Metformin and Estrace....will I still ovulate?

Hi all, I'm newer here and thought this would be a great place to ask and hopefully get some answers/advice. Long story short I have PCOS and just started (last week) metformin. I also had a uterine tissue growth and polyp removed last week Friday. Because we obviously don't want the growth to grow back my ob prescribed me Estrace, an estrogen med to take for 30 days, which I will end in taking Provera to bring on a period. My question is, since this is my first 'cycle' with metformin will I still ovulate while also taking Estrace? It would just be nice to know that I'm not taking the metformin for nothing this cycle and see if the metformin is working for me by regulating me. I did 500mg for a week which made me a bit nauseous at first but got better after a few days. Yesterday is when I went up to 1000mg, two 500mg pills a day, one in the morning and one at night. Today after taking my morning pill I feel like complete dog crap. I feel like I can't stop shaking, I'm hungry and feel like I need to eat because I am hypoglycemic, but yet fell sick to my stomach so nothing sounds good. I know the side effects aren't supposed to last long, but I'll be so upset if I am taking the metfromin now for nothing. (When I say taking the metformin now for nothing is because my ob said to try metformin for three cycles to see if it works by regulating me, if not then we will go to Femara. I just don't want to waste a cycle if that makes sense.) Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

Hi Norskie, Are you taking the ER version of Metformin? The extended release version has been said to have less side effects like nausea and loose stool. I am on Met 1000mg but I take ER kind and take both pills at night before bed, I don't split the dose to twice a day. I also did the step up process and was on 500mg for a few weeks then increased to 1000. I felt a little sick the first couple days at 500 and then only sick another day or two when I increased to 1000 and then it went away and I feel absolutely fine and normal now. Your body will get used to it.

I started the last week of a 42 day cycle and I think it would have keep going even longer if I hadn't started the met. My first full cycle on Met shortened to 37 days and 2nd & 3rd cycle shortened even more to 35 days so I do think the met is helping. The met is more long term and daily to help control insulin and hormone productions and regulate your cycle. You can keep taking it even if she wants to try Femara. It is very common to take Met and clomid or Femara together. I like the Met personally and feel better on it so I would take it, but if you are in a hurry to get pregnant maybe she will also give you Femara after 30 or 60 days instead of 90. I have no knowledge of Estrace.

Thank you Girlie for your response. Yes I do have the ER version of metformin, so that sounds like it's a good thing. I'm hoping since I just increased yesterday that I will only have the nauseousness for a couple days like when I started it. So it sounds like the metformin is working for you, I hope it will help regulate me too. I did not know about taking Femara and Metformin together. I just know that my ob wanted to try metformin first because Femara isn't covered by insurance. My other concern was that when I had blood work done by fasting all my glucose and insulin numbers came back normal. So I'm wondering if the metformin will even help regulate me?

I have normal insulin numbers too. I am not insulin resistant like a lot of PCOS ladies. True, Met is given primarily for insulin resistance, but it can help with hormone balances too which then help to regulate your cycle. The femara works in an entirely different way and it is specifically for ovulation and only taken 5 days in the beginning of your cycle. I have read that the Met has a lot of other benefits to stay on it through your first trimester even.

Awesome thanks so much for that info...you give me hope :) Yeah my ob said that if I do get pregnant while on metformin they usually keep you on it for a while to help with not developing gestational diabetes. I'm hoping it does help regulate me, that would be so nice! By chance did it help with anything else? I have bad acne and facial hair (yuck!), do you think it will help with that?

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Originally Posted by norskie2005

Hi all, I'm newer here and thought this would be a great place to ask and hopefully get some answers/advice. Long story short I have PCOS and just started (last week) metformin. I also had a uterine tissue growth and polyp removed last week Friday. Because we obviously don't want the growth to grow back my ob prescribed me Estrace, an estrogen med to take for 30 days, which I will end in taking Provera to bring on a period. My question is, since this is my first 'cycle' with metformin will I still ovulate while also taking Estrace? It would just be nice to know that I'm not taking the metformin for nothing this cycle and see if the metformin is working for me by regulating me. I did 500mg for a week which made me a bit nauseous at first but got better after a few days. Yesterday is when I went up to 1000mg, two 500mg pills a day, one in the morning and one at night. Today after taking my morning pill I feel like complete dog crap. I feel like I can't stop shaking, I'm hungry and feel like I need to eat because I am hypoglycemic, but yet fell sick to my stomach so nothing sounds good. I know the side effects aren't supposed to last long, but I'll be so upset if I am taking the metfromin now for nothing. (When I say taking the metformin now for nothing is because my ob said to try metformin for three cycles to see if it works by regulating me, if not then we will go to Femara. I just don't want to waste a cycle if that makes sense.) Any advice would be greatly appreciated, thanks!

