Mild PCOS: prescribed Metformin & Myoinositol

[Lovemusic2015]

Hi all, I recently had a consult with a gynaecologist who diagnosed mild pcos. We’ve been trying to conceive for over a year with one chemical pregnancy during that time. He prescribed Metformin & myoinositol to help egg quality & ovulation. He said to try then for 3 months. Any experience or advice for me? When googling pcos there’s talk of diet plans but the doc did not mention anything like that to me - he did warn about possible side effects. I want to give this my best shot & do all I can do to improve egg quality. We are taking procieve & Omega 3 & a probiotic. Husbands tests all fine.

I also have PCOS and have been taking metformin and inositol for about a month now. Starting to see improvements with some symptoms but still waiting for my period so it hasn't helped regulate them yet. I'm so new to it all too really but I've found Healthy PCOS on Instagram and Facebook to be really helpful, the Facebook group is full of women in the same boat so there's a lot of good advice and tips.

Oh and the side effects can be pretty horrible, I feel nauseous a lot and it's playing havoc with my digestive system. But that is super normal. Are you starting low with the metformin and then increasing the dose after a week or so? That's what my doctor told me to do.

Thanks so much @mymeatballsmymeatballs its great to hear someone else in the same situation. I’ve read a bit online about the side effects so not looking forward to that. And yes my doctor told me one tablet week 1, 2 tablets week two & then 3 tablets week 3 onwards. I’ll have a look on fb/Instagram for those groups you mention. Great to get some support!

@Lovemusic2015 prescribed myo inositol? Lucky you! I'm paying £40 a month on myo supplements.
I take metformin and myo aswell for pcos , my pcos is quite severe tho.
If we weren't ttc #1 and there wasnt a rush due to my age theres not a chance in hell I would continue with metformin as the side effects are just horrendous.

I also take metformin for PCOS. If you find you get really bad digestive side effects, there is a slow release version you can switch it. I have no side effects when i take slow release.

PCOS can cause insulin resistance (hence why metformin can be effective) so trying to follow a low carb diet can also help.

Metformin brought back my periods but i still wasnt ovulating. We ended up going down the ovulation induction route and conceived DD using letrozole on top of the metformin. So don't be disheartened if it doesn't make a difference straight away as it can take time but there are still further options.

Sorry for the delay replying. Sorry I need to clarify, I was waiting on a script to come through I should’ve said my doc recommended both but will be a prescription for metforim. When you say horrendous, how bad are we talking? Dreading it but at the same time I’ll do all I can to avoid IVF…

What dosage are you taking?

We are on month one of ttc my 2nd child. 1st was conceived straight away in 2018, I've found out I have PCOS in the interim.

I've researched and started taking myo inositol, taking two of these ones a day https://www.justvitamins.co.uk/Vitamin-B/Inositol-500mg.aspx?sclid=D8rb3KX8if&ppc_keyword=&gclid=CjwKCAjw_YShBhAiEiwAMomsENW6d8zil1GOsVF9-LVbgnoxm3zFbK_qJYBcIQjU9Bh0yR7UHLhmyhoCE00QAvD_BwE

Will they do no good do you think?

thanks so much for all the detail. The doctor told me that clomid / letrozole would be pointless right now in my situation as amh high so low egg quality & not sure if I’m definitely ovulating. Wanted me to go on these for a few months first & then see. Ideally he was recommending ivf thereafter. I am confused about it all. What is metformins main job? From googling I’m reading it’s to do with insulin & can assist with the menstrual cycle. Does it help you ovulate if you don’t already?
so if I’ve mild pcos & have a period every 30-40 days, I’ve already had one miscarriage so doc stated this was best course of action right now…

I have PCOS and when TTC the consultant went straight to ovarian drilling because she said she would rather go in and have a good look to make sure there weren't any other problems on top of the PCOS as if there is then there's little point in taking clomid or Metformin. She said Metformin would stimulate ovulation and is more effective than clomid but is more likely to result in multiple pregnancies. Anyway to cut a long story short there were other issues aside from the PCOS so I went straight to IVF. I did take inofolic which is a mixture of ino and folic acid all the way though investigations and IVF as it's about egg quality which is important no matter how you conceive.

Metformin regulated my periods to every 28 days, I lost 2 stone aswell. Side effects wise I had what I called the metformin poo's! Bad diarreah for about 3 months, it would literally come out of nowhere and a few times I very nearly shit myself 😆 but after those first few months it stopped and I was fine then.

But both clomid and metformin didn't help me get pregnant

Similar situation - trying for 18 months with a chemical and a miscarriage. The key for me was dose. Gp had me on 1000mg of metformin a day which wasn't doing a great deal then the consultant put me up to 1500mg and recommended inositol and I was pregnant within a month. My 11 week old baby boy is lying in the crib next to me as we speak so don't lose hope :-)

Sorry only replying now. So lovely to read your post so similar to my situation - helps me feel positive. Have started both. On 500mg this week, up to 2 tablets next week & 3 the following one. So hopefully it will help 🤞🏻

Thanks for that - best to be prepared for toilet trouble!! Great to hear about regulated previous as so disappointing having long cycles & wondering if pregnant etc. Sorry to hear the drugs didn’t work for you though. We are going to give it 3 months we think & see thereafter..

@Dinersaur I was prescribed 1500mg but I can barely tolerate 1000mg most days. I just can't move up at all and ive been on metformin for a year

Myo inositol alone did not help me , nor did metformin alone but what I did find and I don't know if it's related to the tablets or due to the fact I had a tube flushing and took a provera in October.. ever since that ive had my periods back and I'm ovulating. I started taking myo and metformin together that same month so I don't know which gave me the boost weather it was combining them or the flushing stimulating my ovaries which apparently it can do 🤷‍♀️ but I've went from having 1 to 2 periods a year having more regular periods. Ovulation is all over the place tho and so are cycle lengths , they range from 23 to 49 so far this month , didnt ovulate until cycle day 43 but i suppose its better than never ovulating. I did manage to get pregnant in December though with a 33 day cycle that month. The month I got pregnant i was only taking low dose of both 500mg metformin ( had cut back as didn't want upset bowels over Christmas) and 1000mg inositol. I've since upped it again to the 1000mg and now take 2000mg inositol.
Not sure what contributed to the sudden change in my cycles but it's gave me some hope back