Does Metformin Affect Sex Drive? What the Studies Actually Show

Does Metformin Affect Sex Drive? What the Studies Actually Show

Metformin and sex drive split by sex in the trials that counted them. In premenopausal women with diabetes or prediabetes, 6 months of metformin normalized desire and satisfaction scores, and the gain tracked insulin resistance. In 240 women with polycystic ovary syndrome randomized to a combined pill, metformin or both, sexual distress fell on metformin (p = 0.03) and desire held, while the pill group's desire scores fell (p under 0.001). In men, no trial counted desire as its main endpoint. One month left total testosterone lower than insulin alone in 70 men with new type 2 diabetes (12.7 against 15.3 nmol/L), a 1-year double-blind trial in 106 men found no change in testosterone or erection scores on metformin, and in 261,838 men the hazard of an erection-problem diagnosis was 1.077 (95% CI 1.026 to 1.130).

Before you read on

Metformin is a prescription medicine that is doing work you cannot feel. Do not stop it, lower it or switch it without your prescriber. Nothing here is medical advice or a reason to alter your treatment plan.

Key takeaways
  • In premenopausal women with diabetes or prediabetes, 6 months of metformin normalized desire and sexual satisfaction scores, and every domain moved in the diabetes group. The gains tracked the fall in insulin resistance. Pilot, no placebo arm, and the untreated women got dietary advice.
  • In 240 women with polycystic ovary syndrome followed 6 months in a double-blind trial, sexual distress fell on metformin (p = 0.03) with desire unchanged, and desire scores fell on the pill (p under 0.001). No group changed the number scoring in the dysfunction range.
  • In 106 men with obesity and low testosterone, a 1-year double-blind trial found no change in total or free testosterone, erection scores or quality of life on metformin alone. Only the combination with testosterone raised testosterone.
  • In 70 men with new type 2 diabetes, testosterone rose within 5 days of insulin. At 1 month the metformin group sat lower: total 12.7 against 15.3 nmol/L, free 0.20 against 0.24, bioavailable 4.56 against 5.31, all p under 0.05.
  • In 261,838 men, the erection-problem hazard on metformin was 1.077 (95% CI 1.026 to 1.130) by intention to treat and 1.350 (95% CI 1.264 to 1.441) per protocol, with lower prostate-disease hazards. Retrospective insurance data, and desire was never measured.
p = 0.03
fall in sexual distress in women with polycystic ovary syndrome on metformin for 6 months (Satish 2026).
12.7 vs 15.3
total testosterone in nmol/L after 1 month of metformin against insulin alone, 70 men with new type 2 diabetes (Hu 2021).
1.077
hazard ratio for an erection-problem diagnosis in metformin starters, 95% CI 1.026 to 1.130, 261,838 men (Tseng 2022).

Figures from Satish et al. 2026 (PMID 42896751), Hu et al. 2021 (PMID 33536253) and Tseng 2022 (PMID 35935880). The first two are randomized; the third is a retrospective insurance cohort.

Is it the metformin, or is it the diabetes?

You typed "does metformin lower sex drive" into a search bar because something shifted after you started the prescription. The honest answer starts one step earlier. High glucose, insulin resistance and the weight that often travels with them flatten desire and erections before any pill enters the picture. Your question arrives tangled, and the metformin studies show how tangled.

In Krysiak and colleagues (2017), women with type 2 diabetes scored lower than healthy women on every domain of a sexual function questionnaire, and those low scores tracked how insulin resistant they were. In Hu and colleagues (2021), 70 men with new type 2 diabetes got 5 days of intensive insulin to bring glucose to normal, and total, free and bioavailable testosterone all rose within those 5 days. Metformin had not been added yet. The illness moved the numbers first.

That is the part of your story the diabetes owns. This page charts what metformin added on top, study by study, in women and in men. The pages below cover the illness side: diabetes and sex drive, PCOS and low sex drive, and Ozempic and sex drive for the drug class now sitting next to metformin in most prescribing conversations.

Women: the counted scores went up

Krysiak and colleagues (2017) matched three groups of premenopausal women by age and weight: women with type 2 diabetes, women with prediabetes, and healthy controls. The women with diabetes scored lower on the total score and on every domain, meaning desire items, physical response, physical wetness, finishing, sexual satisfaction and pain during sex, and those scores tracked how insulin resistant they were. The women with prediabetes scored lower on desire and sexual satisfaction. Both groups scored higher on a depression scale.

