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Samantha,
I have been on Glucophage for over well two years solid to treat PCOS. I have endometriosis as well, so I'm really battling demons!!
I started the Glucophage to help with a number of hormone issues that go along with PCOS - and it helped tremendously within the first six months. I noticed an overall change in my health, as well as the number of cysts my body produced...which lessened substantially. As did the other PCOS symptoms - body hair, acne...all reduced. Because my PCOS had gone undiagnosed for SO long, my cholesterol was SO HIGH that I was on the verge of a stroke and possibly dying...so the Glucophage saved my life.
Once we got the cholesterol straightened out, we turned our focus onto the infertility meds...which I was told would work better with the Glucophage. The meds did work really well, but my endometriosis kept us infertile...so I had several more surgeries to abate that, all the while taking the Glucophage.
Once we got the endo to a place where everything could work well, they upped my Glucophage to the maximum dose allowed by law and started the fertility meds again. Several IUIs later, I got a BFP...and I'm grateful to God for it every day.
I am still on the Glucophage and will remain on the Glucophage for a better part of my reproductive life. I will only go off the meds once I am no longer going to have children and have my ovaries removed.
My doctor said he wished he had met me years earlier because of how out of control all my problems were - I, like you, had suspected PCOS and endo for well over ten years...but it went dismissed by every doctor I had.
Now, as for side effects. It's messy. But, thankfully, they usually only last a little while as your body adjusts to the meds. I was told by my doc to take one pill a day for a week, then add the second pill for one week, then finally add the third. If you take all of it at once, you get REALLY sick to your stomach and lots of diarrhea. It eventually fades, but if you miss a couple of days, you'll find that you'll get sick again when you start taking it.
The benefit to Glucophage during pregnancy has been the virtual elimination of preeclampsia...which I would have certainly gotten had I not had the meds. Also, with the discovery of PCOS, my endocrinologist discovered several other problems like a genetic blood mutation called MTHFR. I'm on more than a dozen pills a day, but I know that I'm as healthy as I can be, and my baby will be as well.
There is a man in Cincinnati named Dr. Charles Glueck who was the one who discovered the Glucophage/PCOS connection. His website is listed below, and while it may not provide you with answers, you can e-mail him and he may give you some help from afar.
http://www.jewishhospitalcinci
nnati.com/glueck/cholesterol.html
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that I've been seeing this doctor, and several others, for just about three years now, I've gotten quite an education, and I'm glad to do WHATEVER I can to help you. So, please feel free to message me with questions - there is help out there, and you don't need to suffer. Either with your PCOS, or the side effects from the meds...just let me know how I can help.
I wish you the best of luck on your journey and will keep you in my prayers.
HeatherMac
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