Taking Met. W/O RX - Page 2

acoustic_kitty · 05-09-2008, 01:38 PM

While I understand desperately wanting to start Met, I really think you should just get a new doctor! It's really not worth the risks! If your next doc won't prescribe, get a new one. I don't normally condone doctor shopping, but with PCOS it can be necessary especially since we are at elevated risk for so many issues down the road...

I know people think medicine is safe from other countries, but it's not regulated and thus, you don't know what you're going to be getting. Have you heard about the people who accidentally killed their pets from buying brandname flea medication overseas? There are people who have bought Advantage, etc., from foreign websites, and have actually killed their animals or made them very ill because the dosages just aren't as consistent as they are here in the U.S. because we have really rigid standards.

I know with met it's generally not going to be an issue if the dosage is a little off---but you never know. Plus if something does go wrong, wouldn't you at least like to be able to sue the company or something? (j/k...sorta)

I'm not on Met yet, but I'm going to ask my doctor in 2 weeks. and if they say no, I will get a new doctor. I hope that whatever you choose to do, everything goes okay!

relka · 05-09-2008, 03:19 PM

there are soooo many cysters that order meds online mainly because they DO NOT have any other choices. why are we beating each other up on here? we are ALL struggling with TTC. it is a painful and difficult journey. i have ordered meds online and it isn't something that i ever thought i'd do, but guess what, i was left with no other choices at that time and i'd do almost anything to hold my baby in my arms. let's stop judging each other. we are all adults and can make our OWN informed decisions. this is supposed to be a safe space.

novachick · 05-09-2008, 03:29 PM

Relka: Thanks for remembering those of us here who are NOT TTC. That makes us feel very welcome.

Making informed decisions is one thing. Advocating breaking the law and risking poor-quality medications is another. Ordering meds online, through untrusted foreign sources is a POOR DECISION. There's no "informed decision" about that---trusting your health to some third-world company that has an illegal business is NOT a smart move. I'm not beating anyone up, I'm concerned that people will listen to her.

ruth0071 · 05-09-2008, 03:38 PM

Wow, I didn't realize that this was going to be such a HOT topic. I didn't think this would get so out of hand.

For the record...I'm going to talk to my doctor about a RX for Met early next week, b/c she's on vacation this week. I didn't realize that this was going be bring up so much "angry" posts. If I'd of known that I wouldn't of posted this thread.

relka · 05-09-2008, 04:40 PM

ruth- i am sorry that this turned into a bunch of "angry" post too. i hope that whatever you decide to do brings you the best results. if you can get a doc to prescibe met obviously that is ideal. best of luck.

and for the angry posters, i never mean to exclude or hurt anyone's feelings especially cysters. this is a place that has brought me so much support and advice since i've been dealing with PCOS. i hope that everyone finds peace and help with their own situations. i'm not on these boards for a battle. i am too blessed to be angry.

AngelaGrace · 05-09-2008, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by novachick

Making informed decisions is one thing. Advocating breaking the law and risking poor-quality medications is another.

Right-on.

Somewhat Damaged · 05-09-2008, 08:09 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by relka

there are soooo many cysters that order meds online mainly because they DO NOT have any other choices. why are we beating each other up on here? we are ALL struggling with ~~TTC~~ PCOS.

This has indeed turned into a hot topic.

I think if a person wants to decide on their own to order drugs from outside the US, after making themselves aware of the consequences and dangers, that's their personal choice. But I don't think it should be encouraged, or presented as being preferable to getting meds legally, from your doctor.

sarahgmac · 05-09-2008, 08:20 PM

If I were you I would definitely wait until your Dr comes back from vacation.

I am not sure how safe/unsafe meds from Mexico are...and I am not going to even speculate either way.

But you should have bloodwork every so often with Met to make sure your liver isn't failing. If your Dr doesn't want to prescribe it, find a new doctor. You could seriously hurt your liver if you just take it yourself.

