Glucophage and Pregnancy

[Frantic]

I am little curious about something. It seems that metformin(glucophage) is being allowed during pregnancy now for control of diabetes. How many of you took it during your pregnancy and how many of you switched over to insulin? Did any of you have any problems either way?

[terilynn112]

I can tell you this... not having been pregnant, but having discussed it with my obgyn and my endocrinologist... I'll go to insulin, not stay on glucophage. They don't like that there is so little information about it.

take care

[dreamchaser]

I took it til 15 wks then the dr put me on insulin after then i started right back on met. while i was still in the hospital... G/L

[MommyJenny74]

I took met for the first couple months of pregnancy. My family dr (who is my PCOS dr too) was doing my general prenatal care, and he was going to let me stay on it, because I had read so much about it preventing miscarriage. But at the same time I also had to see the perinatologist (after about 2 months) because of my diabetes, and he said he hadn't read enough info about met to let me stay on it. So my regular dr. told me to do what the specialist dr. said! Anyway I didn't have to start insulin until about 7 mos. along and everything went fine. I can't say I enjoyed the insulin, I felt very sluggish etc. but that may have just been the end of pregnancy! Also I didn't start the met up again until after I was done breastfeeding. Hope this helps!
Jenny

[terilynn112]

Well, just finding out I'm pregnant< (see my above post) I'm switching to insulin. I don't like this part I go tuesday to learn the "how to's"

lucky me.

I'm about 6-8 weeks... long story.

[MommyJenny74]

Congratulations on your pregnancy! The whole insulin thing can be intimidating at first, but you will quickly become a pro! And giving yourself the shots doesn't hurt as bad (in my opinion) as sticking your finger for the blood sugar checks! Just rotate the sites you give the shots in. (I used thigh, arm, and belly). And I'm sure they'll tell you but make sure you eat when you take the fast-acting insulin (regular). That's the only part that gave me any trouble about the insulin, just that if I didn't eat when I injected the regular, my blood sugar dropped quickly and I felt bad. (I don't say that to scare you at all, just to give you the heads up that it might happen!) You'll soon learn how it works best for you.
How did your appt. go? If you ever need to talk, please email me or pm me!
Jenny

[omcv]

Hmm .. looks like Heather was on it until 34 weeks ... http://www.soulcysters.net/showthread.php?t=132663

[terilynn112]

I have asthma, and am on steriods (pregnancy safe ones), and then they put me on humalog N. I get 10 units at bedtime, at least for now. I did the first shot last night, and it went well. No bruise and it only hurt a second. I think I hit a nerve.

Take care

[MommyJenny74]

I'm glad last night went well! I did bruise occasionally but I didn't find that the bruises hurt! Hopefully you will find that the shots are easier to do every day. You are taking good care of yourself and your baby! Good luck, I'm here if you want to talk!
Jenny

[LaurAnnHere]

Staying on met during the first trimester decreases your chance of early m/c a lot. I personally think that any woman with PCOS should stay on it through her first trimester. If I had a friend with PCOS who was pregnant I would beg them to stay on it and if their doc didn't approve they need to find a new one. I ended up on met and insulin during the last 5 weeks of my successful pregnancy b/c of the hospitals stupid diet. They took me off the diet I was using to control my diabetes unmedicated. I wanted to kill them.

Here's a link to a Web MD article about it. There are many published reports reguarding these same findings.

http://my.webmd.com/content/article/24/1819_50473

Diabetes Drug Helps Prevent Miscarriage

By Salynn Boyles
WebMD Medical News Reviewed By Charlotte Grayson, MD

March 1, 2002 -- A popular diabetes drug may hold the key to motherhood for millions of women with the most common form of infertility. Miscarriage rates dropped dramatically among a group of women with polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) treated with the drug metformin.


Researchers say the drug, also known as Glucophage, is also highly effective in preventing gestational diabetes, a form of diabetes that is common in pregnant women with PCOS, and may be a better treatment than insulin for all women with pregnancy-related diabetes.


