PCOS and Metformin

[missjaxon]

Today I went to a follow up appointment with my GYN to discuss my issues with weight gain and inability to lose weight after being diagnosed with PCOS. (Previous history in this thread) So after discussing what was going on he told me that there is no magic to losing weight with PCOS and that weight loss is the same for women with and without PCOS alike. He also mentioned that some of his other patients had asked about Metformin for weight loss, but he said " Metformin is not indicated for PCOS ". I am not sure what to think now. My General Practitioner who referred me to him had mentioned putting me on Metformin due to results of my preliminary blood tests, but said she didn''t want to prescribe me any medications and interrupt treatment from my specialist. Everywhere I look online it seems to say that Metformin is indicated for women with PCOS in treating insulin resistance. I have already requested a referral to another OB/GYN, but it has already been 7 months and I am still waiting. Is there anybody out there that can share any advice or experience on this subject? If so please share and also I would like to hear about your experiences on Metformin including side effects and pros and cons.

 

[swimmer]

Hi, what an unusual comment from your Gyno. I am not a medical dr, but well, he must have read some research that no one on www.hormone.org (the website for all board certified endocrinologists) has yet to hear of.

I have PCOS, and take metformin, in fact I'm supposed to stay on the metformin while pregnant to help prevent miscarriage.

What sparkles said about processed food is a great point. Stop counting calories. Eat things that are not even labeled for calories. Cut out anything with partially hydrogenated anything. No juice, no candy, no white rice or pasta. Fish with steamed veggies, salad with chicken, fresh beans, fresh veggies, (stock up on beano), fresh meat (but avoid sauces, stick with spices instead). Nothing in a can. Frozen veggies are fine, back away from ice cream and lean cuisine, they are the same thing to your body. PCOS means that your hormones and therefore your insulin levels are out of whack. Getting the sugar under control is key to weightloss and weightloss means health for you. Less fat will help to get all your systems back on track. I lost a pant size going on metformin; I work out at least an hour a day everyday and don't eat any sugar. Before the metformin I was pretty much starving myself in order to loose weight, but just GAINED. super frustrating.

Do check out soulcysters, they have tons of support and great books/recipes out there. Get another opinion, your gyno is either cutting edge and knows things that contradict all the literature out there, or he/she is way behind the times. My gyno is head of gynecology for a major teaching hospital, he is faculty at Harvard, has more awards on his wall than is really appropriate, and a huge wall full of baby photos that he helped his patients, all of whom were high risk to carry, and he upped my metformin recently.

Knowledge is power Miss Jaxon, check out reputable websites online and call to see if you can get your referral sped up. You can also check the hormone website to find a PCOS specialist and see if your insurance will cover them with a referral. Hugs, it is a rough diagnosis, but good to know what is up.

 

[swimmer]

Date: 3/13/2009 11:10:19 AM
Author: swimmer
Hi, what an unusual comment from your Gyno. I am not a medical dr, but well, he must have read some research that no one on www.hormone.org (the website for all board certified endocrinologists) has yet to hear of.


I have PCOS, and take metformin, in fact I''m supposed to stay on the metformin while pregnant to help prevent miscarriage.


What sparkles said about processed food is a great point. Stop counting calories. Eat things that are not even labeled for calories. Cut out anything with partially hydrogenated anything. No juice, no candy, no white rice or pasta. ETA: STICK WITH Fish with steamed veggies, salad with chicken, fresh beans, fresh veggies, (stock up on beano), fresh meat (but avoid sauces, stick with spices instead). Nothing in a can. Frozen veggies are fine, back away from ice cream and lean cuisine, they are the same thing to your body. PCOS means that your hormones and therefore your insulin levels are out of whack. Getting the sugar under control is key to weightloss and weightloss means health for you. Less fat will help to get all your systems back on track. I lost a pant size going on metformin; I work out at least an hour a day everyday and don''t eat any sugar. Before the metformin I was pretty much starving myself in order to loose weight, but just GAINED. super frustrating.


