Re: Amy, Clara,Re: Metformin anyone?
From: Amy (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Mon, 31 Jul 2000 13:16:42 -0400
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Hi Monica - I tolerate it okay... I am on 1000 mg per day where as I think most are on
1500 mg per day ... at first I had horrible upset stomachs but now it is on and off -
minimum 2 times a week.
I can tell a difference as far as Met in comb with levlite (bcp) ... I am in such
better emotional health ... I still have a pain occasionally in my lower abdomen (cysts
I guess) but not like I had.
I came to a stand still with weight loss so I am now on Xenical also ... have lost 12
lbs on top of the 8 that I lost while on met/bcp alone. It took me 4 weeks to not have
such horrible stomach upsets ... I do feel better emotionaly and physically as far not
having horrible cramps all the time - also - I was having bouts of hypoglycemia
frequently ...
My bloodwork is to be monitored every 3 months as I have endometreosis, diabetes and
heart disease in my immediate family ... give it a while .... I do feel so much better
...
Best of Luck to you!!!!! (: Amy
Monica wrote:
> So very interesting. It makes sense to me about Met keeping everything
> even keel and how that might be the reason it works for nonIR PCOSers. I
> would love to learn more about this. Amy, how have you been tolerating
> the MET? My doc (a GP at my HMO) put me on MET without testing for IR.
> Based upon my high testosterone, high DHEAS, obvious outward signs of
> apple shape, hirsutism, and family history of diabetes, as well as
> medical journal articles about PCOS that HE read, he felt MET would work
> for me. So I may be IR or I may not be. At first I really wanted to
> know but then I realized it wouldn't change anything and I didn't want
> waste any more time. At least he wanted to give it a try for which I am
> grateful. He also stressed the importance of regular exercise and a
> diet filled with adequate amounts of protein, fat, and whole grains,
> fruits, and veggies. So I may be IR or I may not be. At first I really
> wanted to know but then I realized it wouldn't change my course of
> action and I didn't want to waste any more time before beginning
> treatment. I've been on MET for 6 DAYS now and so far nothing terrible
> in terms of side effects, (a little cramping and gas the first few days,
> and a little nausea that comes and goes in waves). I'm going to give it
> at least six months. Then I'll reevaluate things.
> Ooops, sorry to blather on so long! I'd love to hear how you are doing.
> :)Monica
>
> At Mon, 31 Jul 2000, Amy wrote:
> >
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> >Well - to throw my 2 cents in - I am on Met and am not Insuline Resistant ... From
> >what my Doctor told me, Met helps to keep from becoming completely IR .... From
> >what I have read in journals, also, is that PCOS is actually caused from Insulin
> >ups and downs, not PCOS causing IR .... I have been on Met for about 3 months now
> >without being IR ...so I also respectfully disagree.... The point of Met is to
> >help "even Keel" everything to avoid hyper and hypoinsulinism. Hope everyone has
> >a wonderful day!!! (: Amy
> >
> >"Avalos, Clara" wrote:
> >
> >> Monica...
> >>
> >> It's Monday morning and I am racing through posts from the weekend... been
> >> following this thread with interest, though... I just wanted to send over
> >> some support for your assertions... From all the reading that I have been
> >> doing, I've come to pretty much the same conclusions that you write here in
> >> your message below. Thanks for putting it so well!
> >>
> >> =o) Hugs,
> >>
> >> Clara
> >>
> >> -----Original Message-----
> >> From: anonymous@obgyn.net [mailto:anonymous@obgyn.net]
> >> Sent: Sunday, July 30, 2000 8:48 AM
> >> To: Multiple recipients of list PCOS-MEDICATION
> >> Subject: Re: Metformin anyone?
> >>
> >> You are entitled to your opinion. I'm basing my opinion on previous
> >> posts from this forum's archives, journal articles I've read and the
> >> following taken from "PCOS Frequently Asked Questions" at
> >> http://www.inciid.org/faq/pcos4.html (InterNational Council on Infertility
> >> Information Dissemination):"... At least 30% of women with PCOS are
> >> insulin resistant, although some investigators claim a much stronger
> >> association exists. ...It appears that even some patients who so not
> >> test as being insulin resistant may benefit from these medication. Some
> >> doctors do give insulin-sensitizing medications to patients with PCOS,
> >> including lean women, whether or not they test as clearly being insulin
> >> resistant. Though studies are needed to firmly establish the benefit,
> >> many patients appear to experience improvements in symptoms and cycling.
