Hi Marydean

I regard metformin as being somewhat of a wonder drug and all my friends wanted to get a prescription!

I had mild PCOS and borderline insulin resistance, and weight kept slowly going up despite a great diet and exercise. I got to the stage where I was a the uppermost limit of my 'healthy' BMI.

Then I started on the metformin. In the first month (no grog, tried to do low GI eating, and extra exercise) I lost 5 kg. The following 3 months (yes grog, whatever GI, bugger all exercise!) I continued to lose 1kg per month. It also regulated my period. I then stopped as I was UTD.

Incidentally I did NOT get the gastro intestinal side effects that most people get (cramps and the runs). In fact I became more 'solid' on it, which was a good thing for me (i have a bit of irritable bowel).

I believe they are prescribing it for weight loss overseas but it hasn't been approved for solely those purposes in Australia yet? But if you have insulin/hormonal issues you can probably get a script

Of course no medication is risk free and if you are taking it for some period of time you should make a note to ask your doc about having certain vitamin levels tested. - apparently an issue with metformin.

GL