The other thing you could do is take cinnamon. A lot of cysters take cinnamon instead. That shouldn't do anything to your liver, and if you are going to do something without the dr, that seems like a safer option.

novachick · 05-10-2008, 02:44 AM

Ruth - don't think you did wrong by posting this! It's important for this thread to exist. I had no idea women on this board were illegally ordering meds, and that scared me. It's a good topic for this board to examine.

relka: Thanks for the apology! It's harder for us non-TTC kids to connect to the site sometimes, 'cause a lot of the focus is on that. We can get a little thin-skinned, so I just try to remind people whenever it comes up.

To some of the others--don't confuse anger with concern. I don't think anyone on here is "angry"! But I'm not going to pussyfoot around issues that are really serious, you know? Saying "Oh, well, it's up to you, but I think it *might* be a bad idea, ladies" wouldn't be showing how I honestly feel. If I feel my fellow cysters are getting bad info, I'll say it straight out!

KatCarney · 05-12-2008, 05:04 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by relka

there are soooo many cysters that order meds online mainly because they DO NOT have any other choices. why are we beating each other up on here? we are ALL struggling with TTC.

This isn't a situation of 'choice'. Also, as has been pointed out, not everyone here is struggling with TTC. Proably most important: Metformin is no longer considered the 1st choice option for ttc.

Read the research, ladies.

If you want an OTC alternative to metformin, try vinegar.

Quote:

Originally Posted by ruth0071

My doctor would prescribe it over the phone, but she doesn't seem thrilled that it even does anything.

Probably because she's done her homework regarding metformin and ttc, and is making decisions based on current RESEARCH, not uninformed opinions from people who are not informed medical professions.

Routine Use of Metformin for Ovulation Induction in PCOS is No Longer Recommended

Metformin recommended for PCOS infertility ONLY if cyster is gluclose intolerant

Clomiphene alone and NOT in combination with Metformin as first-line help for PCOS

Clomiphene, metformin, or both for infertility in the polycystic ovary syndrome

Metformin Mania - should all cysters take Metformin?

ARTICLE: No evidence [metformin] provides long-term health benefits in PCOS

EXCERPT FROM ONE OF THE ARTICLES:

Quote:

This is the largest, most comprehensive effort yet to compare the two drugs in helping PCOS patients achieve successful pregnancy. The findings appear in the New England Journal of Medicine.

"With this study, my colleagues and I recommend and support the use of clomiphene alone and NOT in combination with Metformin as a first-line therapy for infertility in women with PCOS," said Christos Coutifaris, MD, PhD, Director of the Division of Reproductive Endocrinology and Infertility and the principal investigator from Penn. "These results emphasize the need to test any new application rigorously, no matter how promising it may seem initially."

According to the study authors, women who took metformin ovulated more that the women who were given the standard treatment. Similarly, women in the combination therapy group ovulated more frequently than did the women in either the clomiphene-alone or the metformin-alone groups. However, as the current study revealed, an increase in ovulation did not result in more successful pregnancies and deliveries for either the metformin alone, or combination group.

"The bottom line here is that ovulation does not necessarily result in a successful pregnancy," said Coutifaris "The results suggest that an ovulation due to clomiphene is two times as likely to result in pregnancy compared to an ovulation caused by metformin."

TTCTeacher · 05-12-2008, 08:25 PM

This is a bit off subject-but more for what the last poster wrote:

I was Rx met 500-then up to 1000mg a day. I asked my GP (the one who rx;d it for me) why only 500 to start. he said hewould do bloodowrk at leach level and see if it was making a difference. he never said if I was IR or not.

So then I started with an Re and told him i was on 500 and I wanted to go to 1000 (b/c girls here were al on 1500 so i wanted to be the same). he allowe dme but I told him I felt nothing and I had no s/e or benefits and he told me he thought MET was a fad and said I culd just stop it so I did.

I often wonder if I should go back but those articles really made me think about if I should bother!

Thanks for the information!!!

njeosys · 05-13-2008, 01:21 AM

I wouldn't order something online... I'd be afraid they were giving me placebos or something unsafe.

Call your doctor and tell them you'd like to try Metformin. It cost me $4 a prescript at Walmart or Target. It's going to cost way more online!

