What do you do when the Met stops working?

shirleycat · 03-22-2006, 06:49 PM

I've been on Met for about 2 years. I started at 500, worked my way up to 1500. On 1500, I started to lose weight and feel really good. I have always exercised and started following the IR diet with the diagnosis. I dropped about 30 lbs in about 2 1/2 months. Then my weight loss stalled.

About 6 months later, I started to feel bad again, and, sure enough, my blood sugar was up again. Worked with my doctor and increased my dosage of Met to 2000 mg. Did that for about 6 months and nothing. I wasn't feeling good at all, so my endo dropped me down to 1000 mg.

I'm getting frustrated. I exercise 5 days a week, run 6-7 miles every week, weight train, mix up my workout and all. I follow the IR diet and I cannot lose one single pound. I hate the way that I look and can't bear to look in a mirror. I want to run more but my body can't handle it because I have so much extra weight on me.

What are my options when the Met stops working? Is it just a matter of figuring out the right dosage for me?

Any advice would be appreciated - thank you all.

shirleycat · 03-27-2006, 05:34 PM

I'm still very frustrated about the Met - does anybody have any advice?

Anything? I'm looking towards the wisdom of the boards :-)

NYC Sapphire · 03-27-2006, 05:47 PM

Shirley you said you went back down to 1000mg did you ever bring that back up to 2000. When I started Glucopahge XR I had horrible side effects and I was reduced back down and the nurse told me not to increase untill I I felt better and that worked for me so I slowly went back up to 200mg again with no problems.

I also feel that Glucophage XR works better then the generic Metformin so you may want to ask your doc if he can switch you. And I know you said you low carb and excercise and thats the key to using it properly. What did your doctor say about how you feel? I hope that the advice I gave you can help.

christyz · 03-28-2006, 04:59 PM

I would have a talk with your Dr. about your dose. People with really resistant hormones may need a higher dose...up to the max of 2550 mg poer day. Keep a journal for a month or so of your diet and exercise and let him know that you need to reconsider it. Perhaps a med change would be appropraie too...something like avandia.

Best of luck!

shirleycat · 03-28-2006, 08:21 PM

Thank you for the replies. I am working closely with my doctor - my next appointment is on May 1st. She just dropped the dosage at my last appointment which was in Nov. She is actually as frustrated as I am since she knows how much I exercise and how closely I monitor my diet.

Christy - what is Avandia? Does it work the same way as Met? I will also ask about taking Gluc instead of Met and see what she says.

When I say that I wasn't feeling good on 2000 mg, I don't quite know how to explain how I felt. I was extremely exhausted and was sweating all the time. I literally couldn't walk from my car into the house without breaking a sweat even when it was 20 degrees out (I live in Massachusetts). My doctor is quite good and has done extensive tests on my thyroid and everything is normal. She is quite knowledgeable about PCOS so I feel I lucked out with the doctor. Since we dropped down to 1000 mg the sweating has stopped, which I am happy about. The exhaustion isn't as bad, but I am in law school so I am always a little tired :-)

Thanks again for the responses - any and all advice is appreciated!

Laurntom · 03-28-2006, 09:01 PM

Shirleycat
I have been going through the sweating thing also. It has been the whole time I have been on met. (2 months) It got worse when they upped my dose to 1500. My doc said it was not a s/e of met. I am menopausal so I know what hot flashes and night sweats feel like. This was much different! I thought I would spontaneously, internally combust at times. It affected everything. I couldn't go to the store, out to dinner, I swear I was sweating in the shower! I talked to my pharmacist who said less than 5% of people have this side effect. I paid out of pocket for a weeks worth of Glucophage and it has gone back to "hot flashes" during the day but still some pretty tough night sweats. My insurance won't cover Gluc at all so my endo has to put in an appeal. All the money we pay for insurance I can't believe I am having this hard of a time.

wyocop2000 · 03-28-2006, 09:19 PM

I have been having the same problem-i just told my DH i think my met stopped working. My ob/gyn thinks that my body gets "wise" to meds i take -I am currently taking 2000 mg day and have found some intereting info about studies that women w/ PCOS need 3000mg/day. I have been doing nothing different then prior months. i dropped a nice amount of weight-then it just stopped. I am feeling horrible again, just like before i started taking it. I wonder if we are onto something.....

shirleycat · 03-29-2006, 05:14 PM

It seems like a lot of people are seeing a difference between Met and Gluc. I may discuss that with my doctor.

It is very frustrating! I felt absolutely great for about 6 months on the meds, the rest of the time: nothing. To Wyocop - I'd love to see any info about 3000 mg of Met. It would be interesting to bring to my doc.

Thanks again, all - I appreciate the info you all bring to the table.