Metformin after Surgery

I was diagnosed with PCOS and insulin resistance over 5 years ago.

I am having surgery on Tuesday and because it is complicated to get a liquid version of metformin I have decided not to take it for the month I'm on liquids.

We all know that PCOS can be treated (to some degree) by weight loss.

I did the glucose tolerance test to find out I had PCOS.  After surgery there is no way that I can do that test again.

So my question is...

How do i know I still need metformin?

I was just thinking about this myself. My surgeon actually told me that I could stop the metformin. I had surgery on 4/18 and have not taken it since two days before that. I talked to him again yesterday and told him my concerns about stopping it right now. He was ok with that and told me to go ahead and keep taking it. I think I will wait until I get down to a healthy BMI before I stop taking it...and then see how it goes. Mainly, I take it to have regular periods and a few other minor symptoms.
Good luck with your journey!

I was taking 2000mg metformin daily and my surgeon told me to discontinue after surgery.  I've never had issues with blood sugar, just insulin resistance, so I also question discontinuing it.  My gyn told me that PCOS won't go away -- it's hormone related -- but that weight loss will help the insulin resistance.  So I guess I don't have anything of value to add except I'm with you on the question!!

I had PCOS and then had gastric 6 years ago.  I completely stopped taking it all together.

I am a little rusty in my knowledge of PCOS and IR as I did do ALOT of reading in 2006 when I was first diagnosed but that was 6 years ago :)

PCOS can go away.  It's a hormone imbalance and losing weight can cause your hormones to become balanced. The issue with PCOS is that it's sort of a negative diagnosis - if you have certain symptoms with no other reason then you are told you have PCOS.

My nurse in the hospital gave me a study that showed that almost all the symptoms of PCOS (hair growth, cysts on ovaries, irregular periods, insulin resistance. etc) go away after weight loss surgery.

If you can tolerate metformin after surgery then great.  I would imagine it would help your body to lose weight faster anyways.

I was officially diagnosed with PCOS at age 15 following an exploratory surgery where my GYN held my ovaries and saw the multitude of cysts...I'm 33 now so you can imagine all the changes I've seen with how this syndrome is treated. My current PCP also has PCOS, so she's always on top of the latest and greatest:) We just did a NMR LIPOPROFILE blood test...from the name you'll gather this is primarily a cholesterol type screening...however, this test can also measure your level of insulin resistance...so you can have that test ran and compare your results as you loose. That's why we pulled mine...it's relatively new and not all labs process it...I live in Iowa and we shipped my blood from the hospital I work at to the Mayo Clinic in MN for processing...but now we have a good measuring stick for my insulin resistance:) Hope this helps! Best of luck to us all! I am hoping to have surgery this August or Sept!  Currently traveling through the appropriate hoops:) 

My endo diagnosed my PCOS based upon the darkened skin, facial hair, and ratio of hormones (i think fsh to luteinizing hormone) at a particular time in my cycle. The ratio was supposed to be 3 or less but mine was 12+.

 

So she perscribed metformin. I took for 3 months as directed and I noticed my crazy acne had settled down. At that particular point in my cycle she retested my hormone ratio. It was good. That is how she knew the metformin was working.