05-09-2008, 03:29 PM	#18 (permalink)
novachick Sleepy Cyster Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 137 My Mood: Points: 5,269.11 Bank: 0.00 Total Points: 5,269.11 Donate	Relka: Thanks for remembering those of us here who are NOT TTC. That makes us feel very welcome. Making informed decisions is one thing. Advocating breaking the law and risking poor-quality medications is another. Ordering meds online, through untrusted foreign sources is a POOR DECISION. There's no "informed decision" about that---trusting your health to some third-world company that has an illegal business is NOT a smart move. I'm not beating anyone up, I'm concerned that people will listen to her. __________________ Kt (26) dx: PCOS - July 2007, IR/Pre-diabetic - September 2007 Currently on: Yaz, Met 2x1000mg/day Not TTC, no DH, just me! To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Of course the game is rigged. Don't let that stop you--if you don't play, you can't win. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

05-09-2008, 03:38 PM	#19 (permalink)
ruth0071 Praying for a miracle... Join Date: Nov 2007 Location: Morris, MN Posts: 177 My Mood: Points: 758.54 Bank: 5,537.33 Total Points: 6,295.87 Donate	Wow, I didn't realize that this was going to be such a HOT topic. I didn't think this would get so out of hand. For the record...I'm going to talk to my doctor about a RX for Met early next week, b/c she's on vacation this week. I didn't realize that this was going be bring up so much "angry" posts. If I'd of known that I wouldn't of posted this thread. __________________ Rachel (me), Lance (DH) TTC#1 Clomid (50mg) 12/9-12/13....No "O"--BUST Clomid (100mg) 1/19-1/23....No "O"--BUST Clomid (150mg) 3/1-3/5....No "O"--BUST Femara (2.5mg) 4/7-4/11....No "O"-BUST Proud Parent to One Kitty (Trouble) Proud Parent to One Horsie (Cherokee) To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

05-09-2008, 08:20 PM	#23 (permalink)
sarahgmac Domestic Goddess Join Date: Jul 2006 Location: Canton, GA Posts: 3,494 My Mood: Points: 29,558.60 Bank: 2,723,503.45 Total Points: 2,753,062.06 Donate	If I were you I would definitely wait until your Dr comes back from vacation. I am not sure how safe/unsafe meds from Mexico are...and I am not going to even speculate either way. But you should have bloodwork every so often with Met to make sure your liver isn't failing. If your Dr doesn't want to prescribe it, find a new doctor. You could seriously hurt your liver if you just take it yourself. The other thing you could do is take cinnamon. A lot of cysters take cinnamon instead. That shouldn't do anything to your liver, and if you are going to do something without the dr, that seems like a safer option. __________________ Sarah 30 To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. DH Patrick 30 Expecting Miracle #3 *To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.* Inside this body lies that of a skinny woman, But I usually SHUT HER UP with CHOCOLATE Prenatals and Insulin (N & R) To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. Betas: 11/14: 18.4, 11/16: 40, 11/19:198 11/26:4785, 12/5:40000 Madelyn (Maddie) Diane is on her way!!!! To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

05-10-2008, 02:44 AM	#24 (permalink)
novachick Sleepy Cyster Join Date: Aug 2007 Posts: 137 My Mood: Points: 5,269.11 Bank: 0.00 Total Points: 5,269.11 Donate	Ruth - don't think you did wrong by posting this! It's important for this thread to exist. I had no idea women on this board were illegally ordering meds, and that scared me. It's a good topic for this board to examine. relka: Thanks for the apology! It's harder for us non-TTC kids to connect to the site sometimes, 'cause a lot of the focus is on that. We can get a little thin-skinned, so I just try to remind people whenever it comes up. To some of the others--don't confuse anger with concern. I don't think anyone on here is "angry"! But I'm not going to pussyfoot around issues that are really serious, you know? Saying "Oh, well, it's up to you, but I think it might be a bad idea, ladies" wouldn't be showing how I honestly feel. If I feel my fellow cysters are getting bad info, I'll say it straight out! __________________ Kt (26) dx: PCOS - July 2007, IR/Pre-diabetic - September 2007 Currently on: Yaz, Met 2x1000mg/day Not TTC, no DH, just me! To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Of course the game is rigged. Don't let that stop you--if you don't play, you can't win. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

