Regular Met vs. ER?

Goose00 · 11-16-2008, 11:42 PM

For those of you who have had or are having sucess with Met, are you using the regular or extended form?

About 5 weeks ago I started regular Met 500 2x daily and I got my period after 5 days! After about 2 weeks my dr. switched me to the extended and I have been taking 2000 for about a week. I am on day 33 of my cycle and I was hoping I'd have my period by now but nothing yet. I did read some articles that indicated extended may not work as well. Do you think there's any truth to this or am I just being impatient?

Goose00 · 11-17-2008, 12:11 AM

I should also note that I took a home pg test that came back negative.

tracy27s · 11-26-2008, 01:40 AM

I was taking met 1500mg ER and when I called for a refill, it was refilled with regular met. I am trying to get a hold of my OB to see if it is a mistake or if he wanted me to switch to regular met for some reason. I have had no AF on my own on the ER after almost 3 months. I'll let you know if I find anything out.

ErikaG_78 · 03-10-2009, 02:15 AM

My RE told me the same thing. She put me on regular Met because that usually works better that the extended release. It only took me 2 months to get pregnant on regular Met 1500 + Clomid 50 combo. So it worked great for me.

a.n.johnson · 03-11-2009, 03:38 PM

I was on 15500 time release Met for 2 yrs. Had cycles about 35-45 days apart. Switched to reg met--1500 ( 500 3x"s per day) and got pregnant after 2 months. I am 38 years old and had battled with PCOS all my life. I am on the thinner side and it was recommended that thinner PCOS gals NOT be on Time Release Met. Hope this helps.

Kate2008 · 03-11-2009, 04:24 PM

GooseOO--

You said that you read some articles that indicated that Met Extended Release was less good for us ThinCysters. Can you tell me where you found those articles? I am on the Met Extended Release, and I might want to bring them to my doctor.

Thanks for this useful thread. It never occurred to me that it might matter which Met type you take.

tracy27s · 03-11-2009, 05:30 PM

I am also really interested in reading those articles. I might switch and try regular if it seems to work better. I am also on the thin side.

Goose00 · 03-12-2009, 09:08 PM

Ladies,

I actually posted this thread nearly four months ago, and when I didn't get any answers I didn't think about it anymore. I don't remember where I saw the articles, at the time I was spending so much time trying to read up on Met that I nearly went crazy. Its hard to know what to take seriously and what not to - I found articles claiming it was the answer to the worlds problems to others stating its useless. Its clear the results can vary significantly from person to person. A.n.johnson your story is interesting though - maybe there is something to it.

An update on me since I posted this. Been on Met 5 months and am still on the XR. I have started ovulating, just not that frequently - around 60 day cycles. My dr. seems to think they will get more regular over time. But I'm kind of getting impatient, so I may start on Clomid in the next couple of months. Still though, 60 day cycles and infrequent ovulation is better than no cycles and no ovulation!

tracy27s · 03-14-2009, 10:19 PM

Thanks for letting us know. I have been on met for over 7 months, and I only got my period once on my own. I got very impatient, so I recently started clomid. My DR kept telling me to give it 6 months to start working, so I wasted 6 months because it didn't work. Who knows? I'm still taking it in the hopes that it will help.

IGHMN · 03-15-2009, 11:34 AM

This is really great information. I have been on extended metformin for about 6 months and just yesterday the dr switched me to regular. I was pretty concerned, but your thoughts here ease my mind. I did ovulate on extended after 6 months, but hopefully the regular will make that continue next month and so on.

a.n.johnson · 03-15-2009, 06:46 PM

I read the article under the "thin cyster" posts. It was an article Kat put up by the Jarret Fertility Group. VERY GOOD INFO. i took it to my Dr. She copied it. It also stated, besides Met 3x's a day for fertility, but also a drug called Letrozole (for women with breast cancer) along with FSH for thinner PCOS patients. It gives the amount of the Letrozole, but not the amount of FSH, so my DR. called the Jerret fertility group directly and found out the dosages. (very nice) Just when she called me with the results, the next day I found out I was already pregnant, just by changing the way I take my Met. I went to a fertilit clinic for two years at 30 to get preg with my son---Now i'm 38 and this worked!!!!!

Goose00 · 03-16-2009, 12:15 AM

tracy27s, I understand your frustration. Thats what bothers me about Met - you have to wait a long time to see IF you will respond to it. I hear that 6 months is the norm, but 6 months can seem like an eternity when you've already been ttc for a while and everyone around you is getting preg at the drop of a hat. And if you don't respond, you feel like you've wasted all that time. I guess the good thing is that it seems to make the other drugs work better - at least thats what I keep telling myself! Good luck to you and all the ladies on this post!

tracy27s · 03-16-2009, 02:20 PM

Goose00-Thanks for responding. That's exactly how I feel. I'm going to the doctor today for an u/s to see if this round of clomid has a chance of being successful. I'm always nervous because nothing seems to work for me. I did switch to regular met once for a while because my doctor called it in wrong. Now that I'm thinking about it, that was around the one time I got my period. I may asked to be switched back to regular met and see what happens. The way I see it, it can't hurt. Good luck to you too and keep us posted.