9 posts tagged “metformin”

just for fun

May 20, 2008
Post a comment

I've been feeling really lousy lately. Kinda fluttery in my stomach, tired, a bit weak. Just for fun (read: far fetched hope) I took a pee test. It was a long shot... and it came up negative, but I just couldn't help myself. It was far fetched because I still haven't gotten my period. I put so much hope into the Metformin. In my mind it was supposed to be a miracle drug. I'm trying to stay positive. I keep reminding myself that I've only been on it since February and it could still work, but there is a nagging voice in the back of my head saying "ya right, its never going to happen for you". On top of that, my weight loss has come to a stand-still. Life is so frustrating sometimes.

On a happy note, my little sister got married this past Friday, May 16th. I finally got some help at work. He started yesterday, and I leave for vacation after work on Friday. Maybe by the time I get back I'll be in a better mood. Thanks for listening. Sometimes I just need to rant.

looking forward to a vacation

Mar 26, 2008
Post a comment

Rudy and I officially got the time off for a long road trip to visit with his grandparents in Wyoming. We will be leaving the weekend of Memorial Day and will be gone up to two weeks. We've arranged it so our schedule will be really flexible. With how busy things are at work, I'm really looking forward to this trip and not having firm plans. It should be an adventure since I'm not good at going where the wind takes me. The idea of not knowing exactly where we are going to sleep at night or what we are going to do each day kind of freaks me out. We have a basic idea of what the trip will be. We will leave either Friday after work or sometime Saturday, depending on how good we are about packing ahead of time. If it works out, we will probably make our way to Milwaukee and stay with friends the first night. We are planning to take camping gear, so if we happen upon a campground that looks inviting, we may spend a night in the wilderness, otherwise it will probably be cheep motels. Rudy is brining his laptop with an updated navigation program and a GPS unit, so that puts me a little more at ease knowing that we can look ahead to find food, shelter, and gas stations. Along the way, we want to stop at Mount Rushmore and Walldrug. We will go through Yellowstone, the Badlands, and hopefully Bear Tooth Pass, if it is open by the time we get there. Once in Wyoming, we will be staying with Rudy's grandparents for a few days. They live near Jackson Hole and his Grandpa and Uncle work on a Ranch near there. The whole trip should be really interesting for me since I've never been out that direction.

Originally we had wanted to go at the end of the summer around Labor Day. Our anniversary is September 8th, so it would kind of be a 1 year anniversary celebration. But I've learned to deal with the fact that sometimes things just don't work out the way we plan them. Rudy's Grandparents recently bought a house in Arizona and are just waiting to sell their house in Wyoming to make the move official. Rather than take the chance of them not being there by the end of the summer, we decided to go early. This will actually work out better in the long run anyway. It can still be a celebration. We became an official couple six years ago in May, so thats something. Also, I had said if I was pregnant at the end of the summer, I might not want to go. I think we might take a weekend trip to Chicago (or if I'm not pregnant yet, maybe a trip to Six Flags Great America) for our anniversary in September.

Speaking of the pregnancy effort. As it stands right now, I've been on Metformin for just over a month and no period yet. My OBGYN said it may take a couple months to bring back a monthly cycle. I see her again in a couple weeks and I'm betting that I'll end up on Clomid either in April, May, or June. Since most people don't get pregnant in the first month or two on Clomid, the earliest I should have to worry about morning sickness if the Clomid works is mid to late summer. I'm so impatient. I keep hoping that by some miracle I end up pregnant without all the extra help. That is still a slim possibility. Women with PCOS may ovulate without knowing it, and the Metformin increases that chance. I'm doubtful that I will get that lucky, but I still take a cheep home pregnancy test every month or so, just in case. On the bright side, I am down 8 lbs now. I'm trying for another 4 before my next appointment, so that gives me something to focus on for now.

the past few weeks

Mar 8, 2008
Post a comment

Things have been crazy around here the past few weeks. I am doing obscene overtime because my co-worker has been out on medical leave since the end of January. I was just told this past week that she will not be returning. So the extra hours continue until we hire a replacement. Unfortunately, that probably wont be until sometime this summer. I have not been at liberty to talk about it, and even now, I can't say any more.

On the weight loss front, I am down five pounds. This is really exciting for me. Most people would say "five pounds, thats not very much", but for me, right now, it is a lot. When you steadily gain every week for six months, five pounds down is huge!

I'm finely feeling better on the Metformin. For a while it seemed like the diarrhea would never go away. Now it seems to only affect me in the hour after I eat. This I can deal with and I think it will steadily get better from here.

Rudy and I took some time for ourselves last night. It was really nice. We met each other at the discount theatre after work and first saw The Golden Compass at 6:45, then we walked across the street to Red Robin and had dinner. After that went back to the theatre and saw Cloverfield at 9:50. When tickets are only $3.50, its reasonable to see a double feature. I really enjoyed The Golden Compass. I like those kind of movies though. The sort of other world, fantasy types with magic and imaginary creatures. The ones that are really intended for younger audiences are some of my favorites. They have so much more imagination put into them. Anyway, Rudy actually enjoyed it as well, which is surprising since he is always the worst movie critic. Cloverfield could have been a lot better. The idea was there, but the execution was horrible. The camera shake used throughout the entire movie made both of us sick to our stomachs. It was another one like the Blaire Witch movie, where the entire thing is filmed from the point of view of a portable camera on one of the characters shoulders. The only thing is, modern hand-held cameras have anti-shake capabilities, so the movie could have been a little less shaky and still been realistic looking.

This weekend we are cleaning the house and working on the bathroom. There hasn't been much progress made on the bathroom yet because I've been working the past few weekends. Hopefully we can still get it done before summer hits.

no more weight gain!