05-12-2008, 08:25 PM	#26 (permalink)
TTCTeacher TTC at least 1 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Upstate, NY Posts: 71 My Mood: Points: 1,205.13 Bank: 6,838.56 Total Points: 8,043.69 Donate	This is a bit off subject-but more for what the last poster wrote: I was Rx met 500-then up to 1000mg a day. I asked my GP (the one who rx;d it for me) why only 500 to start. he said hewould do bloodowrk at leach level and see if it was making a difference. he never said if I was IR or not. So then I started with an Re and told him i was on 500 and I wanted to go to 1000 (b/c girls here were al on 1500 so i wanted to be the same). he allowe dme but I told him I felt nothing and I had no s/e or benefits and he told me he thought MET was a fad and said I culd just stop it so I did. I often wonder if I should go back but those articles really made me think about if I should bother! Thanks for the information!!! __________________ Jen 36 To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. DH 30 History: Male Factor Dx HSG-normal Feb-wasted cycle March-Femara+IUI#2+BD=BFN April-Femara-O'd on my own, no IUI=BFN May-Follistim 75IU Begin 5/16

05-09-2008, 01:38 PM	#16 (permalink)
acoustic_kitty Registered User Join Date: Jun 2007 Posts: 62 My Mood: Points: 552.91 Bank: 3,000.00 Total Points: 3,552.91 Donate	While I understand desperately wanting to start Met, I really think you should just get a new doctor! It's really not worth the risks! If your next doc won't prescribe, get a new one. I don't normally condone doctor shopping, but with PCOS it can be necessary especially since we are at elevated risk for so many issues down the road... I know people think medicine is safe from other countries, but it's not regulated and thus, you don't know what you're going to be getting. Have you heard about the people who accidentally killed their pets from buying brandname flea medication overseas? There are people who have bought Advantage, etc., from foreign websites, and have actually killed their animals or made them very ill because the dosages just aren't as consistent as they are here in the U.S. because we have really rigid standards. I know with met it's generally not going to be an issue if the dosage is a little off---but you never know. Plus if something does go wrong, wouldn't you at least like to be able to sue the company or something? (j/k...sorta) I'm not on Met yet, but I'm going to ask my doctor in 2 weeks. and if they say no, I will get a new doctor. I hope that whatever you choose to do, everything goes okay!

05-09-2008, 03:19 PM	#17 (permalink)
relka Registered User Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 365 Points: 5,504.37 Bank: 0.00 Total Points: 5,504.37 Donate	there are soooo many cysters that order meds online mainly because they DO NOT have any other choices. why are we beating each other up on here? we are ALL struggling with TTC. it is a painful and difficult journey. i have ordered meds online and it isn't something that i ever thought i'd do, but guess what, i was left with no other choices at that time and i'd do almost anything to hold my baby in my arms. let's stop judging each other. we are all adults and can make our OWN informed decisions. this is supposed to be a safe space.

05-09-2008, 04:40 PM	#20 (permalink)
relka Registered User Join Date: Oct 2007 Posts: 365 Points: 5,504.37 Bank: 0.00 Total Points: 5,504.37 Donate	ruth- i am sorry that this turned into a bunch of "angry" post too. i hope that whatever you decide to do brings you the best results. if you can get a doc to prescibe met obviously that is ideal. best of luck. and for the angry posters, i never mean to exclude or hurt anyone's feelings especially cysters. this is a place that has brought me so much support and advice since i've been dealing with PCOS. i hope that everyone finds peace and help with their own situations. i'm not on these boards for a battle. i am too blessed to be angry.

05-13-2008, 01:21 AM	#27 (permalink)
njeosys On a Mission: TTC #3 Join Date: Mar 2008 Location: Far, far away Posts: 32 My Mood: Points: 2,011.86 Bank: 0.00 Total Points: 2,011.86 Donate	I wouldn't order something online... I'd be afraid they were giving me placebos or something unsafe. Call your doctor and tell them you'd like to try Metformin. It cost me $4 a prescript at Walmart or Target. It's going to cost way more online! __________________ Joy Wife to Daniel Mom to Elaina and Abigail To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts. To view links or images in signatures your post count must be 10 or greater. You currently have 0 posts.

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