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No matter what you aren't taking the Met for nothing. IT takes some time to work especially for those with PCOS and I think you should continue it no matter what. I would call them and ask if they want you to continue at the 1000 or go back down to 500. Some people just can't tolerate the higher dose and have to stick with 500.

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Originally Posted by norskie2005

Awesome thanks so much for that info...you give me hope :) Yeah my ob said that if I do get pregnant while on metformin they usually keep you on it for a while to help with not developing gestational diabetes. I'm hoping it does help regulate me, that would be so nice! By chance did it help with anything else? I have bad acne and facial hair (yuck!), do you think it will help with that?

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Yes it will and even without having elevated blood sugar levels with those kind of symptoms you need it.

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Originally Posted by atomic sagebrush

Yes it will and even without having elevated blood sugar levels with those kind of symptoms you need it.

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Thanks for your reply Atomic! I thought about giving the metformin a few more days at 1000mg and see if the bad side effects slow down. As of today (day 2 of the 1000mg) I have been on the toilet 4 times, sorry tmi and my stomach has been so upset. I'm having a hard time figuring out what I should and shouldn't eat to help with that. I've also been more shaky.

One more question Atomic, do you have any experience with Estrace? Just wondering if it is possible to still ovulate on it? Thanks!

Can you take both pills at night before bed instead of breaking up the dose into two? I have read to avoid greasy and fried foods while you are getting used to it. Sorry you are still not feeling good.

I don't know much about estrace but if you have to take provera to bring on AF then it most likely means you won't ovulate on your own. Are you just on it for a short time?

I would try to stick with the metformin as it takes a while to regulate cycles. Mine didn't get shorter on there own but it did help with my hormone imbalance. I ended up using clomid to conceive.

Do you take the metformin with food? I was lucky that I tolerated it really well but if I had it on and empty stomach I felt sick. Also some foods ate best avoided like high carb meals or something fatty like hot chips.

Are you swaying for a girl?

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Originally Posted by GirlieCat

Can you take both pills at night before bed instead of breaking up the dose into two? I have read to avoid greasy and fried foods while you are getting used to it. Sorry you are still not feeling good.

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Thank you. I guess I could try taking both pills at night, just was going off of what my ob said to do to help with side effects. I did have a greasy lunch yesterday, that could possibly be it. I guess I've learned my lesson and need to avoid those!!

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Originally Posted by purple

I don't know much about estrace but if you have to take provera to bring on AF then it most likely means you won't ovulate on your own. Are you just on it for a short time?

I would try to stick with the metformin as it takes a while to regulate cycles. Mine didn't get shorter on there own but it did help with my hormone imbalance. I ended up using clomid to conceive.

Do you take the metformin with food? I was lucky that I tolerated it really well but if I had it on and empty stomach I felt sick. Also some foods ate best avoided like high carb meals or something fatty like hot chips.

Are you swaying for a girl?

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Yes I do take the metformin after I eat, I take one 500mg after breakfast and one 500mg after supper. I just went up to two pills a day on Tuesday, so I'm hoping my tummy doesn't take too long to adjust. I guess we'll see how today goes for me. If the metformin doesn't help me in a few cycles then my ob will try femara. Yes we are swaying girl, I just signed up for a personalized plan on Monday, excited to see what Atomic gets together for me! :)

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Originally Posted by norskie2005

Thanks for your reply Atomic! I thought about giving the metformin a few more days at 1000mg and see if the bad side effects slow down. As of today (day 2 of the 1000mg) I have been on the toilet 4 times, sorry tmi and my stomach has been so upset. I'm having a hard time figuring out what I should and shouldn't eat to help with that. I've also been more shaky.

One more question Atomic, do you have any experience with Estrace? Just wondering if it is possible to still ovulate on it? Thanks!

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You're not supposed to but a few people still have. It is supposed to make your follice "sleep". The catch is that I am only familiar with people who are doing this for IVF and thus have taken BCP and then Estrace possibly in a much higher dose than you so I hesitate to hang my hat on that, because you may be doing something entirely different and so I just want to be clear that the situation that I am thinking of is only those who have done it for IVF and not the same scenario you are in necessarily.

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Originally Posted by atomic sagebrush

You're not supposed to but a few people still have. It is supposed to make your follice "sleep". The catch is that I am only familiar with people who are doing this for IVF and thus have taken BCP and then Estrace possibly in a much higher dose than you so I hesitate to hang my hat on that, because you may be doing something entirely different and so I just want to be clear that the situation that I am thinking of is only those who have done it for IVF and not the same scenario you are in necessarily.

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Thanks Atomic. I just looked and I'm taking a 2mg tablet, two times a day. I was just wondering if I should use opks or temp to see if I do O. I am so curious to see if the metformin will help me at all this cycle, but thinking I probably won't know since I am on the Estrace anyways :/

You probably won't.