Mounjaro® and PCOS: Can It Improve Symptoms?
Key takeaways:
Mounjaro® (tirzepatide) is licensed to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity, but it might also help with PCOS symptoms.
Mounjaro® can help you lose and maintain weight, improve insulin resistance, and possibly improve fertility issues related to PCOS.
More research is needed to confirm.
Polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS) can cause irregular periods, difficulty getting pregnant, and insulin resistance. It can also cause weight gain and make losing weight hard.
So, can Mounjaro® — a weight loss and type 2 diabetes medicine — help with PCOS? The short answer is yes. Mounjaro® can help you lose weight, maintain a healthy weight, improve your blood sugar (glucose) levels, and possibly improve your fertility in the long run.
We’ll explore Mounjaro® and PCOS, covering how the medication can improve PCOS symptoms and whether you can get a Mounjaro® prescription for PCOS in the United Kingdom.
Does Mounjaro® Help With PCOS?
Mounjaro® may help with PCOS. The medicine can help you lose weight and improve insulin resistance. It might even improve long-term fertility.
This medication may be useful if you have PCOS and obesity or overweight. But it might not have that many benefits if you have PCOS and a healthy weight, as many of the benefits come through weight loss.
Here’s a look at how Mounjaro® could help with PCOS symptoms.
Mounjaro® and PCOS Weight Loss
If you have PCOS and obesity or overweight, losing weight can improve some of your PCOS symptoms. Weight loss is hard with PCOS, but Mounjaro® can make things easier.
Mounjaro® can:
Suppress your appetite
Make you feel fuller
Curb food cravings
These effects can help you eat a balanced diet and avoid overeating. Mounjaro® is also prescribed alongside healthy eating and exercise to further promote weight loss.
According to the National Health Service (NHS), a 5 percent reduction in body weight could significantly improve PCOS symptoms.
There aren’t many studies on Mounjaro® and PCOS. But we know that Mounjaro®, combined with lifestyle changes, can lead to losing an average of 15 to 22.5 percent of your starting body weight over 72 weeks.
So, Mounjaro® can be a useful part of your weight loss journey, improving both PCOS symptoms and reducing your risk of obesity-related health conditions.
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Mounjaro® and Insulin Resistance in PCOS
PCOS can cause insulin resistance in 30 to 40 percent of women with the condition. This is when your body doesn’t respond properly to insulin, a hormone that helps regulate glucose levels.
Your body produces more insulin to try to counteract this. But high levels of insulin can make some PCOS effects — like having high levels of testosterone — worse. And this can further affect fertility.
Insulin resistance can also increase your risk of type 2 diabetes and cause weight gain. Obesity can worsen insulin resistance, causing a vicious cycle.
Mounjaro® can increase insulin sensitivity. This can lower blood sugar levels and improve insulin resistance, so your body responds better to the hormone. This, in turn, may reduce related PCOS symptoms.
Moujaro and PCOS Fertility Issues
PCOS can make it harder to get pregnant because you might have irregular periods, which makes it harder to know when you’re ovulating. You may not even have periods at all.
Obesity can also contribute to fertility issues. Having excess weight or obesity can cause irregular periods, increase the time it takes to conceive, and elevate the risk of miscarriage.
Losing weight can improve fertility — so losing weight with Mounjaro® may help improve PCOS fertility issues, too.
It’s important to note that you can’t take Mounjaro® while pregnant. Current guidance states you should stop taking Mounjaro® at least two months before trying for a baby.
So, Mounjaro® isn’t a fertility treatment, but it may improve your fertility if you’re planning on having or growing a family in the future.
Studies on Mounjaro® and PCOS
Currently, there aren’t any clinical trials on Mounjaro® and PCOS. More research is needed to know for sure if it can help women with the condition.
We do, however, know it can help people with type 2 diabetes manage their blood sugar and people with overweight or obesity lose weight.
We also have some research on similar weight loss medications and PCOS. For example, a 2023 study looked at women with PCOS and obesity who took semaglutide.
Semaglutide is a glucagon-like peptide-1 receptor agonist (GLP-1). Mounjaro® is a GLP-1 and a glucose-dependent insulinotropic polypeptide (GIP). It works in a similar way to semaglutide.
In the study, women took 0.5 mg (milligrams) of semaglutide. They lost an average of about 1.2 stone over three months.
Almost 80 percent of the participants lost at least 5 percent of their starting body weight. And 80 percent of those women saw normalised menstrual cycles, meaning more regular periods and an easier time getting pregnant.
