Fortamet or Metformin for PCOS and Increase Fertility?

I took glucaphage for three months before getting pregnant with my second child. Not only did it regulate my periods but I lost weight too! I have been trying to conceive a third child for almost a year now. I just bought some herbs from insulitelabs.com. If it doesn't work, I will take glucaphage again. Afriend of a friend took the herbs and got pregnant after trying for 10 yrs. Oh and I liked the glucaphage that had the time release formula.

I have/had PCOS and was able to conceive naturally. Email me and I'll give you more information. I no longer live in San Diego, but can communicate with you via email or phone. ____@____.com

I was also diagnosed with PCOS back in 2001 when I was 32 yrs. old. I had been trying to get pregnant for a year. I was first put on Clomid alone for about 6 months, and that didn't work. I then went to see a fertility specialist (Reproductive Partners) who suggested a combination of Clomid and Metformin, along with intrauterine insemination (IUI). I also got an injection (can't remember name of drug) to cause ovulation once the egg was mature enough to be released. The IUI is less invasive and less costly than IVF, and I would suggest trying that first before considering IVF. I did this for six months, and was finally able to conceive. My first child was born in Feb. 2003. We tried to get pregnant again in late-2004, thinking it might take a while. The doctors had told us that with PCOS, once you get pregnant once, your hormones adjust and the second child after that will be much easier to conceive, but we didn't believe them. Well, they were right! We got pregnant right away! So we now have two very healthy and beautiful boys, ages 5 and 3! I don't know about the research, but for me, the combination of drugs worked and we have not experienced any negative effects from the drugs. Hope this helps. Good luck to you.

I got pregnant on my 2nd month of taking Metformin. I had an ultrasound done the first month and he saw that I wasn't ovulating.. obviously that changed the 2nd month. His name is Matthew!
Now I am ovulating on a regular basis without any help from drugs.

Good luck in your journey! P.

I can't speak to either of these meds and pardon me for not answering your answer directly. I always look for alternative methods in dealing with health issues. I know that acupuncture can be very effective in dealing with a host of female health problems. I had a friend who really suffered from uterine fibroids and found relief with acupuncture. I have two friends who are using it for fertility issues. I use it for asthma. Believe it or not, there is a chiropractic adjustment for the uterus that can be helpful. I found this site just now so I can't say anymore than it is another resource for you to look at, but it might be worth a read.
http://www.ovariancystsinformation.com/my-battle-with-ova...

Good luck!

I was under the care of a reproductive endocrinologist and started Glucophage (non-generic metformin) when I was in my early 20's for PCOS (before I was even ready for kids). When I was ready, I was cyst free and ovulating regularly, and conceived one month after coming off the pill, my son is 2 1/2. I did have a much easier time taking the glucophageXR versus the metformin, it was a lot easier on my stomach and more effective in controlling my periods. I stayed on the glucophage for my first trimester, then switched to a diabetic diet to avoid gestational diabetes.

My reproductive endo said I was the first person she had treated with PCOS to conceive on just glucophage, as it was a relatively new study when I started seeing her.

Good luck.

Homeopathy is one fertility treatment option with holistic approach to both male and female by improving reproductive health together with overall health. Just don’t try to self-medicate or combine with any other energy medicines approach such as TCM.

HI C.,
My OB prescribed Metformin for me because my hormones were imbalanced and also to regulate my period. However, I do not have PCOS. She told me that she had a lot of success with this drug with several patients. It has a few side effects and a decreased rate of miscarriages. I took it for a month, with no side effects, and by God' amazing grace we concieved the next month and I am now 16 weeks pregnant with our second child. We had been trying for about 8 months to concieve our second baby. I hope this helps. I also have a friend who took Metformin for about two cycles and was pregnant after. Her daughter is now almost four years old. So Good Luck to you and I pray it helps you.