Feb 25, 2008
Post a comment

I have never been so excited to stay the same weight! I've been on Metformin for 3 weeks now and I haven't gained another pound. This is a miracle. Over the past six months, since I went off the birth control pills, I haven't gone a single week without gaining weight. I am finally up to 3 pills a day, so hopefully with diet and exercise, I will start to loose weight soon.

I also have to go for another blood test tomorrow. This one is a glucose tolerance test. I have to go in fasting, have blood drawn, drink some sort of sugar liquid, wait an hour, have more blood drawn, wait another hour, and have more blood drawn before I can leave. I don't do well with needles and the idea of being poked 3 times in one day freaks me out. I have a tendency to pass out. I'm really not looking forward to this. Darn PCOS. I hate this syndrome!

blood test came back

Feb 13, 2008
Post a comment

Got some scary news from my doctor today. The fasting blood test I took abut two weeks ago said that my cholesterol was high (2 years ago it was borderline) and my sugar levels were elevated. Actually, they were more than elevated. My glucose level was 166 when it should be under 99. I looked it up online and found out that 100-124 is considered pre-diabetic. If I test higher than 124 twice in a row, I will be considered type two diabetic. I always knew there was a possibility of this because of my PCOS, I just didn't think it would happen so soon. Especially just as I'm ready to start trying for a baby. It does explains some of the problems I've been having recently. I've been very very thirsty, I crave sugar, and I've noticed blurred vision on occasion. I know insulin resistance is probably due to the large amount of weight I have gained since my wedding (from going off the Ortotrycycline to try to have a baby). Luckily, the Metformin that I was put on to help the PCOS is also the most common treatment for type 2 diabetics, so that should start to help soon. I'm up to two pills a day and I'll up the does one more time this weekend. I also have started to watch what I put into my mouth and am gradually adding exercise into my life again. Rudy and I are getting a training session this weekend on how to use the equipment at the YMCA, so that should get me even more motivated. I will get healthy again! I have to if I want to have a child.

today was a good day

Feb 8, 2008
Post a comment

Today was a good day. I had very minimal side effects from the Metformin and my headache was gone by the time I woke up. I even got to work relatively on time and left at 5 with everyone else. Because things went so well today, I'm actually planning to up my dose of Metformin this weekend, 3 days ahead of schedule. This way I can deal with the side effects of upping the dose over the weekend and hopefully be fine by Monday. I will still need to up it one more time and will probably do that next weekend to avoid more problems at work.

My doctor also told me to take a look at the South Beach Diet because I seem to have so many problems with carbohydrate addiction. She said not to take it completely to heart, because stage one is a bit extreme, but to check out the basic principals of the diet and possibly merge the ideas about types of food from the South Beach Diet with the portion control section of Weight Watchers. I picked up the book and am reading it now. Its interesting. Actually, it reminds me a lot of the Core program on Weight Watchers. It is the same types of foods and emphasizes lean meats and dairy, whole grains, fruits and vegetables, and healthy oils. The main idea is to get away from processed foods as much as possible. It makes a lot of sense.

headache

Feb 7, 2008
Post a comment

I've been on 500 mg of Metformin once a day for two days now.

Yesterday I had nausea in the morning which subsided by the time I left for work, then I had a bad stomach ache after eating lunch. That lasted most of the afternoon, but was gone by the evening. I was really tired by the end of the day and fell asleep an hour earlier than usual.

Today I was fine in the morning, but got another stomach ache after eating lunch. It went away much faster today. Then I developed a terrible headache that feels like a migraine. Not sure if it has anything to do with the Metformin or not. Its getting better now that I'm home and not under fluorescent lighting.

I'm about to take the third pill. We will see how I react tomorrow. So far, its not as bad as I was expecting. Of course my stress level isn't helping much. My coworker went out on a medical leave of absence the beginning of last week, so I've been doing

both my own work and hers. Not fun, but my paycheck will be really nice.

morning sickness... but not

Feb 6, 2008
Post a comment

Last night after taking the Metformin I was ok. I felt mostly fine. However, when I woke up this morning, I had a terrible feeling of nausea. My first thought was "oh great... I get to practice having morning sickness :-( ". Luckily once I got up and started moving around and ate something, I felt much better.

1st doctors appointment

Feb 5, 2008
2 comments

I finally had my doctors appointment this morning. It went really well. I love my new doctor. She made me feel really at ease. Plus, she listened to me and did what I was hoping she would which was to put me on Metformin first... rather than Clomid. Metformin is a popular diabetes medication and has been show to help with PCOS symptoms. This is a huge ray of hope for me. There is a downside though. There are some nasty side effects when you start taking it. Luckily, if you are patient, they should subside. The worst (in my opinion) is that about 50% of people who take it experience nausea, vomiting, or diarrhea at the beginning of treatment. I just took my first pill, so we will see how it goes. The way I figure it is that if it helps with my symptoms eventually and helps me get pregnant, then its worth some discomfort in the beginning.

I'm supposed to start off with one 500 mg tablet once a day, then if I don't experience any side effects (or the side effects subside) then I will up it to two per day and eventually three times a day. Once I'm up to that, I get to switch to a pill that has a higher does, but only needs to be taken once a day. I decided to start taking the pill at night so I could gage my reaction to it at home, rather than at work. Hopefully everything will go well and I either won't be effected by the side effects or they will subside quickly.

I have a follow up appointment with my OBGYN in two months to see if it is working. The hope is that the Metformin will level out my hormones/sugar levels in order to help me loose weight and to help bring me back to a normal monthly period. Once that happens, I will probably go on Clomid to help me produce good eggs. With all the prep thats going into this, I probably won't get pregnant until summer, which really wouldn't be so bad. I would love to be prego right now, but I also realize it will be better for my health and the health of my future baby if I can get my weight under control first. Wish me luck. I'm going to need it.