After 6 months, metformin normalized desire and sexual satisfaction in both groups, and normalized or improved the remaining domains in the women with diabetes. "Normalized" is the authors' word for a score landing back in range on a questionnaire, and the effects tracked an improvement in insulin resistance. This was a pilot with no placebo arm, and the women who took no medicine got dietary advice.

A second paper from the same group adds a detail that changes the result. Krysiak and colleagues (2026) took 75 women with drug-induced high prolactin and prediabetes, 25 in each of three vitamin D groups: normal levels, deficiency corrected by supplementation, and deficiency left untreated. Everyone took metformin for 6 months. In the normal and corrected groups the total score and every domain improved. In the untreated group only physical wetness and sexual satisfaction moved. The gains tracked baseline vitamin D and the fall in prolactin. Pilot, 25 women per group, no placebo.

The largest study is a secondary analysis of COMET-PCOS: 240 women aged 21 to 40 with hyperandrogenic polycystic ovary syndrome randomized to a combined oral contraceptive pill, metformin XR 2000 milligrams a day, or both, double-blind. Quality of life improved in every arm. Depression improved on metformin (p under 0.001), and state anxiety improved on metformin and the combination. Desire scores came out lower in the pill group (p under 0.001), with the physical response items at p = 0.03 and no difference in the total score (p = 0.07).

Sexual distress fell in the pill group and in the metformin group, both at p = 0.03. No group changed the number of women scoring in the dysfunction range. Only women who answered at baseline and at 6 months were kept, and there was no placebo arm.

What the women's trials counted

Direction of change on the Female Sexual Function Index and the distress scale after 6 months, two studies. Bar length carries no scale; each bar is a label for what the study counted.

Domains that moved in women after 6 months of metformin, two studies Left panel, a pilot of premenopausal women with type 2 diabetes, prediabetes and healthy controls: desire items and sexual satisfaction improved in both metformin groups, physical response, physical wetness, finishing and pain during sex improved in the diabetes group, and the depression score change is not reported. Right panel, a secondary analysis of 240 women with polycystic ovary syndrome: sexual distress down on metformin (p = 0.03), desire unchanged on metformin, desire on the combined pill down (p under 0.001). Bar length has no scale. Women with diabetes or prediabetes, 6 months (Krysiak 2017) Desire items improved, both groups Sexual satisfaction improved, both groups Physical response improved, diabetes group Physical wetness improved, diabetes group Finishing improved, diabetes group Pain during sex improved, diabetes group Depression score not reported at 6 months Women with PCOS, 6 months Secondary analysis (Satish 2026) Sexual distress on metformin down, p = 0.03 Desire on metformin unchanged Desire on the pill down, p under 0.001 Filled bar: a change the study counted. Empty bar: not reported.

Sources: Krysiak R et al. 2017 (PMID 27711958); Satish S et al. 2026 (PMID 42896751). The first is a pilot without placebo; the second is a secondary analysis of a double-blind trial.

In women whose insulin resistance is the moving part, desire scores went up on metformin. In women on the pill, desire scores went down while distress fell anyway. If your drive has been flat for months, the guide to low libido in women covers what else moves it.

Men: the testosterone numbers disagree

Hu and colleagues (2021) ran the cleanest version of this question. Seventy men with newly diagnosed, untreated type 2 diabetes received 5 days of intensive insulin pump therapy to bring glucose to normal, and total, free and bioavailable testosterone all rose significantly inside those 5 days, before any metformin. Then the men were split into insulin alone or insulin plus metformin for 1 month. At the end the metformin group sat lower on all three fractions: total testosterone 12.7 against 15.3 nmol/L, free 0.20 against 0.24 nmol/L, bioavailable 4.56 against 5.31 nmol/L, all p under 0.05.

The authors read that as a metformin effect separate from glucose control and ask for longer studies. Cai and colleagues (2021) found the same direction over 3 months in men on premixed insulin: total testosterone changed -0.82 against 0.99 nmol/L with metformin versus no metformin (p = 0.036), in an analysis that matched men on age alone.

