Metformin study

Pam...good! You go to an endro  that is a big help been going to mine for about five years......I think I would ask your endro about metformin...in my case I am diabetic and have been on metformin for a number of years......I try to keep it under control ......Liz

I have been taking metformin for nearly 3 years now.  Not diabetic and no BC dx (high risk from ADH dx)-- dr has me on it for prevention.  I've lost about 20 lbs, but this may also be due in part to exercise and diet changes.  No side effects at all.

My Metformin is free at my Meijer pharmacy.

No. I do have a prescription. 

I just wanted to post this information for everyone on Metformin, and I will post links with reference materials for you to print and take with you to the doctor.

Metformin works by controlling glucose in non-diabetic as well as diabetic women and it also lowers androgen receptors - and it is in several trials right now to test effectiveness when administered with chemo, or without chemo, with diabetics and without diabetics and currently it has made it all the way to Phase 3 of the trial. Metformin works by reducing circulating insulin cells which they feel can be very beneficial to TNBC women.  Metformin induces cancer cell death at the earliest stages of development via metabolic pathways. It can help stop or slow the spread of metastases if the person has a high expression of CD24 positive cells and it can lower the Ki67.

Metformin has been on the market for 25+ years and they discovered that women who had been taking it had much lower incidence of breast cancer. 

While it has not been approved for taking as preventive measures for bc, it can be written off label.  Off label means taken for a reason other than what the FDA approved it for.  (Much like how birth control pills are prescribed for someone who has acne - that's not the original purpose of birth control pills, but it helps control some people's acne). 

Clinical trials are conducted in a series of steps, called phases - each phase is designed to answer a separate research question.

• Phase I:Researchers test a new drug or treatment in a small group of people for the first time to evaluate its safety, determine a safe dosage range, and identify side effects.
• Phase II:The drug or treatment is given to a larger group of people to see if it is effective and to further evaluate its safety.
• Phase III:The drug or treatment is given to large groups of people to confirm its effectiveness, monitor side effects, compare it to commonly used treatments, and collect information that will allow the drug or treatment to be used safely.
• Phase IV:Studies are done after the drug or treatment has been marketed to gather information on the drug's effect in various populations and any side effects associated with long-term use.

Thanks for the links, Inspired! So interesting what Metformin can do. Learned a new word: pleiotropic. It works on different pathways, including aromatase!

I saw my endo today,,, She immediately noticed the weight gain and was happy when I asked her about Metformin. She is sending me to have a glucose test done first and then said she will start me on it no matter what the results are. She said that she was just at a conference and this study was discussed. I told her how miserable I have been with all of this weight gain and I feel like I can't even move. She told me not to get rid of my jeans just yet, that there is hope.  I go next week for the test and then see her again April 1st.

Yes, I am finally able to look forward to something,, I've been so depressed that I have stopped looking for things that make me happy,, I just exist.  My children keep me going. When I start the metformin, I will check back here to show if I have any kind of progress. If I can get back into some of my clothes, I may just leave my house alittle more. Right now I basically live in my sweats and baggy shirts.

I've been on it for several years. I've not been much overweight and have fought my way back to my prediagnosis weight. I would like to lose 10 more pounds and it is very, very hard for me to lose. My dosage is 500 mg twice daily so that may be a factor. Metformin has not helped me with weight loss. I also was prescribed it for insulin resistance/PCOS so maybe the fact that my body needs the insulin help negates some of the weight loss benefit. It has helped me with many other concerns, but I don't want anyone reading this thread to think it's a magic weight loss bean. :-) 

Exercise and proper nutrition are best for that. 

Wow momoschki,, 20 pounds!!,,, that may get me looking "close" to where I should be. I weigh as much as I weighed for my kids at 9 months pregnant. It has been so difficult to "heal and move on" from breast cancer when you can't even recognize yourself in the mirror. It's a constant reminder of the whole experience when nothing at all seems the same. I do not have my breasts, nor do I have implants, my hair is still very short from just growing back from chemo, so the last thing I need is to have all of this unwanted extra weight dragging my self esteem down even more. It's bad enough how the tamoxifen makes me feel like I am 90 yrs old with the pain in my feet, the fatigue from insomnia and the horrible hot flashes all day long, I don't want to spend the "rest of my life" being miserable.. I'm trying to look forward to getting some of this weight off and enjoy this summer since last summer was spent having surgery after surger and the chemo!!

I am so eager to start Metformin. I have been reading all of the positive reviews and I will feel like I am having double protection, between that and the tamoxifen. I hope it is the "wonder drug" that I keep reading about!

Although I was "too far out from diagnosis" to participate in the clinical trials when I started it to help deal with weight gain after menopause, it has been helpful to me.

This may provide helpful information about the question of metabolic management in general, not specific to metformin, for you to consider. I posted this elsewhere but I do think it may be relevant:

"Is the concept of implementing standardized annual metabolic monitoring by labs as a standard practice just too simple (or too complicated) for our medical providers to use? Could it be applied as an inexpensive way for patients to be monitored in preventing the development of breast cancer, and perhaps be helpful in early detection?

Instead, we just keep depending upon the hit and miss of annual radiation exposure applied based on age, which is also a matter of controversy.

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/releases/288152.php

Maybe if somebody dressed the idea up with expensive modern technogeek equipment it would become more "popular" with medical providers?"