Ready To Give Up

ker310 · 11-06-2007, 05:10 PM

Hi Ladies,
A little bit about myself...I have pcos and we have been trying to get pregnant for 4 years (we are both 29).
My doctor prescribed me Met with my Clomid about 4 months ago and the Met has been a nightmare.
I started at 500mg and was very sick but managed to up dose to 1000mg...I was so sick with the 1000mg I could not even get any food down with the pill so I had to stop.
I waited a week and started over again...moving up the dose in 500mg incriments after a couple of weeks on each. Still was so sick I had to stop.
Now it has been 2 months of taking the Met. I started out at 250mg for 2 weeks and moved up to 500mg where I stayed at another 2 weeks. Every 2 weeks I have moved up 250mg and I am now at 1250mg (just moved up from 100 today) and I am so sick. I just don't know if this is worth it. I can't even leave the house (I continuously feel like I have motion sickness) and it is terrible. But on the other hand I feel like I am so close. If I can just get to the 1500mg and stay there maybe I will pregnant. How do I fight this. I am so tired of feeling ill. I see a fertility specialist on the 27 of Nov. and I am afraid if I stop taking the Met she will tell me that I need to start it all over again. I CAN'T do this again.
What can I do for the nausea? I do everything right. Monitor sugars and water intake, nothing seems to help.
Any suggestions?
Do you think maybe the drug is just not meant for me and I should stop putting myself through this?
Thanks for any advice,
Kerri

anetzel · 11-06-2007, 07:16 PM

Hi.My name is Amanda and im on Metformin too.
I have been on it since Oct 1st. i started with one pill for one week, then went to 2 pills for 2 weeks, then 3 pills which is 1500mg's. which im at now since then. i get sick too, its not just you. Eat healthy foods, not fried, i tried Mc D's and almost threw up. Chili doesn't sit well with me either. why dont you go back to 1000mg and stay there until you dont feel sick and then move up the dosage, thats what i did. i drink alot of water as well throughout the day, that might help you too.

anetzel · 11-06-2007, 07:17 PM

Hi.My name is Amanda and im on Metformin too.
I have been on it since Oct 1st. i started with one pill for one week, then went to 2 pills for 2 weeks, then 3 pills which is 1500mg's. which im at now since then. i get sick too, its not just you. Eat healthy foods, not fried, i tried Mc D's and almost threw up. Chili doesn't sit well with me either. why dont you go back to 1000mg and stay there until you dont feel sick and then move up the dosage, thats what i did. i drink alot of water as well throughout the day, that might help you too.

ker310 · 11-06-2007, 07:48 PM

Thanks Amanda for replying. I really do watch what I eat and I drink lots of water. The reason I have moved up my dose is because I am always sick, it doesn't really get any better than this but I have to move the dose up sometime. My husband I are also frequently seperated because of the military and he will be gone again in Jan and Feb and with me going into my 4 month of Clomid I would like to keep going until he leaves (hence wanting to get up to 1500mg of Met).

lexibelle · 11-06-2007, 08:04 PM

ker310 - first *hugs* I know the s/e's from the Metformin can be absolutely horrible.

Can I ask a few questions?

When are you taking the Met? (with a meal, morning, noon, night)
How are you taking it? (are you breaking up the dose, doing it all at once, taking it with food, before you eat, etc)
I know you said you're watching what you eat, which is a GREAT start, but are you doing low-carb, no grease, etc?

I'm on 1700mg and I've found that if I'm not really, REALLY careful about what I eat I'll end up with some stomach issues. Most recently I discovered that the Met doesn't always agree with Oatmeal (yet it does fine with eggs and bacon/sausage...go figure). I also notice that if I'm not eating enough I'll get that nauseous feeling - so I have to be sure to get something in my stomach every 3 hours or so.

Oh, also - which version of the Met are you taking? Have you tried the XR version (I'm not sure if it comes in the generic, but I know you can get it under the brand name of Glucophage). I know I've read that women who were miserable on the regular Met had awesome results on the XR version.

In the end though, if you're not able to stomach it - you're going to have to talk to your doctor and see if there's another combination you can try.