The year-long trial points the other way. Fernández-García and colleagues (2022) randomized 106 men aged 18 to 50 with obesity and low testosterone, none with diabetes, to metformin, testosterone, both, or placebo for 1 year, double-blind. Insulin resistance fell in every active group, and fat mass fell more in the metformin and combination groups. Only metformin plus testosterone raised total and free testosterone above placebo. Metformin alone changed nothing: no significant change in testosterone, erection scores or health-related quality of life. The primary outcome was insulin resistance, so desire was never the target.

Two pilots in men who were already low tilt a third way. Krysiak and colleagues (2021) studied 28 men stopping testosterone therapy: bioavailable testosterone fell 45% in the men also on metformin against 54% in the men not on it, and the desire, erection and finishing scores fell less with metformin. In an uncontrolled pilot from the same group, 29 men with prediabetes took metformin for 16 weeks, and LH and FSH fell below baseline only in the 10 men with low testosterone. A 2020 pilot found metformin lowered prolactin only in the 14 men with low testosterone out of 28 men with new type 2 diabetes. A 2022 comparative study found the pituitary effect differed by hair pattern, working on LH and the LH to FSH ratio only in the men with early-onset baldness. All of these are pilots.

Short trials show lower testosterone on metformin. The one year-long blinded trial shows no change. The pilots in men already low show metformin softening a fall that happens when testosterone therapy stops. None of them counted desire as the outcome. If your labs come back normal and you still feel flat, normal labs and low libido is the closer page, and low libido in men covers the rest.

Erections, counted

Tseng (2022) followed 261,838 men with new type 2 diabetes in Taiwan's insurance records, 175,171 of them started on metformin within the first 12 months. Erection-problem diagnoses ran at 455.89 per 100,000 person-years in the men with no metformin and 488.10 in the men on it. The hazard ratio was 1.077 (95% CI 1.026 to 1.130) by intention to treat and 1.350 (95% CI 1.264 to 1.441) per protocol.

Infertility came in at 1.368 (95% CI 1.116 to 1.676). The prostate numbers went the other way: prostatitis 0.887 (95% CI 0.849 to 0.927), benign prostate enlargement 0.883 (95% CI 0.868 to 0.899), prostate cancer 0.878 (95% CI 0.802 to 0.961). Retrospective claims read off diagnosis codes, no sexual-function questionnaire, no desire measure, and follow-up length differs between groups.

The trial evidence leans the other way and is small. Rey-Valzacchi and colleagues (2012) took 30 men with insulin resistance who responded poorly to sildenafil and added metformin: erection scores reached 17.0 against 14.3 at month 2 and 19.8 against 14.3 at month 4, with side effects in 61.5% against 7.7%. Pilot, 30 men, everyone already on sildenafil. Zamponi and colleagues (2022) assessed 1332 men and found spontaneous erections in 21.0% of the men with diabetes against 32.0% of the men without; they sorted the men with diabetes into treatment clusters that included metformin and printed no metformin-specific result.

Yang and colleagues (2025) pooled three studies and put GLP-1 receptor agonists ahead of metformin for erection problems in diabetes (Z = 2.41, P = 0.02), then wrote that metformin's own effect remains uncertain. Ngu and colleagues (2023) report one man who developed erection problems 2 weeks after starting metformin, recovered when it stopped, and had them return 15 days into a rechallenge; one man gives a signal and no rate. Two Mendelian randomization papers report p values for metformin of 0.0004 and 0.00061 using genetic proxies for drug use, with confidence intervals the authors call enormous, 95% CI 9.13 to 2135 in one. Those are genes, and they are trials of nothing. Statins and sex drive covers the same kind of evidence on another common prescription.

What moves it

Every women's study on this page measured the same lever. Insulin resistance is what Krysiak and colleagues (2017) tracked while desire scores normalized, what the vitamin D groups in Krysiak and colleagues (2026) tracked alongside prolactin, and what metformin was randomized against a pill in COMET-PCOS. Glucose control moved testosterone within 5 days in Hu and colleagues (2021), before metformin entered. Fat mass fell more in the arms carrying metformin in Fernández-García and colleagues (2022). Vitamin D status decided which domains improved in the prolactin study. Drug class is a live question too: Yang and colleagues (2025) found GLP-1 receptor agonists ahead of metformin for erection problems, on three studies.

