what to tell new doc?

eija.cait · 10-05-2004, 10:42 PM

Hi gals,

Very long time since I have posted.. My life was turned pretty much inside out with health problems and all kinds of other things, so I've been absentee for months now.

I was Dx in April 2003 by Dr. Glueck in Cincinnati as part of a study. He put me on Gluc XR at the max dosage... Told me to stay on it even if I ran into the occasional doc who didn't agree.

My internist earlier this year questioned the need for Gluc, but at my insistence kept me on it and lowered the dose. So now I take Metformin ER 500 twice a day. Not that happy with this, but I'll take what I can get.

I recently moved (college) and have a new primary doctor who is again questioning the need for Met.. I don't know what to tell her??!

Most of this summer I spent in hospital due to surgeries unrelated to PCOS. They took me off Met for those few months since I was in and out of surgery, CT scan, etc. My periods stopped while I was off Met, which my endocrinologist at home says is from the PCOS. He told me not to go off Met again unless I had to.

I was just looking thru some of my labs from this summer (inpatient labwork, off Met), and my blood sugars weren't too great. About half the time they were normal (90 or so), the other half the time kinda high. 190-200 range, one 443... The 443 may be a contaminated sample or something, but in general I would say my sugars weren't optimal.

In my opinion, even 1000 mg of Met ER a day is kind of low. My new doctor thinks that because I'm not overweight Met is not all that necessary.. I disagree.

Sorry this is so long, I hope it makes sense. Any suggestions on what to tell her?? (I really like this doc otherwise and don't want to switch to someone else...)

christyz · 10-06-2004, 03:33 PM

It sounds blunt, but I'd tell your new Dr the truth. You have blood sugar/insulin issues that set you up for pre-diabetes. If you head to the top of the page, there is a thread called FAQ about Metformin..it has lots of info on thin cysters and metformin and printing it up could help your case. I would just tell him that this drug is intended for insulin issues. Since you very obviously have them, you won't settle for a physician that isn't supportive of a pro-active treatment. If this Dr won't support your goals, then keep hunting until you find one that does.

Hope it helps!