term use of these medications. My question is : has anyone had great control of acne and hirsutism with metformin alone? She is reluctant to change her treatment as it has worked well for her, but I would love to see her hormones regulated, ovulating, without acne/hair growth in a more natural way. Any suggestions would be appreciated!

tiggarat

It's never helped me with acne, and I've never heard of it helping with either acne or hirsutism. Maybe other's have. I know what you mean, though. I don't like the idea of long-term use of ANY drug, but I need to be on met if I want to be somewhat normal. I used to be on bcp, and I know that certain ones did help with acne, but I suffer from migraines, and AF got to be a week-long migraine, so I went off it. I haven't had regular AF's since, but I have fewer headaches.

I think you and your daughter really need to weigh the pros and cons of her meds. If it's working for her now, leave it alone. Teenager's have a hard enough time dealing with self-esteem issues without throwing PCOS into the mix.

I hope you are able to find some answers to your question.

februarystar

Maybe in an indirect way it has. I believe my acne and hirsutism has improved with weightloss, and my weightloss was definately helped by Met. But the BCP definately had a more immediate effect on my acne in particular. I'm not sure of her weight, but if she is looking to lose weight, perhaps a BCP is great as a short term solution and use Met as a long term solution to lose and control weight?

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