Is metformin an effective treatment for PCOS? 1 in 10 women worldwide have polycystic ovarian syndrome and metformin is often prescribed as a treatment method, but is it safe? And does it come with side effects? Learning more about using metformin for PCOS… 𝗖𝗟𝗜𝗖𝗞 𝗧𝗢 𝗥𝗘𝗔𝗗 𝗠𝗢𝗥𝗘 ↓
For polycystic ovarian syndrome or pcos and the pros and the cons one in 10 women worldwide suffer from pcos and it is the number one cause of infertility in women and aside from causing infertility pcos can be difficult to live with for many other reasons it can make it difficult to lose weight it can cause excess hair
Growth and it can also cause acne so how is pcos treated to women with pcos and it can certainly be effective at reducing symptoms but my issue is that women are not informed of the side effects when they are prescribed metformin so in today’s video i’m going to give you everything you need to know about
Metformin for pcos how it works the hey guys welcome back to my channel if you’re new here my name is kait i’m a health coach and i post videos on a high fat nutrient dense way of eating if you like this video please give it a thumbs up feel free to share and make sure to subscribe and make sure to follow me on instagram
Twitter and facebook where i share new posts every single day so the topic of today is metformin for pcos i briefly described what metformin was at the start of this video but we’re going to go a little bit deeper into what it is and why it works for pcos then we will get into the side effects and we will
Finish off talking about what you can do to reduce these side effects and some natural options to metformin that might be better suited for you what is metformin metformin is have issues related to managing blood sugar diabetes type 2 diabetes and of course pcos worldwide there are over 120 million people who
Are prescribed it metformin helps to keep blood sugar more stable with less big swings up and down and it also helps to lower fasting blood sugar and you might be thinking okay well i have pcos i don’t have diabetes so why is metformin effective and the reason that metformin is so effective for women with pcos is because
The root cause of pcos is the same as the root cause of pre-diabetes gestational diabetes and type 2 diabetes and that is insulin resistance there are three main symptoms that define pcos irregular periods be diagnosed with pcos you have to have two out of three of these main symptoms and all three symptoms are
Caused by insulin resistance should be a big spike in the hormone estrogen high insulin levels block the ovaries from converting it and the spike in estrogen doesn’t happen so you do not ovulate and the eggs remain left with high testosterone levels as a result metformin works to improve insulin sensitivity
It allows your cells to take in more glucose taking it out of your bloodstream and lowering your insulin and as a result the symptoms of some of them you can prevent or reduce but some of them you might be stuck with side effects metformin is digestive distress which includes gas bloating and diarrhea about 25 of
People who take metformin experience digestive distress metformin synthesize store and metabolize certain nutrients this means your body can become depleted in them two of these nutrients are vitamin b9 and vitamin in these it can cause digestive distress include starting metformin at a lower dose taking
Slow release instead of immediate release and of course supplementing vitamin b9 and vitamin b12 another common side effect of metformin is nausea and vomiting again 25 of people who take metformin metformin with food helps to prevent this symptom another symptom you might experience is hair loss now this is actually
The inverse of excess hair growth women with pcos can sometimes grow excess hair in places such as their face and this is because of their high testosterone levels which can reduce this excess hair growth b9 is responsible for healthy cell growth start to lose excess hair from our head and also
Develop bald spots now these side effects are pretty annoying but they are also pretty mild compared to the ones we are about to talk about the first more serious side effect is anemia anemia is when your blood doesn’t have enough healthy red blood cells in this situation anemia leads to reduced oxygen flow to the body’s
Organs the consequences of anemia can be severe so it is really important to make sure you are getting enough vitamin b12 in through your diet if you are having trouble getting enough into your diet i recommend supplementing with something like beef liver beef liver is super high in vitamin b12 and it’s best
To get b12 from whole foods because the synthetic form is not absorbed as well can help with digestive distress and hair loss everyone’s cup of tea but thankfully there are a lot of great companies out there now who are making beef liver supplements you still get all the benefits of beef liver without the taste
I will link to some of my favorite brands in the description box down below that are available worldwide or in certain countries and i do have a few promo codes so i’ll put those down there as well the second serious side effect is lactic acidosis this one is very serious but also very rare but i also think it’s worth
Mentioning because if you have kidney problems or if you consume a lot of alcohol you are at a much greater risk metformin causes lactic acid to build up in the bloodstream and if your body cannot clear it properly that is when lactic acidosis happens if left untreated it can result in a coma or death about
Natural alternatives there are two natural supplements that have been shown to work in the same way as metformin improving the body’s insulin sensitivity in some studies these have been shown to be just as effective at treating pcos and different types of diabetes as metformin and these two supplements are berberine and
Inositol both of these are extracted from whole foods and available over the counter without a prescription but it is important to note that they also come with side effects some people experience a lot of the same digestive distress on berberine and dinosatal as they do on metformin i did a whole video a few
Weeks ago comparing the three metformin berberine and dinosaur and going over the pros and the cons and the side effects of each i will link that video above if you want to know more about that i am by no means recommending one over the other i’m simply presenting the facts and you can discuss with your doctor and come
To your own conclusion about which one if any is best for you now the other way to treat pcos naturally does not involve a supplement because there are ways to improve insulin sensitivity through diet and lifestyle you can improve your insulin sensitivity by tweaking the foods you eat and the exercises you do one
Study followed 11 women with pcos for six months the study involved a change in diet and by the end all women who completed the study lost weight lowered their free testosterone and their fasting insulin two of the women even got pregnant during the study despite having previously struggled with infertility so what diet
Change did these women make you might be asking they switched to a low carb ketogenic diet that was the only change they made this is effective because it significantly reduces the amount of foods being consumed that increase insulin the most which are foods rich in carbohydrates every time we eat carbs they
Are broken down by the body into sugar or glucose these particles enter the bloodstream and insulin is released to bring the sugar to our of course if our cells are resisting the actions of insulin and not taking the sugar from our bloodstream then our bodies create more insulin in response process for digesting protein and
Fat requires a lot less insulin therefore if you focus your diet around protein and fat less insulin is needed and then your cells become more sensitive to insulin again as a result which in turn improves your pcos now low carb diets are not the only approach i actually have a whole video on pcos where i give
You some more tips and strategies for improving your insulin sensitivity i will link that video above if you want to check it out afterwards even a modest reduction in carbs can be beneficial or even changing the order in which you eat your today you can check out that video if you want to know more thank you
So much for watching i really hope that you found this video helpful let me know in the comment section down below what your experience with metformin for pcos was or is did you experience any of the side effects that i spoke about today let me know down below and also remember to give this video a thumbs up and
Click that subscribe button if you’re not already also feel free to share this video on facebook or with a friend or family member who you think this video you might also enjoy my video on how to reverse pcos which i spoke about earlier i will link it right here if you want to catch up on my most recent upload you
Can find it here and if you want to check out my keto diet and carnivore diet coaching programs you can find them here thanks guys i’ll see you next time bye
Transcribed from video
Metformin for PCOS (Polycystic Ovarian Syndrome TREATMENT + Pros and Cons) 2022 By Health Coach Kait