> >> The cause of this improvement is unclear." Whether one is diagnosed as
> >> IR seems to be a mute point. We know this is a progressive disease,
> >> who's to say that today I'm not IR but in a few months I could be?
> >> Perhaps that is why people who do not officially test positive for IR
> >> still reep the benefits and relief that glucophage can provide. I'd
> >> rather take that approach then continue gaining weight dispite my
> >> efforts with diet and exercise and end up with type II diabetes some
> >> day. True, MET is not a hormone, but you can't dismiss the effects it
> >> has on hormones even in people without IR. If glucophage seems to help
> >> even non-IR people, and relatively safe, then why fight it? Why is it
> >> that non-IR people still have high testosterone levels and glucophage
> >> helps them? I think they're still working on that one. If there's one
> >> thing we *do* know, we don't know everything about this disease. I
> >> believe in order to make srtides in an attempt to tackle this disease,
> >> we need to be open-minded.
> >> Monica
> >>
> >> At Sat, 29 Jul 2000, anonymous@obgyn.net wrote:
> >> >
> >> >And what are you citing? I was in a University of Michigan Rezulin
> >> >study, one of the requirements was Insulin Resistance. Their info
> >> >specifically said that only half to 3/4s of the women w/PCOS had IR. And
> >> >how can the Met work on anything other than IR? For those of us with it,
> >> >it's the IR that causes the testosterone dysfunction. Met's not a
> >> >hormone, so I have no idea where you're getting this info.
> >> >
> >> >At Sat, 29 Jul 2000, Monica wrote:
> >> >>
> >> >>Stacey,
> >> >>I respectfully disagree. The new studies show that MET is effective in
> >> >>treating PCOS patients who do not show signs of insulin resistance. PCOS
> >> >>manifests itslef in two ways, IR and testosterone/androgen disfunction.
> >> >>The MET works on both things. I suggest before making such glib answers
> >> >>you check your facts, please.
> >> >>Monica
> >> >>At Thu, 27 Jul 2000, anonymous@obgyn.net wrote:
> >> >>>
> >> >>>But what do you think that Met will do for you? It's sole purpose in
> >> >>>being is to fix insulin issues. That's like giving someone with a bad
> >> >>>heart a new brain to fix the problem.
> >> >>>
> >> >>>At Thu, 27 Jul 2000, melissa wrote:
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>>i'm on glucophage and my doctor never checked my insulin level. We also
> >> >>>>fought until he gave in. he just checked my liver and kidneys first.
> >> good
> >> >>>>luck, melissa
> >> >>>>
> >> >>>>>From: Goldsngurl@aol.com (Laura)
> >> >>>>>Reply-To: pcos-medication@obgyn.net
> >> >>>>>To: Multiple recipients of list PCOS-MEDICATION
> >> >>>>><pcos-medication@mail.medispecialty.com>
> >> >>>>>Subject: Metformin anyone?
> >> >>>>>Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 16:56:13 -0500
> >> >>>>>
> >> >>>>>Hey! Is anyone currently on Metformin and not insulin resistant? I am
> >> >>>>>currently head to head with my doctor, but she won't budge. Pls let me
> >> >>>>>know!
> >> >>>>>
> >> >>>>>--
> >> >>>>>Thanks!
> >> >>>>>Laura
> >> >>>>>
> >>
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> >
> >Well - to throw my 2 cents in - I am on Met and am not Insuline Resistant
> >.. From what my Doctor told me, Met helps to keep from becoming completely
> >IR .... From what I have read in journals, also, is that PCOS is actually
> >caused from Insulin ups and downs, not PCOS causing IR .... I have been
> >on Met for about 3 months now without being IR ...so I also respectfully
> >disagree.... The point of Met is to help "even Keel" everything to
> >avoid hyper and hypoinsulinism. Hope everyone has a wonderful day!!!
> >(: Amy
> >"Avalos, Clara" wrote:
> >Monica...
> >It's Monday morning and I am racing through posts from the weekend...
> >been
> >following this thread with interest, though... I just wanted to send
> >over
> >some support for your assertions... From all the reading that I have
> >been
> >doing, I've come to pretty much the same conclusions that you write
> >here in
> >your message below. Thanks for putting it so well!