Every one of those levers is your prescriber's to pull. Dose, drug class, which contraceptive you are on, whether testosterone therapy continues: those are prescribing decisions. What you can do is walk into the appointment with the numbers on this page and ask for the measurement you want, and let your prescriber change the plan. If your weight changed and your drive stayed flat, why weight loss did not fix libido explains what else sits on that list.

What has been counted, in order

Eight published looks at metformin and sex, in the order they appeared, is close to the whole record. Four of them counted anything about desire, and three of those four were in women. In men, desire shows up as items inside a questionnaire in one 28-man pilot, and nowhere as the number a study set out to count. The testosterone work points two ways: one month looks like a fall, one year looks flat. Read the cards as a timeline, then read the table for what each study measured and left out.

Eight looks at metformin and sex

2012 Rey-Valzacchi

30 men on sildenafil who responded poorly. Metformin added: erection score 19.8 against 14.3 at month 4.

2017 Krysiak

Premenopausal women with diabetes or prediabetes. Desire and sexual satisfaction normalized at 6 months, tracking insulin resistance.

2021 Hu

70 men with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes. Total testosterone 12.7 against 15.3 nmol/L after 1 month.

2021 Krysiak

28 men stopping testosterone therapy. Bioavailable testosterone fell 45% with metformin against 54% without.

2022 Fernandez-Garcia

106 men, 1 year, double-blind. No change in testosterone or erection score on metformin alone.

2022 Tseng

261,838 men with new type 2 diabetes. Hazard ratio 1.077 for an erection-problem diagnosis, read from insurance codes.

2025 Yang

Meta-analysis of 3 studies. GLP-1 receptor agonists came out ahead of metformin; metformin's own effect called uncertain.

2026 Satish

240 women with polycystic ovary syndrome. Sexual distress down (p = 0.03), desire unchanged at 6 months.

Built from PMID 22016348, 27711958, 33536253, 34490645, 35985506, 35935880, 39990178 and 42896751. Most are pilots, cohorts and secondary analyses, so read every figure as a first count.

Metformin in the studies: what each measured, and what it says about desire
Study Design Who Finding What it says about desire
Krysiak 2017 Pilot, matched groups Premenopausal women with diabetes or prediabetes Desire and satisfaction normalized at 6 months No placebo, so the size of the drug's share is open
Satish 2026 Secondary analysis, double-blind randomized 240 women with PCOS Distress down p = 0.03, desire unchanged Six months, women who answered at both time points only
Krysiak 2026 Pilot 75 women with high prolactin Every domain improved with normal vitamin D No placebo, 25 per group
Fernandez-Garcia 2022 Randomized, double-blind 106 men with obesity and low testosterone No change in testosterone or erection score on metformin alone Desire was never counted
Hu 2021 Randomized, 1 month 70 men with newly diagnosed diabetes Total testosterone 12.7 against 15.3 nmol/L Short, and no desire measure
Krysiak 2021 Pilot 28 men stopping testosterone Smaller fall in testosterone, desire and erection scores with metformin Small, no randomization
Tseng 2022 Retrospective cohort 261,838 men Hazard ratio 1.077 for erection problems No desire measure, insurance codes only
Yang 2025 Meta-analysis 3 studies GLP-1 receptor agonists ahead of metformin Metformin's own effect left uncertain

What actually helps, graded honestly

Insulin resistance is the lever with the most counting behind it in women. In the pilot of premenopausal women with diabetes or prediabetes, 6 months of metformin normalized desire and sexual satisfaction scores, and the gain tracked the improvement in insulin resistance. In the 2026 pilot of 75 women with high prolactin, every sexual-function domain score improved in the groups whose glucose measures improved most.

In men, glucose control moved testosterone first. In 70 men with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes, total, free and bioavailable testosterone all rose significantly within 5 days of insulin therapy normalizing glucose, before a pill entered the picture. Our page on diabetes and sex drive covers why the diabetes carries a large share of this.

Vitamin D status changed what metformin did. In that prolactin pilot, prolactin fell and estradiol and testosterone rose only in the women with normal vitamin D, and in the untreated deficiency group the effect reached only physical wetness and sexual satisfaction.

