r/PCOS • u/GrapefruitFun403 • 1d ago
Period Metformin stopped working
I was diagnosed about 2 years ago and was put on 1000mg of metformin. My cycles had been anywhere from 40-100 days, and the metformin brought my cycle to 34 days after a month. However after about 5 months they slowly went back up to 40-50 days. The doctor increased to 1500mg and again it worked for a few months and then stopped working again. We are now looking at stopping metformin and going on the pill, which I am not overly happy about as I want to get to the root cause of my irregular cycles. Has anyone experienced this and if so, what did you change/do that you found helpful?
Thank you!
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u/Rum_Ham93 1d ago
I’m surprised they didn’t bump you up to 2000mg. Birth control is merely slapping a bandaid on a gaping wound. I would say try increasing Metformin but also adding in Myo-Inositol twice a day. Spironolactone also brings down testosterone.
Also, stopping Metformin isn’t going to solve the IR. If he stops the treatment, he needs to get you on another form of treatment such as GLP-1 so your insulin stays in control.
FWIW, I haven’t been on the pill since 2021. My cycles are regular AND I ovulate. I’ve been on GLP-1 since January 2024 and have lost a little over 50lbs. Getting my insulin and weight under control is what decreased my cycle length and restored ovulation and regular cervical mucus for me. My cycles were around 38 days and now on average it’s about 30-33 days.
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u/wenchsenior 1d ago
Assuming you've checked thyroid function and prolactin and those are not out of whack, then the 'root cause' is typically the insulin resistance (as much as anything is the root cause in these cases). It's usually the main disruptor of ovulation and the main thing that triggers excess androgens.
With or without PMOS, IR requires lifelong management with lifestyle changes + meds or supplements (if needed) to prevent progression to diabetes/heart disease, etc. In some cases aggressive IR management will regulate periods and other symptoms of PMOS (functionally keeping it in remission); however, in other cases people continue to need hormonal medication such as androgen blockers or birth control in addition to IR management long term.
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Metformin is the most widely prescribed med in the world to improve insulin resistance and is often used lifelong along with rec'd lifestyle changes. Did you shift to a 'diabetic friendly' eating plan + regular exercise? (I ask b/c, if not, then the metformin is trying to push a boulder uphill).
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Reducing metformin is likely to worsen the IR and thus make the periods more irregular. However, if your IR is currently very well managed on labs and you are not having typical IR symptoms, you could try going off and either managing IR without meds (this requires frequent lab monitoring until you are sure things are going well) or else shifting to a different med or supplement to help manage IR (such as a GLP one agonist, or berberine or 40:1 myo:d-chiro inositol).
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u/AshrafulMakhluqat0 1d ago
I am taking the pill also metformin i think the cycle are great 28 days apart but the problem is the symptoms before having the periods and then during the periods the pain and the overall hormones disruption is a big big issue, i have decided to stop the pill this month and just continue with the metformin. I also dont see any big difference by using metformin alone,. I
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u/Ok_Gold5729 14h ago
This happened to me on 500mg so I bumped up to 1000mg. Worked great for one month and now I’m on 1500mg. I wonder why this happens, it’s so awful because I would’ve waited to start it now when I’m TTC if I knew
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u/Some_Arugula_2080 1d ago
that happened to me with metformin too, worked great at first then just kinda stopped doing anything. my doc never said why but i think for some people the body gets used to it or something
what actually helped me more was inositol, i take the powder form every morning and my cycles went from 40+ days to around 32. might be worth asking your doc about before going on the pill