Re: side effect of Glucophage?
From: =?iso-8859-2?q?Zalányi Sámuel ?= (anonymous@obgyn.net)
Fri, 31 Aug 2001 04:16:02 +0200
Hi Lauren and Mel,
There are two explanations:
1. Breathing is regulated at 3 points in the neural system: low oxygen (as on high altitude), high carbondioxyde (exercise) and low pH. The third may be the clue with Lauren, as metformin may cause acidosis.
2. Inability to breath "deep" is a typical psychosomatic symptom...
For your info
Sam (Ob/Gyn,RE)
> --- Lauren <anonymous@obgyn.net> wrote:
> > not as bad as that sounds. It's just that sometimes I feel like I
> > can't
> > quite catch a deep breath. This NEVER happened to me before I
> > started
> > taking the medicine. I know there's a danger of thinking that
> > everything we experience is a symptom of PCOS or a side effect of the
> > medication. But any insight anybody has would be appreciated.
>
> I don't have any answers for you, but wanted to post just so you'd have
> that "I'm not crazy!" feeling. I've had breathing difficulties for the
> past 6 years or so, and it's like you say, just a feeling from time to
> time like I cannot get a deep breath unless I really concentrate on it.
> I've never had any doctors to figure out what the problem is, though.
> I've had hours and hours of tests from my regular doctor,
> cardiologists, pulmonologists, I've had blood oxygen levels taken, I've
> been given inhalers (which didn't help). No one seems to know. To me,
> when no one knows, it usually means it's PCOS-related ;-) Especially
> since I've noticed that it's worse if I heat high-sugar or high-starch
> foods (also beer, alcohol is a sugar of course).
>
> I can tell you one simple thing to try, that sometimes helps me. Plain
> old Lipton-style black tea. Tea has a chemical in it that is similar
> to theophylline, a chemical used in some asthma medications. It's a
> bronchodilator, meaning it will temporarily open up your lungs a little
> bit. Also, as I said, try and see if you notice any difference between
> how well you breathe when you've eaten high-starch or high-sugar foods
> and when you shy away from them.
>
> But, as I said, I've never seen anyone else mention this as a PCOS
> symptom.
>
> --Mel
>
![[ PCOS Discussion Forums ]](../../images/pcos_at_obgyn.gif)