Yes, the Met+Clomid can be just what you need to get pregnant, but if you're not able to keep anything down, it may end up negating the benefit.

ker310 · 11-06-2007, 08:40 PM

Hi Lexibelle,
Thanks so much for the response

I have been taking the Met with food morning and night 500 mg each. I just moved up to the 1250 mg today and I took 750mg morning and 500mg with supper.
My diet is good, I really watch things and I have already experimented and I know what works and does not work for me.
Unfortunately I went to my OB and asked for the time release version and he said that we don't have it here in Canada (so that was out).
Maybe I will try and stick it out until my appt at the end of the month...it just seems so far away right now when you feel sick everyday.

Betwixt · 11-07-2007, 06:57 AM

Slippery Elm Bark, for queasy. I was running to the toilet so much last night, and I was HURTIN', till I realized I had some slippery elm bark left from a few months ago, when I had some queasy going on. It's all natural, you can probably find it in an herbal supplement place, or an herb shop. That's what I'd take (and will continue to take as long as it's applicable) while on Met.

brener · 11-07-2007, 05:12 PM

Ladies
I had the same problem.... I got preg in May on 1000mg. Every day I had been sick with nausea... When I had a m/c I gave up metforim. I was so pissed off being sick.. I starte doing injections instead.. get this nurse said I must get back to metforim as well. Its the key to pcos..

even 500mg made me sick BUT This week I have taken the tablet with TWO tablets of Acidophilus with dinner.. get this.. NO NAUSEA.... Tomorrow I am going to take 250mg with breaky and two acidophilus and 500mg with dinner and 2 x a... She also said I was drinking TOO MUCH water.. to cut down to 1.5 litres, too much water causes nausea too...

So try that???

PCOSDC · 11-07-2007, 08:49 PM

Just wanted to chime in and say that the XR version of met is available in Canada. Its called glumetza.

ker310 · 11-07-2007, 10:02 PM

Hey Brener thanks for the info I am definitely going to see if I can get that in Canada. What exactly is Acidophilus and do you need a prescription for the drug? If not, do I just get it at my local pharmacy?
(I couldn't pm you back because I haven't made enough posts)
Kerri

PCOSDC wow really my doctor said there was no such thing in Canada (he is such a great doctor pffft) I will definitely go back and say soemthing to him.

Betwixt I will have a look for the slippery elm bark as well.

Thanks again ladies for all your help

MailLady · 11-10-2007, 07:23 PM

When I started Met, I started off with 1000mg....Man I was sick. The batheroom was my best friend!!!!!! as well I had massive headaches. I have never had a migraine but I am sure that is what they were. I was SOOO determined to beat the symptoms. When I had 3 days of not feeling too bad on 1000mg, i upped to it 1500. thought i was GOING TO DIE!!!!!!!!!!!!!! i went back down to 1000. There I stayed, I was going to give up but I tried cutting one of my pills in 4ths. So I upped my does by 4ths until I reached 2000mg. I have NO Side Effects. I thought I was tricking my body into thinking I wasn't upping my dosage and it worked. atleast that is what I like to think. So try cutting your dosage even smaller than half. I would also alternate between breakfast and supper. Once I upped it the 1st 1/4 at breakfast when it was time to take the bigger dosage I took it at supper. Always equalling it out. Now I take two pills in the morning and two at supper

Sarrah · 11-11-2007, 12:16 AM

Poor thing.

Have you tried Metformin XR?

This is supposed to reduce side affects. Some don't get any at all. I would reccommend XR to someone like you who can't take regular MET.

lovemychris · 11-11-2007, 12:55 AM

I agree with Sarrah...try the met XR...it's sooooo much better-- plus you can take your daily dose all at once. Best wishes!

Licsh · 11-11-2007, 02:29 AM

My doc also tried to say there was no XR version. I went to the internet and looked it up (found that the Glucophage is XR and Metformin version is ER, but everyone here seems to use XR so maybe they are interchangeable) and then took the info to my doc. She called the pharmacist and verifed and I got my Rx. Met ER is SO much better for me than reg met. Good luck!

~Sandra · 11-11-2007, 02:56 AM

Yep, there is no XR in Canada, just Glumetza. It's fairly new, like within the last 2 years. I have to say though, although the side effects are a bit less, it's also less effective for me. It's a bummer because I waited for years for it to come out in Canada.