"This therapy is rapidly revolutionizing the treatment of infertility, and with good reason," says Charles Glueck, MD, who conducted some of the first metformin infertility studies and has treated almost 1,500 women with the syndrome. "In women with PCOS the risk of miscarriage is very high, around 50%. By giving metformin, the risk is reduced to that of a woman without PCOS."


It is believed that up to 10% of Caucasian women in the U.S., and 15% of Hispanic and black women have PCOS, although most have not been diagnosed. Women with the syndrome often have irregular or absent menstrual periods, elevated insulin levels (similar to people with type 2 diabetes), and weight problems. Many women with PCOS do not ovulate at all, and those who get pregnant often have miscarriages.


Metformin is approved for treating type 2 diabetes, but it is being used off-label by an increasing number of infertility specialists to treat PCOS-related infertility. Many doctors in the U.S. take women off the drug once they become pregnant, but the new research suggests they should keep taking it during pregnancy.


In a study published in the Journal of Clinical Endocrinology and Metabolism, researchers reviewed the histories of 65 pregnant women with PCOS who were taking metformin prior to conception and throughout their pregnancy and 31 pregnant women with PCOS who did not take the drug. The women were patients at a fertility clinic in Caracas, Venezuela, and they were treated over a four and a half year period.


Roughly 9% of the women who took the drug miscarried (six of 65), compared with 42% of women who did not (13 of 31). Among the women in each group who had a history of miscarriage, the rate of pregnancy loss was 11% for those receiving treatment and almost 60% for those not treated. The research was funded by the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development, a branch of the National Institutes of Health.


The study offers the best evidence yet that metformin may be useful for the treatment of gestational diabetes, says lead author John E. Nestler, MD, of the Medical College of Virginia. Insulin sensitivity improved for the pregnant women on metformin, compared with their sensitivity prior to pregnancy when not taking the drug.


"Normally, insulin sensitivity gets worse during pregnancy, and that is why some women get gestational diabetes," Nestler tells WebMD. "We found just the opposite with these women. Insulin sensitivity actually got better in the treated women. This is very exciting evidence that this drug can be useful in preventing gestational diabetes."


Glueck, who is director of the Cholesterol Center in Cincinnati, is presenting even stronger evidence in a study scheduled for publication in the March issue of the journal Fertility and Sterility. The incidence of gestational diabetes in that study was just 3% among pregnant patients with PCOS taking metformin, compared with an incidence of 40% for patients not taking the drug.


The findings, Glueck says, suggest that metformin may have a role in preventing not just gestational diabetes, but type 2 diabetes that is not related to pregnancy.


"We know that 80% of women who develop gestational diabetes with go on to develop type 2 diabetes," he says. "In fact, gestational diabetes is an accelerated model for how most people develop type 2 diabetes. The fact that we can reduce the incidence of gestational diabetes in PCOS so dramatically tells us that metformin may reduce the risk of diabetes in other high-risk people."

[MommyJenny74]

I wanted to stay on met, but as far as our hospital is concerned I was seeing the top perinatologist! So there really was nowhere else for me to go. My family doc wanted to keep me on it. He was taking care of the "pregnancy" part but he was not allowed to take care of the "PCOS/diabetes" part. They pretty much made him send me to the perinatologist. I was scared about being off the met, but it turned out OK. I would still recommend staying on it, if I had been allowed to. I just want you to feel confident that you can do the insulin for yourself and your baby! Hope you are doing well!
Jenny

[FluffyBurgerSniffer]

My doctor also wants to keep me on Met if I get PG. DH and I are TTC, but I only just started Met yesterday.

[MommyJenny74]

Good luck with the met! I got pg on 1500 mg of met!

[Frantic]

Thanks for the info. It helps to understand it a little more. The article was very helpful!

[terilynn112]

cutiebabiesbyr

I got pregnant with just the glucophage/metformin. I took the extended release and 500 mgs a day. I got twins.