> >=o) Hugs,
> >Clara
> >-----Original Message-----
> >From: anonymous@obgyn.net [mailto:anonymous@obgyn.net]
> >Sent: Sunday, July 30, 2000 8:48 AM
> >To: Multiple recipients of list PCOS-MEDICATION
> >Subject: Re: Metformin anyone?
> >You are entitled to your opinion. I'm basing my opinion on previous
> >posts from this forum's archives, journal articles I've read and the
> >following taken from "PCOS Frequently Asked Questions" at
> >http://www.inciid.org/faq/pcos4.html (InterNational Council on Infertility
> >Information Dissemination):"... At least 30% of women with PCOS
> >are
> >insulin resistant, although some investigators claim a much stronger
> >association exists. ...It appears that even some patients who
> >so not
> >test as being insulin resistant may benefit from these medication.
> >Some
> >doctors do give insulin-sensitizing medications to patients with PCOS,
> >including lean women, whether or not they test as clearly being insulin
> >resistant. Though studies are needed to firmly establish the
> >benefit,
> >many patients appear to experience improvements in symptoms and cycling.
> >The cause of this improvement is unclear." Whether one is diagnosed
> >as
> >IR seems to be a mute point. We know this is a progressive disease,
> >who's to say that today I'm not IR but in a few months I could be?
> >Perhaps that is why people who do not officially test positive for
> >IR
> >still reep the benefits and relief that glucophage can provide.
> >I'd
> >rather take that approach then continue gaining weight dispite my
> >efforts with diet and exercise and end up with type II diabetes some
> >day. True, MET is not a hormone, but you can't dismiss the effects
> >it
> >has on hormones even in people without IR. If glucophage seems
> >to help
> >even non-IR people, and relatively safe, then why fight it? Why is
> >it
> >that non-IR people still have high testosterone levels and glucophage
> >helps them? I think they're still working on that one. If there's
> >one
> >thing we *do* know, we don't know everything about this disease.
> >I
> >believe in order to make srtides in an attempt to tackle this disease,
> >we need to be open-minded.
> >Monica
> >At Sat, 29 Jul 2000, anonymous@obgyn.net wrote:
> >>
> >>And what are you citing? I was in a University of Michigan Rezulin
> >>study, one of the requirements was Insulin Resistance. Their
> >info
> >>specifically said that only half to 3/4s of the women w/PCOS had IR.
> >And
> >>how can the Met work on anything other than IR? For those of us with
> >it,
> >>it's the IR that causes the testosterone dysfunction. Met's
> >not a
> >>hormone, so I have no idea where you're getting this info.
> >>
> >>At Sat, 29 Jul 2000, Monica wrote:
> >>>
> >>>Stacey,
> >>>I respectfully disagree. The new studies show that MET is effective
> >in
> >>>treating PCOS patients who do not show signs of insulin resistance.
> >PCOS
> >>>manifests itslef in two ways, IR and testosterone/androgen disfunction.
> >>>The MET works on both things. I suggest before making such
> >glib answers
> >>>you check your facts, please.
> >>>Monica
> >>>At Thu, 27 Jul 2000, anonymous@obgyn.net wrote:
> >>>>
> >>>>But what do you think that Met will do for you? It's sole purpose
> >in
> >>>>being is to fix insulin issues. That's like giving someone
> >with a bad
> >>>>heart a new brain to fix the problem.
> >>>>
> >>>>At Thu, 27 Jul 2000, melissa wrote:
> >>>>>
> >>>>>i'm on glucophage and my doctor never checked my insulin level.
> >We also
> >>>>>fought until he gave in. he just checked my liver and kidneys
> >first.
> >good
> >>>>>luck, melissa
> >>>>>
> >>>>>>From: Goldsngurl@aol.com (Laura)
> >>>>>>Reply-To: pcos-medication@obgyn.net
> >>>>>>To: Multiple recipients of list PCOS-MEDICATION
> >>>>>><pcos-medication@mail.medispecialty.com>
> >>>>>>Subject: Metformin anyone?
> >>>>>>Date: Thu, 27 Jul 2000 16:56:13 -0500
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>Hey! Is anyone currently on Metformin and not insulin resistant?
> >I am
> >>>>>>currently head to head with my doctor, but she won't budge.
> >Pls let me
> >>>>>>know!
> >>>>>>
> >>>>>>--
> >>>>>>Thanks!
> >>>>>>Laura
> >>>>>>
> >
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