PCOS/Insulin Resistance SupportSupport for us with any of the following: Insulin Resistance, Syndrome X, Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome, or other endocrine disorders.
I went to my doctor today and told her that I suspected that I have PCOS and that my husband and I want to have another baby. I do not get my period at all now without pills. I am going back in a month to take some tests and begin treatment with either metformin or clomid. Basically, it's my decision.
I know about clomid and did all the testing many years ago but never took it. Metformin is somthing that I am just learning about today on the internet.
Has anyone else been faced with this choice? Metformin sounds a bit scarier to me. It seems to have a lot of side effects. I would like to hear what other people think about this.
Also, it seems to me that I shouldn't take the metformin without some kind of test to make sure that I actually do have PCOS. It seems obvious from the symptoms, but if I don't have it , I should just be on the clomid.
I personally did not do well with the Metformin. It made me sick from the time I started taking it. I have just recently started taking the Clomid. I am on the second month (2 pills a day for 5 days). I did not ovulate with one a day, so we will see what happens with the two a day. The doctor said that the Metformin does not usually make people sick with one pill a day (500 mg) so I am going to try it one more time because he said that some people ovulate with just that and nothing else. If it makes me sick again, I don't have to try it anymore.
Metformin does sound scary, but so do many meds! If you have good kidneys, then there shouldn't be a problem. GI upset is the biggest side effect. I agree with you, if you haven't been tested for insulin resistance, I don't think I would want to take the pills either. Do you have many symptoms of PCOS?
I hear that the Met/clomid combo works very, very well for alot of ladies.
I have belonged to Alot of Infertility boards, and there are NUMEROUS women who used the Met/Clomid combo with GREAT success
I am also on Met, but nolonger for IF treatment, mainly for treating my IR, and I LOVE it. Yeah it has it's downfalls ( mainly ) the mad dash to the bathroom, but that goes away in time.
Good Luck with whatever u decide to too
Christi~~ I am so sorry that mat has that effect on you. I hope this time around it is alot easier on you and things work out for you
Yes, I have a very large number of symptoms of PCOS and have since I first complained to my doctor at age 16 about the irregularity of my periods as well as other things. Of course, she put me on the pill and ignored the rest of it.
It amazes me that I had to figure all of this out on my own and that none of my doctors have ever mentioned it to me. But the minute I mentioned it to my doctor the other day, she said, "oh, yes. you probably do have it". Good grief!
My periods became regular for about 3 months. That was 6 years ago after losing 100 lbs. I immediately became pregnant with my daughter. After a year of nursing my daughter, I weighed even less. But when I stopped nursing, I gained all the weight back.
Now I am working on losing weight and getting pregnant again, but time is ticking away...
Right now I am leaning toward starting with the Clomid for the first few months. My husband and I have already been through all of the testing and I could start up immediately. Then we can go from there.
My personal experience with clomid was that it did not work for
me the first time.I conceived my daughter only after going
on injections of humegon and other super-ovulation drugs.
I had been on clomid for 5 cycles, but that was about
a year or so given the irregularity of my cycles even on clomid.
My second child was conceived after losing 25 lbs on atkins
and trying clomid again. I did get cycles when I was
eating very low carb, albeit very irregular ones, and I think this
is what made the difference with it working.
I had then decided that I was done having kids and would
just lose some weight for me, again with low carbing, and
my doctor put me on metformin to see if it would help
me to get some regular cycles going, as I hate the pill.
Having not used any birth control for 12 years and being
told I could not conceive on my own, I was very surprised
to find that after 2 months on metformin 2 x per day I
was pregnant with a surprise baby.
I also found that I lost weight on Metformin- although it
makes me SICK and nauseous for the first couple of weeks.
I am the type of person who can gain 5 lbs or so in just a
weekend of eating poorly, and I found that on metformin I
didn't have the same bottomless pit feeling that I usually had,
and when I did badly on my diet, I continued to not gain
as quickly and often lost weight. Granted I was only on it
for 2 months and lost about 8 lbs, but to me that was pretty
big.
