Metformin side effects

[AmesK]

Hi everyone,

hoping people can share their experiences. I suffer from PCOS and endometriosis and have been TTC for 2 years- I’ve had surgery but have recently started metformin but have now noticed almost constant spotting since starting it!

Has anyone else experienced this? And does this mean metformin is having a negative effect on my fertility and decreasing my chances of getting pregnant? Does metformin make endometriosis worse? Should I think about stopping?

Argh, any stories or experiences would be great! Xx

Any experiences?

Hi ☺️

I am also on Metformin for PCOS. Ever since I started them about 7 months ago I always have a little discharge so will always wear a small liner.

It's a nightmare but hopefully it works in the long term. Major side effect for me was my appetite, it has really gone and I no longer eat what I used to.

They started me with one tablet every day for one week, now I'm on 2 tablets every day. Waiting on an appointment to follow everything up.

💕

@Daisy545 Thanks so much for replying! It’s great to hear someone’s else’s experience :)

I feel the same about appetite, I’m having lots of nausea bleurgh. But I’m just wondering, when you say discharge, are you having any blood? Because I’m having constant spotting and sometimes the blood is more than small spots

@AmesK no problem, it always helps to talk to someone.

No, only had bleeding twice I think and it was a little amount. I also don't have a period very often so it's rare for me bleed.

Is yours heavy? Maybe you'll need to go speak to a dr?

@Daisy545 ah I see!

Yep, mine is heavier than I would expect and I managed to speak to a Gynae doctor yesterday. He couldn’t explain it and just said ‘well if you think it’s the metformin then stop taking it’. That’s not super helpful because I am taking it to try and improve my cycles and if I can work out if this bleeding can be expected on it then I might just persevere in the hope that this is just the medication shaking up my hormones and things will settle.

Haha I don’t know if that makes sense?
Thanks for your help :) xx

That is not helpful advice from the dr at all. Can you speak to someone else?

How long have you been taking Metformin? If it's new then it's maybe just your body adjusting?

@Daisy545 That’s exactly how I thought when he said that to me! Super unhelpful! I am hoping to speaking to my regular gynaecologist but with all the coronavirus stuff, he’s not around :(

That’s what I’m hoping, that’s it’s just my body adjusting to the new medication. I really just wanted the doctor to provide some clear guidance and say ‘yep, this is normal (or not)’ and then I could have made a clear decision about continuing. I’ve only been taking it for two weeks, and I notice that the bleeding started on the second week, just after I increased the dose to 500mg twice a day.

Thanks daisy for supporting me :)

@AmesK that's how my dosage was at the beginning also.

I would keep taking them as normal until you get to speak to your doctor. I imagine it is just your body adjusting them.

How are you feeling?

PCOS but no endometriosis here.

I take 4 metformin tablets a day - 2 in the morning, 2 at night. I've not had spotting but have had regular periods for the first time in years.

When i started taking the metformin a year ago, my consultant told me it could take 6 months - 12 months to have a strong effect on my cycles etc and that it would take some time to settle down. But i strongly recommend speaking to your endocrinology team - mine are responding to emails and taking phone consultations during covid.

On the down side, im still not ovulating regularly and as soon as fertility services start again, am due to start clomid. But fingers crossed you have more luck! 🤞🏻🤞🏻

@Daisy545

I really hope it is just my body adjusting :)

I'm feeling a bit better in the last few days because the bleeding seems to have stopped but the nausea is extreme bleurgh! I know you mentioned having a loss of appetite but did you feel super sick too? And if you did, when did that settle for you? xx

@MoscowMuse

Hi! Thanks so much for sharing your experience :) You're right, I should push a bit more for a telephone consultation as I was really struggling in the last two weeks.
That's really good to know about it possibly taking a year to work but I'm not sure if that's the right thing for me then. I've already been TTC for 2 years so don't know what other options there are. I definitely need to have a chat with the doctor :D

I'm sorry to hear youre not ovulating :( And it's super frustrating with the services closed at the minute but I have heard talk that things will restart early June, so hopefully theres not too much more of a wait for you! I am wishing you all the best, lots of baby dust to you :) xx

I went on Metformin and had no spotting or periods. That and some weight lose we think caused me to fall pregnant after 8yrs TTC and being told it was highly unlikely to happen.

Good luck

@Ratbagratty

Thanks so much for sharing :)

Massive congratulations to you after your long journey :) Would you mind me asking how much weight you lost? I am also overweight and trying to lose a bit, so far only lost a few kilos, so just wondering if there's a target or it is just until I get into the healthy BMI range?

xx

I got down to about 80kg, losing 12kg I was still bmi obese but towards the lower end, I'm quite short. I had previously had ovarian drilling, all the drugs clomid etc. And got told I had to lose weight to be eligible for IVF. They put me on Metformin to try and help me lose weight which really helped along with following some great advice from a dietician.

@Ratbagratty Ok great! I guess I have a bit of work to do then, it’s such a long road isn’t it, all this TTC? Thanks so much for your support :)

@Ratbagratty, @AmesK This is the same as my experience. I'm 5'9 - currently 85kg and trying to get down to 75kg (although lockdown not helping that process). Im finding it really hard to be honest!

Metformin is a bit of a wonder drug for lots of people - i really hope it works for you. Good luck with your TTC journey!

@MoscowMuse

Totally feel your pain! It’s been a lot of yo-yo ing in lockdown tbh. Have you got a buddy or someone to try the weight loss journey with? Because I always find it a lonely place.

Thank you! Good luck to you too. Hope you get your BFP soon xxx

Try and enjoy yourself too, I know it's hard when it's hanging over your head but apart form losing weight, I had been trying to come to terms with it not happening and was letting my hair down a bit by doing things I wanted to do and then fell pregnant without really actively thinking about it.

@AmesK I was sick but not seriously. Maybe for about 4 weeks or so.

I've just started tracking my temp to see if I am and when I'm ovulating but so far a week in it is all over the place. What symptoms do you all have when ovulating?

@Ratbagratty You're right! I'm trying to put the entire journey to the back of my mind (often unseccessfully haha) because I just find myself getting obsessed and stressing myself out!

@Daisy545 Yeah, I've been getting the same sickness but it seems to have started settling so fingers crossed :)

It took me ages to track ovulation and I still haven't quite got the hang of it, because I have so much going on that nothing ever follows a pattern. I know a lot of ladies look for EWCM to track, as well as using OPK's and BBT and sometimes I tend to get a mid cycle spot slash bleed when I ovulate but again, that's not predictable (and not always a sign of ovulation in my case :( )

Have you been using OPK's too? A week is such a short period of time, I would give it a bit longer to see if you can start noticing a pattern and not to stress too much just yet :) (easier said than done, believe me, I know!) xx