simvastatin vs metformin ?

shaunsmom04 · 10-27-2009, 03:18 AM

okay so the doctor switched me from 500 mg metformin 2xdaily to 20 mg simvastatin 1x daily. been ttc for over a year. been on metformin for a year. anyone else on simvastatin. i am worried, read the warning label and did a little research and it seems like its not safe for women ttc. and has anyone else got ovaries surgically wedged? stories please

shadow0617 · 10-27-2009, 07:28 PM

If a drug your doc gave you isn't safe to use while ttc i'd soo be asking that doc what the hell its for and why they are giving it to you when your ttc. I wish I had a story to share but I don't, I hope you can get more insite on this. Good luck to you.

shaunsmom04 · 10-28-2009, 03:18 AM

simvastatin is supposed to be better for women with pcos than metformin. it is a high cholestoral med. but the trials all have been with women on birth control. fda says simvastatin is catagory x med. dunno what that means but its bad i am assuming. idk, i am thinking about finding a new doctor.

this pcos crap sucks. sympthoms: have cysts on both ovaries. and they found a tumor during the ovarianm surgery. i can not seem to lose weight no matter how hard i try. no meds seem to be helping and i feel tired and depressed all the time. i also have trouble falling asleep. hair in weird places. dry skin. skin tags. irregular or non existant periods. painful abdominal cramps for seemingly no reason. high cholesterol. mood swings. prehypertension. obesity. all this and am only 25.

faithneverfailing · 10-29-2009, 11:58 PM

Im a nursing student and from what I have learned about catagory X medications is that they are HIGHLY teratogenic, in other words, will cause major neural tube defects, malformation or spontaneous miscarriage. catagory X is the most dangerous of all pregnancy med catagories. DO NOT CONTINUE if you are TTC or already prego. sorry your doctor is such a dingbat! good luck!

faithneverfailing · 10-30-2009, 12:01 AM

P.S. also, metformin is great for pcos sufferers ttc. it is also known to lower cholesterol (which is what simvastatin is for) and also lower blood pressure in some cases. is there any particular reason your dr. decided this was better?

faithneverfailing · 10-30-2009, 12:12 AM

sorry to spread my reply out so much but I keep thinking of new things to add. Alot of your symptoms seem very typical to PCOS ofcourse but what you may not have learned yet is that MANY of these symptoms can be more easily controlled by lowering your insulin resistance. Metformin is the most popular treatment for PCOS becuase even though its a typical drug used for Diabetes, it does a wonderful job lowering insulin levels. it can take a while to allow your body to get used to it (side effects like diarrhea adn nausia can persist for weeks) but once you and your Dr. find the right dose for your body it has been known to encourage weight loss, aid in heirsutism(excessive hair growth), remedie fatigue and depression and lower androgen levels wich ultimately restores normal menstral cycles. all of this doesnt happen over night but 90% of PCOS sufferers find immense relief from metformin statistically within 6 months or less. Im not claiming to know it all by any means, I just share your frustrations in all of these symptoms and Im 26 so I know how your feeling and have learned alot and would love to share every bit of that with you. I have been back on Metformin for about 7-8 weeks now and for the FIRST time I have started to see signs of a normal menstrual cycle forming!!! thats huge for someone who NEVER gets it on their own. keep your head up and your eyes open for a good endocrinologist who is more specialized in PCOS and Insulin resistance

TheNewMrs. · 10-30-2009, 12:38 AM

Yes, this is confusing to me. As previously mentioned simvastatin is a cholesterol-lowering medication whereas met is a diabetes medication. I've really never read anything on simvastatin being used to aid in PCOS nor does it really make sense to me (unless you have high cholesterol...but if you're TTC than you shouldn't be on this anyway no matter what the reason) how it would. This is very odd. Definitely find out why you're on it and what your MD is intending to do. Please keep us UTD - this is interesting!

klyann · 10-30-2009, 01:54 AM

I've never heard of Simvastatin used for PCOS before. But I'm wondering if you've tried a higher dose of Met? 1000mg/day is a relatively low dose and I've read about a lot of women that saw better results with higher doses.

shaunsmom04 · 10-30-2009, 03:53 AM

i do have high cholesterol. was diagnosed with it last month. but i do not want to be on this med if its going to hurt a baby. i been ttc for too long and fighting pcos for too long to have another miscarriage. especially one caused by a pill. ugh my doctor is retarded. hes knows i been ttc for over a year. i just had ovary wedging done last month. time to find a new doc. i like him but lately he has been messing up alot. like my surgery was supposed to be laperscopic and they cut me 6in or so across. was super painful. i did not know til i had the staples removed. turns out i had a tumor. they cut me to remove it. and doc did not tell me the surgery would only give me a 6 to 8 month window to conceive. would have been helpful to know that before hand :angery: ugh and there's gotta be a safer drug out there for high choesterol. he should have upped my met. it was not correcting my problems but it helped me lose 40 pounds

TheNewMrs. · 10-30-2009, 12:30 PM

Congrats on the weight loss! That sure is significant! I bet all that weight loss is surely helping lower your cholesterol as well. Keep with it then maybe you won't need any drug for lowering it!!

As for the doc, yes it sounds like I'd think of finding someone else. That is VERY odd the things he's doing. How uninformed you were about your own surgery and putting you on simvastatin when you're TTC. Hmm. Definitely at least go back and tell him this med is contraindicated during TTC and see what his reasoning was. Maybe look into finding someone else at the same time.