Sorry this long. Being IR and having PCOS I developed
gestation diabetes during preggo x 3 and was on insulin
4 times per day. It did clear up after the pregnancy
and now I have finally stopped nursing I have
gained an incredible 10 lbs in about 3 weeks just
"eating a healthy diet". I have never lost on WW or
the traditional low fat diets, as I really think with IR you
have to watch your carbs, or watch your BAD carbs
rather and find out more about the glycemic index of what
you eat. The dietitian I saw when pregnant said people
think "a carb is a carb is a carb" but a carb from a crispy
creme doughnut with X number of carbs is very different
from eating something like brown rice or whole wheat pasta
doesn't cause that spike in insulin afterwards. Don't get
discouraged! I have gone from about 170 when I got
married (5'3") down to 125 at my lowest. I was happy
at 135-140 while nursing and thought that was where
I was going to level out, but to my surprise off the
metformin and not watching the bad carbs I have gained
the 10 lbs mentioned above. I am trying southbeach now.
We'll see what happens!
I must be the odd-ball... Clomid turned me into a total moody witch, made my hormones all wacky, etc. I didnt take it for long. On the other hand, Metformin has been wonderful for me...I had the usual side effects the 1st week but they quickly went away. I noticed that if I don't take it during the middle of a meal I will get a little queasy, but that's it. It worked wonders for me.
Hi! I'm also taking metformin, 1500 mg, and I've only been taking it for a couple weeks. The first week was pure misery...horrible tummy upset, fatigue, and nausea. I lost a few pounds instantly. My husband and I are not crazily ttc, but we do want babies as soon as it happens. So if the met helps me with the IR and helps me start ovulating, I will be delighted.
I have a friend who took clomid and didn't conceive, but I know a lot of women have had success on it. Who knows?
As for the OP, have you had an insulin level test? That's how I found out I have IR.
You have to be careful with Clomid. What the doctors won't tell you up front is that anything that stimulates your ovaries puts you at greater risk for ovarian cancer, esp. if you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer. Don't flame me for saying this. I had a very dear friend die of ovarian cancer. Before she died she asked her doctor what her sister could do to prevent ovarian cancer, and the doctor responded that her sister should not artificially stimulate her ovaries with drugs, and she should have her ovaries removed once she was beyond childbearing years. The doctor said that she had her own ovaries removed. Just imagine how my friend felt. This doctor had been her doctor for years, and had never told her this. She left behind a beautiful 4 year old daughter and a husband.
Julie
You have to be careful with Clomid. What the doctors won't tell you up front is that anything that stimulates your ovaries puts you at greater risk for ovarian cancer, esp. if you have a family history of breast or ovarian cancer. Don't flame me for saying this. I had a very dear friend die of ovarian cancer. Before she died she asked her doctor what her sister could do to prevent ovarian cancer, and the doctor responded that her sister should not artificially stimulate her ovaries with drugs, and she should have her ovaries removed once she was beyond childbearing years. The doctor said that she had her own ovaries removed. Just imagine how my friend felt. This doctor had been her doctor for years, and had never told her this. She left behind a beautiful 4 year old daughter and a husband.
Julie
I have often heard the same thing. Sorry about your friend.
I have often heard the same thing. Sorry about your friend.
Thanks, it's been years now. She was just a beautifully vital woman. I know there's a lot of controversy over whether the fertility drugs cause an increased risk for cancer, but I think those with a family history need to be made aware. I took Clomid before getting preg. with our 1st child, turned out my husband had a varicocele, and had surgery. Anyway, I was surprised when my friend told me about the increased risk because I'd never heard of it.
Thank goodness for the internet, now we can all be well informed!
Julie
metformin or clomid
and things work out for you
Metformin versus clomid (sorry long post)