Do check out soulcysters, they have tons of support and great books/recipes out there. Get another opinion, your gyno is either cutting edge and knows things that contradict all the literature out there, or he/she is way behind the times. My gyno is head of gynecology for a major teaching hospital, he is faculty at Harvard, has more awards on his wall than is really appropriate, and a huge wall full of baby photos that he helped his patients, all of whom were high risk to carry, and he upped my metformin recently.


Knowledge is power Miss Jaxon, check out reputable websites online and call to see if you can get your referral sped up. You can also check the hormone website to find a PCOS specialist and see if your insurance will cover them with a referral. Hugs, it is a rough diagnosis, but good to know what is up.

 

[MaggieB]

Hi Miss Jaxson,

I think it''s unusual that your doctor said that too. In a way, I can see what he might be saying. It''s kind of like how such a huge percentage of Americans are prediabetic right now because of the way that we eat - he might be referring to the fact that the mechanics for losing the weight are the same no matter what - you have to not only control calories, but also keep your insulin level. Women WITH PCOS and WITHOUT PCOS will both lose weight by learning to keep their insulin level.

However, he seems to be seriously underplaying the increased difficulty for women with PCOS. I''ve had three different REs, and all of them discussed Metformin for me one way or another - sometimes saying that they didn''t think it would help me, but never that it wasn''t indicated for PCOS.

Ten years ago, the first time around, my RE didn''t think Metformin would benefit me because my weight was pretty low for PCOS. My next RE told me that my hyperinsulinemia was pretty mild and wasn''t positive that he''d add Metformin because I was doing well controlling it with diet and exercise (I was religious about it at the time - LOTS of sugar-slowing fiber at every meal.) However, that RE was open to adding Metformin if I didn''t get pregnant pretty quickly.

Fast forward ten years and my current RE feels that the results are mixed. He thinks that Metformin helps some PCOS women tremendously and some not at all. However, he says that since you don''t know which ones it helps, he tends to prescribe it for all PCOS fertility patients unless their glucose tolerance test doesn''t indicate it at all.

Have you had a glucose tolerance test?

I think you should consider getting a second opinion from someone who specializes in PCOS.

 

[missjaxon]

Date: 3/13/2009 11:10:19 AM
Author: swimmer
Hi, what an unusual comment from your Gyno. I am not a medical dr, but well, he must have read some research that no one on www.hormone.org (the website for all board certified endocrinologists) has yet to hear of.


I have PCOS, and take metformin, in fact I''m supposed to stay on the metformin while pregnant to help prevent miscarriage.


What sparkles said about processed food is a great point. Stop counting calories. Eat things that are not even labeled for calories. Cut out anything with partially hydrogenated anything. No juice, no candy, no white rice or pasta. Fish with steamed veggies, salad with chicken, fresh beans, fresh veggies, (stock up on beano), fresh meat (but avoid sauces, stick with spices instead). Nothing in a can. Frozen veggies are fine, back away from ice cream and lean cuisine, they are the same thing to your body. PCOS means that your hormones and therefore your insulin levels are out of whack. Getting the sugar under control is key to weightloss and weightloss means health for you. Less fat will help to get all your systems back on track. I lost a pant size going on metformin; I work out at least an hour a day everyday and don''t eat any sugar. Before the metformin I was pretty much starving myself in order to loose weight, but just GAINED. super frustrating.


Do check out soulcysters, they have tons of support and great books/recipes out there. Get another opinion, your gyno is either cutting edge and knows things that contradict all the literature out there, or he/she is way behind the times. My gyno is head of gynecology for a major teaching hospital, he is faculty at Harvard, has more awards on his wall than is really appropriate, and a huge wall full of baby photos that he helped his patients, all of whom were high risk to carry, and he upped my metformin recently.