The add-on questions belong to your prescriber, and they carry counted outcomes. In 30 men whose response to sildenafil was poor, adding metformin lifted the erection score to 19.8 against 14.3 at month 4 (p = 0.005). A meta-analysis of 3 studies put GLP-1 receptor agonists ahead of metformin (Z = 2.41, P = 0.02) and called metformin's own effect uncertain. Our page on Ozempic and sex drive covers that class.

Mood is the last counted lever. In COMET-PCOS, depression scores improved only in the metformin group (p under 0.001) and state anxiety improved in the metformin and combination groups (p under 0.01). Mood flattens desire, so that move counts. If testosterone is the live question, does TRT fix low libido is worth reading first.

What to bring to your doctor

One appointment covers most of this. Bring the numbers you have and the timeline you remember, written down. The prescriber decides the medication. Your job is to make the picture complete, and five things are worth putting on the page.

  1. The glucose and insulin-resistance picture: your latest A1c, and HOMA-IR if anyone has ever calculated it. In the women's pilot, desire scores tracked insulin resistance.
  2. Which items changed. Say it plainly: desire, erections, finishing. The men's trials printed erection scores and left desire out, so the detail changes what a doctor can act on.
  3. When it started, measured against the metformin start date and the diagnosis date. One case report describes problems 2 weeks after metformin, resolution after stopping, and a return at 15 days on rechallenge. That is one man with no comparison group. In the testosterone study, glucose control moved hormone levels within 5 days.
  4. A vitamin D level, if it has never been checked. In the 2026 pilot of women on metformin, every domain improved in the groups with normal or corrected vitamin D.
  5. The supplement question, bottle in hand. Your prescriber needs the ingredient list read out loud, and a description will not do.

The everyday levers, and where a botanical fits

Start with who this section is not for. Diabetes travels with heart, kidney and lung conditions and with blood-pressure medication more than almost any other diagnosis in these studies, and those are what NUUD's own label names: avoid use if you are on blood pressure medication, have cardiovascular, renal, or pulmonary conditions, or if you are sensitive to any of the ingredients. If that sentence describes you, it is the answer. Talk to your doctor first, and bring the label.

The levers below are ordinary, and the free ones do more work than the internet admits.

  • Sleep, in quantity and quality. Broken sleep pushes glucose control and desire in the same direction. Sleep, libido and testosterone covers that.
  • Movement you can keep doing, walking included. Exercise and libido covers the wider picture.
  • The glucose plan kept as prescribed, since insulin resistance is the lever with the most counting behind it in women.
  • Time with a partner, or on your own, with nothing expected at the end.
  • A botanical supplement, if you want one, as the smallest lever on the list.

NUUD is a botanical supplement built around desire in general. It does nothing for metformin, for blood sugar, for insulin resistance or for diabetes, no interaction study exists for this formula and metformin, and it has no role in managing any medical condition. The formula is anchored by the NUUD Mushroom Complex™, with Muira Puama, Boiled Rehmannia Root, Tribulus Terrestris, and Piper Nigrum for absorption, on a timeline of roughly 30 to 60 minutes. If you take blood-pressure medication or have a heart, kidney or lung condition, the label says no, and your doctor decides the rest. If your doctor has read that label and has no objection, that is what our women's libido gummies are for. There is a men's version.

Nothing is wrong with you

Two answers out there do no good. The shrug: diabetes does that, everyone gets older, it is psychological. And the forum certainty: metformin kills your testosterone, full stop. The counted numbers are more useful than both of them.

In premenopausal women with diabetes or prediabetes, desire and sexual satisfaction scores normalized on metformin at 6 months. In 240 women with polycystic ovary syndrome, sexual distress fell and the desire scores sat still. In men, total testosterone came in lower at one month, 12.7 against 15.3 nmol/L, and showed no significant change over a year of blinded care. In 261,838 men, the hazard ratio for an erection-problem diagnosis was 1.077 (95% CI 1.026 to 1.130), a small signal read off insurance codes.

The diabetes and the medication both sit on the same scale, and nobody has separated them cleanly. What you are asking for has ordinary words. You want to want it again. Say that sentence out loud at your next appointment.