Please contact Master Zhou for a non-invasive procedure. He is amazing. Ask for Julia and tell her that Penny said to call and he can help you naturally instead of meds. ###-###-#### please email me if you want more info

C.~ I understand how you feel about not taking a lot of meds. We finally discovered I have PCOS while trying to conceive our first child, almost 5 years ago. After a lot of trying and almost a year we were successful with IVF. It was during this time I started on met. After I had our son, I went off everything for a couple years due to nursing and just not wanting to deal with anything else but him. This was almost 3 years ago. In January I started back on met to hopefully begin the IVF process in the future. A friend gave me her digital fertility monitor and in July I got my first period in a long time, we saw a spike for ovulaion and miraculously got pregnant. I unfortunately miscarried. Since that time I have not had a period but found out yesterday that I am miraculously pregnant! We never thought it was possible to have this happen. After talking with my regular OB/GYN she said that the met really helps PCOS ladies get their cycles regular and adjsut teh body to "work". I know that the met has absolutely helped me have more regular periods and my body doing what it is supposed to. I don't really have side effects, I do know that the slower you increase your dosage or to the extended release you will feel better.

Best wishes, sorry this is a little long but I hope it helps you see that anything is possible. Believe me, I never ever thought it was possible. We had lined up a repeat visit with my fertility doctor and had the pleasure of calling to cancel because we did it on our own!

I am thinking good thoughts for you,
J.

I also have PCOS and my doctor put me on metformin. It was tough on my stomach. I had to be careful about eating things that were too "heavy", but it was worth it. I got pregnant the second month I was on it and now have a six month old boy. My doctor kept me on the metformin until I was 28 weeks because he said there is some evidence that it reduces the risk of miscarriage in women with PCOS. Good luck.

C., I was on Metformin for both of my last 2 pregnancies without any problems. Best of luck to you.

you should look into Maca. Its a majical root and it makes you fertial. worked for me. You should get the organic powder one. Its all natural and God given.

My Dr put me on metformin for insulin resistance & PCOS. It was to regulate my blood sugar & prevent diabetes. I was not trying to have a baby (10 years ago). He started me gradually, like 1/4 of the normal dose, to 1/2 of the normal dose to then 100% of the normal dose, just to make sure my body could handle it. I adjusted fine.

When it was time for me to have a baby, I got pregnant with twins the 1st month we tried. That isn't always the case but for me though it didn't start out as something to help have a baby, it appears it ended up that way.

One last thing, I know some posts said they were kept on it through pregnancy, however my doctors (endocronologist & OB) both recommended immediately coming off of it once I knew I was pregnant.

Good luck

I was diagnosed many years ago with PCOS. When I was 35, I decided to try and have a baby. 4 years later, no baby and I had been under the care of reportably reputable infertility specialists (Reproductive Partners) and had about 16 failed inseminations. I was on just about every fertility med available (except Metformin) without success(I only ever ovulated one egg each month). When I decided to try a new Reproductive Endocrinologist (RE), the first thing he did was put me on Metformin. Well, the very first month, I ovulated 16 eggs!!! We harvested them and froze them for future use (if needed). My second try with my new MD gave me my beautiful daughter and 2 years later, my fantastic son. My RE is in Irvine, Dr. I.Lane Wong. He is my God-send and the reason I smile when my kids say "mommy". Good luck and I still take Metformin (and no longer having kids) because it's the only thing I've found to give me a monthly period. Once you get through the first 3 or 4 weeks of side effects (granted they weren't pleasant ones either but worth it to get my babies to me) then the medicine is easily tolerated. I would suggest smaller doses the first week then each week add alittle bit more until you are at the dosage your doctor recommends. I take 1000mg two times a day with no side effects now.

Hi C.,

Yes, my doc put me on metformin when I was trying. However, it was so hard on my body -- I ended up telling him that I couldn't do it. My diet was so restrictive, which is hard, and it was causing terrible digestive issues. And I have an iron stomach! It's different for everyone but maybe if the side effects are so terrible, your doc can offer something as an alternative.

My husband and I have been trying to get preg. for 3+ years. My doctor intially put me on regular metformin and I was alright on it for a little bit but the side effects had me missing work and sick all the time. Next we tried the metformin extended release (XR or ER) and that worked better for me. I was on the extended for about 4 mos before I had to stop that because the side effects were back and constant. I quit taking anything for 6 mos.

The last time I went to my doctor and we discussed me taking something along those lines again, she suggested that I try Fortamet. So far, I have not had a single side effect and it has definitely been helping me to lose some weight! I would recommend that anyone who is having problems with the reg or extended met try the fortamet! (Just a warning though, with my insurance, it is $61 a month and that is about 30% of the total cost. Depending on your insurance it could be expensive. Try asking your doctor for samples when you go in and ask if they have the prescribtion savings card from the manufacturer-it can save you $360/yr the first year!)