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Can You Get Mounjaro® for PCOS in the U.K.?
You can get Mounjaro® for PCOS in the U.K., but not for PCOS alone.
Mounjaro® is licensed in the U.K. to treat type 2 diabetes and obesity or overweight — not PCOS. So, if you have PCOS and type 2 diabetes, obesity, or overweight, a GP (general practitioner) or private clinician may prescribe Mounjaro®.
For weight loss, the eligibility criteria include having a body mass index (BMI) of 30 or more or a BMI of 27 or more with a weight-related condition, such as:
High blood pressure (hypertension)
High cholesterol (dyslipidemia)
Obstructive sleep apnoea
Cardiovascular disease
Prediabetes
Type 2 diabetes
Your GP or a private healthcare provider can determine if Mounjaro® is right for you and talk you through the Mounjaro® and PCOS U.K. eligibility criteria.
Also, Mounjaro® is designated as a Black Triangle medicine in the U.K. This means it requires enhanced safety monitoring by a healthcare provider.
One important note: You might be able to get Mounjaro® on the NHS, but it’s currently only available for people who need it most. Eligibility criteria include having a BMI of 40 or more and at least four weight-related health conditions (type 2 diabetes, hypertension, high cholesterol, cardiovascular disease, or obstructive sleep apnoea).
PCOS and Mounjaro®: Final Points
Mounjaro® may improve some PCOS symptoms. If you have type 2 diabetes, obesity, or overweight, it could be a beneficial medication for you.
Here are the key facts:
Mounjaro® can help with weight loss and weight management. Weight loss is harder with PCOS, but losing weight can improve symptoms. Mounjaro® can help people lose 22.5 percent of their body weight over 72 weeks.
Mounjaro® can improve insulin resistance and blood sugar. The medicine can make your body more sensitive to insulin and keep blood sugar levels under control, reducing your risk of type 2 diabetes or helping you manage it.
Mounjaro® may improve fertility. Mounjaro® isn’t an infertility treatment, but it may help regularise your menstrual cycle and reduce obesity-related fertility risks. You should stop Mounjaro® at least two months before trying for a baby.
If you have PCOS, your GP or a private healthcare provider can help you figure out if Mounjaro® could improve some of your PCOS symptoms and whether it’s a suitable weight loss injection option for you.
You can learn more about weight loss treatments through the Hers U.K. women’s health platform.
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FAQs
See answers to common questions about Mounjaro® and PCOS below.
What Is PCOS?
Polycystic ovary syndrome, or PCOS, is a condition that can cause hormonal imbalances and fluid-filled sacs to form on the ovaries.
Symptoms of PCOS include:
Irregular periods or no periods
Difficulty getting pregnant
Excessive hair growth on the face, chest, back, or bum (hirsutism)
Thinning hair
Oily skin
Weight gain
It’s a common condition. It may affect about one in 10 U.K. women.
Can PCOS Cause Weight Gain?
PCOS can cause insulin resistance, when your body doesn’t respond properly to the insulin hormone. This can cause high blood sugar and weight gain. PCOS can also increase your risk of obesity, type 2 diabetes, high cholesterol, and heart disease. But due to hormonal imbalances, PCOS also makes it hard to lose weight through lifestyle modifications alone.
How to get prescribed Mounjaro® for PCOS
Mounjaro® isn’t licensed for PCOS in the U.K., but you can get it prescribed if you also have type 2 diabetes, obesity, or overweight with a weight-related condition. To get Mounjaro®, start by speaking to your GP or connecting with a private healthcare provider who can determine if the medication is right for you.
Which weight loss drugs work best with PCOS?
More research is needed to know which weight loss drugs work best with PCOS. So far, weight loss medications like Mounjaro® and Wegovy® and diabetes medications like Ozempic® could help improve PCOS symptoms, such as weight gain and insulin resistance.
What are the Mounjaro® and PCOS side effects?
The most common side effects of Mounjaro® are gastrointestinal and include:
Nausea
Vomiting
Constipation
Diarrhoea
Stomach pain
Side effects tend to crop up when you first start taking the medicine and when your dose increases. They should get better with time, though.
It’s not clear if people with PCOS experience different side effects from Mounjaro® — or whether side effects are more or less common. But women with PCOS aren’t known to experience different side effects from Mounjaro® compared to the general population.
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical advice. The information contained herein is not a substitute for and should never be relied upon for professional medical advice. Always talk to your GP about the risks and benefits of any treatment.