Keep reading

Frequently asked questions

Does metformin lower sex drive?
Short answer from the women's studies: no. In a pilot of premenopausal women with diabetes or prediabetes, 6 months of metformin normalized desire and sexual satisfaction scores, and the gain tracked insulin resistance. In a randomized trial of 240 women with polycystic ovary syndrome, desire scores stayed unchanged on metformin while sexual distress fell (p = 0.03). No trial in men has printed a desire score at all, and in the 1-year trial of 106 men the erection scores showed no significant change on metformin alone.

Does metformin lower testosterone?
Sometimes in the short window, no over a year. In 70 men with newly diagnosed type 2 diabetes, 1 month of metformin added to insulin left total testosterone at 12.7 against 15.3 nmol/L in men on insulin alone. A 3-month analysis put the change in total testosterone at -0.82 against 0.99 nmol/L. In a 1-year double-blind trial of 106 men, metformin alone changed neither testosterone nor the erection score, and in 28 men stopping testosterone therapy the fall in bioavailable testosterone was smaller with metformin. The short studies are short.

Does metformin cause erectile dysfunction?
The claims data says a little, the trials say the opposite, and one case report says both. In 261,838 men with new type 2 diabetes, metformin starters carried a hazard ratio of 1.077 (95% CI 1.026 to 1.130) for an erection-problem diagnosis, from insurance codes, with no questionnaire. In 30 men whose response to sildenafil was poor, adding metformin raised the erection score to 19.8 against 14.3 at month 4. A meta-analysis of 3 studies called metformin's own effect uncertain, and one rechallenge case report describes problems returning on restarting.

Does metformin help sex drive in women with PCOS?
Not on the desire score. In COMET-PCOS, 240 women with polycystic ovary syndrome were randomized to a combined pill, metformin, or both for 6 months. Sexual distress fell in the metformin group (p = 0.03), depression scores improved (p under 0.001) and anxiety improved, while desire scores showed no significant change and the number scoring in the dysfunction range did not shift. In a separate pilot of premenopausal women with prediabetes, desire scores normalized on metformin at 6 months. Distress and desire moved apart.

Can I take a botanical supplement with metformin?
Ask your prescriber first, and bring the bottle. The label caution is the first thing to read: avoid use if you are on blood pressure medication, have cardiovascular, renal, or pulmonary conditions, or if you are sensitive to any of the ingredients. NUUD is a botanical supplement built around desire in general. It does nothing for metformin, for blood sugar, for insulin resistance or for diabetes, and no interaction study exists for this formula and metformin.