Knowledge is power Miss Jaxon, check out reputable websites online and call to see if you can get your referral sped up. You can also check the hormone website to find a PCOS specialist and see if your insurance will cover them with a referral. Hugs, it is a rough diagnosis, but good to know what is up.

Thank you Swimmer! I really appreaciate all of the information. I think this particular doctor is behind the times, he is older (not saying all older doctors are, but this particular one put off a red flag in my head) and also wasn''t aware of Factor V Leidien (which I also have), that is a bit scarey to me since he prescribed me a birthcontrol pill to ease some of the symptoms and I was the one that had to explain to HIM what it was and why I am not able to take birth control pills.

It is just so hard to find a good doctor in the small town city that I live in and as I mentioned above you must wait for a referral (this one was approximately 8 months) only to find out he isn''t as educated on the health issues that are concerning me. I am at the point where I am starving myself and only gaining. It''s is back to my GP on Tuesday, who actually seems to be more advanced and know more then any specialist I have been thus far.

 

[missjaxon]

Date: 3/13/2009 1:49:55 PM
Author: MaggieB
Hi Miss Jaxson,


I think it''s unusual that your doctor said that too. In a way, I can see what he might be saying. It''s kind of like how such a huge percentage of Americans are prediabetic right now because of the way that we eat - he might be referring to the fact that the mechanics for losing the weight are the same no matter what - you have to not only control calories, but also keep your insulin level. Women WITH PCOS and WITHOUT PCOS will both lose weight by learning to keep their insulin level.


However, he seems to be seriously underplaying the increased difficulty for women with PCOS. I''ve had three different REs, and all of them discussed Metformin for me one way or another - sometimes saying that they didn''t think it would help me, but never that it wasn''t indicated for PCOS.


Ten years ago, the first time around, my RE didn''t think Metformin would benefit me because my weight was pretty low for PCOS. My next RE told me that my hyperinsulinemia was pretty mild and wasn''t positive that he''d add Metformin because I was doing well controlling it with diet and exercise (I was religious about it at the time - LOTS of sugar-slowing fiber at every meal.) However, that RE was open to adding Metformin if I didn''t get pregnant pretty quickly.


Fast forward ten years and my current RE feels that the results are mixed. He thinks that Metformin helps some PCOS women tremendously and some not at all. However, he says that since you don''t know which ones it helps, he tends to prescribe it for all PCOS fertility patients unless their glucose tolerance test doesn''t indicate it at all.


Have you had a glucose tolerance test?


I think you should consider getting a second opinion from someone who specializes in PCOS.

Thank you for your response Maggie! After all of the research I did after I came home yesterday I think that this doctor was underplaying the difficulty because he is unaware. He seemed to not know anything about insulin resistance. It was my GP that sent me for the glucose tolerance test prior to being referred to a specialist. The test did come back indicating I had insulin resistance and my GP was going to prescribe me Metformin, but didn''t want to interfere in treatment from my specialist. I am in the process of finding a second opinion, I just hope it is sooner then later!

 

[trillionaire]

You should try the book Eat to Live

lots of information, even if you don''t decide to follow the diet plan. Everyone that I know that has done it for 6 wks has lost the 20lbs. I plan to start next week. It''s not a gimmick, it''s a lifestyle change.

 

[missjaxon]

Date: 3/13/2009 3:24:40 PM
Author: trillionaire
You should try the book Eat to Live


lots of information, even if you don''t decide to follow the diet plan. Everyone that I know that has done it for 6 wks has lost the 20lbs. I plan to start next week. It''s not a gimmick, it''s a lifestyle change.

Thank you Trillionaire!! I will go to Chapters tonight and check it out.

You all are wonderful, PS is such a supportive and friendly community and I really appreciate all of your comments, suggestions and advice. THANK YOU!!!

 

[swimmer]

Hi MissJ,
Just thought to post this for you, link My dr suggested that I start taking d-chiro-inositol because it might help me to keep insulin levels in check and hopefully stay pregnant next time. Hope you find the article helpful.