References

  1. Fernández-García JC, Barrios-Rodríguez R, Asenjo-Plaza M, et al. Metformin, testosterone, or both in men with obesity and low testosterone: A double-blind, parallel-group, randomized controlled trial. Metabolism: clinical and experimental. 2022;136:155290. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35985506/
  2. Tseng CH. Metformin's effects on varicocele, erectile dysfunction, infertility and prostate-related diseases: A retrospective cohort study. Frontiers in pharmacology. 2022;13:799290. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35935880/
  3. Hu Y, Ding B, Shen Y, et al. Rapid Changes in Serum Testosterone in Men With Newly Diagnosed Type 2 Diabetes With Intensive Insulin and Metformin. Diabetes care. 2021;44(4):1059-1061. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/33536253/
  4. Cai T, Hu Y, Ding B, et al. Effect of Metformin on Testosterone Levels in Male Patients With Type 2 Diabetes Mellitus Treated With Insulin. Frontiers in endocrinology. 2021;12:813067. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35002984/
  5. Krysiak R, Kowalcze K, Okopień B. Hypothalamic-pituitary-gonadal axis and sexual functioning in metformin-treated men after discontinuation of testosterone replacement therapy: A pilot study. Journal of clinical pharmacy and therapeutics. 2021;46(6):1764-1775. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/34490645/
  6. Feng L, Jinhua W, Shulin G, Jiangping X, Zhongxiang L, Xiaohong L. Causal association between antidiabetic drugs and erectile dysfunction: evidence from Mendelian randomization. Frontiers in endocrinology. 2024;15:1414958. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39247921/
  7. Krysiak R, Drosdzol-Cop A, Skrzypulec-Plinta V, Okopień B. Sexual Functioning and Depressive Symptoms in Women with Diabetes and Prediabetes Receiving Metformin Therapy: A Pilot Study. Experimental and clinical endocrinology & diabetes : official journal, German Society of Endocrinology [and] German Diabetes Association. 2017;125(1):42-48. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/27711958/
  8. Rey-Valzacchi GJ, Costanzo PR, Finger LA, et al. Addition of metformin to sildenafil treatment for erectile dysfunction in eugonadal nondiabetic men with insulin resistance. A prospective, randomized, double-blind pilot study. Journal of andrology. 2012;33(4):608-14. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22016348/
  9. Yang B, Cheng H, Hu Y, et al. Effects of Anti-Diabetic Drugs on Erectile Dysfunction: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis. Diabetes, metabolic syndrome and obesity : targets and therapy. 2025;18:467-478. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/39990178/
  10. Krysiak R, Szkróbka W, Kowalcze K, Okopień B. Sexual Function and Depressive Symptoms in Metformin-Treated Women with Drug-Induced Hyperprolactinemia and Different Vitamin D Status: A Pilot Study. Pharmaceutics. 2026;18(3):. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/41900862/
  11. Zamponi V, Defeudis G, Federico F, Faggiano A, Mazzilli R. Erectile Dysfunction Severity: The Role of Glycometabolic Compensation and Antihyperglycemic Drugs. Journal of clinical medicine. 2022;11(23):. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/36498788/
  12. Krysiak R, Szkróbka W, Bednarska-Czerwińska A, Okopień B. Plasma gonadotropin levels in metformin-treated men with prediabetes: a non-randomized, uncontrolled pilot study. Fundamental & clinical pharmacology. 2021;35(2):466-472. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/32813271/
  13. Ngu MH, Zakaria R, Mohd Zulkifli M, Ab Rahman R. Erectile dysfunction as a possible important side effect of metformin: A case report. Malaysian family physician : the official journal of the Academy of Family Physicians of Malaysia. 2023;18:20. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/37207247/
  14. Krysiak R, Kowalcze K, Okopień B. Pituitary Effects of Metformin in Men With Early-Onset Androgenic Alopecia. Journal of clinical pharmacology. 2022;62(11):1364-1371. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/35603693/
  15. Krysiak R, Szkróbka W, Okopień B. Endogenous testosterone determines metformin action on prolactin levels in hyperprolactinaemic men: A pilot study. Basic & clinical pharmacology & toxicology. 2020;126(2):110-115. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/31420971/
  16. Giagulli VA, Carbone MD, Ramunni MI, et al. Adding liraglutide to lifestyle changes, metformin and testosterone therapy boosts erectile function in diabetic obese men with overt hypogonadism. Andrology. 2015;3(6):1094-103. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26447645/
  17. Zhan J, Liu J, Huang Y, Jiang L. The causal association between seven drugs and erectile dysfunction: a Mendelian randomization study. Therapeutic advances in urology. 2026;18:17562872261448350. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42182083/
  18. Krysiak R, Gilowski W, Okopien B. The Effect of Metformin and Metformin-Testosterone Combination on Cardiometabolic Risk Factors in Men with Late-onset Hypogonadism and Impaired Glucose Tolerance. Experimental and clinical endocrinology & diabetes : official journal, German Society of Endocrinology [and] German Diabetes Association. 2015;123(10):608-13. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/26600057/
  19. Patel JP, Lee EH, Mena CI, Walker CN. Effects of metformin on endothelial health and erectile dysfunction. Translational andrology and urology. 2017;6(3):556-565. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/28725599/
  20. Satish S, Ewy J, Coutifaris C, et al. Health-Related Quality of Life, Mood, and Sexual Function in Polycystic Ovary Syndrome (PCOS): Assessing the Impact of Combined Oral Contraceptive Pills and Metformin Therapy (characters with spaces: 175, limit 125). Fertility and sterility. 2026. https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/42896751/

This article is for general education and is not medical advice. Type 2 diabetes, prediabetes and polycystic ovary syndrome are medical conditions that only a licensed clinician can diagnose and manage. NUUD is a botanical supplement and has no role in diagnosing, treating, curing, or preventing them or any other disease, and these statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Talk with your doctor before starting any new supplement, and do not stop or change any medication without your doctor.

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