I know there are quite a few discussions about Arimidex, in fact I started one about tiredness a few weeks ago but I wanted to know if many people had trouble with weight gain? A lot of weight gain!
I find it very depressing and feel so awful about myself and I’m scared to think how fat I will end up if this continues throughout the whole treatment. I was dx in Feb 06 with grade 3/ 3 lymph nodes involved and had a mx/chemo/rads and initially put on Tamoxifen. I was on that for 9 months and as I was post menopausal, established through a blood test, my onc thought Arimidex would be a good choice for me. I have taken it for just over a year. I have all the other side effects that have been mentioned…aches and pains etc…but the weight gain is getting me down. Exercise it difficult because of the aches and pains/ tiredness etc so I know I don’t do enough…also, I really don’t think that I overeat. Sometimes I have the odd thing I shouldn’t but I feel that my calorie intake is nowhere near what my weight would suggest.
As I said, I find it all very depressing but I also know that I should be thankful that I am well and over 2 years from dx. But it’s a hard road to travel isn’t it?
Hello There.
I’m not on Arimidex but thought I would stick my oar in anyway
Diagnosed Aug 06 I’ve been on Tamoxifen since April 07 as I was pre menopausal.
Onc says he’ll probably switch me over to Arimidex next year.
Anyway I just wanted to let you know you are not alone in this weight gain palaver, I was left a stone and a half heavier after treatment and it absolutely will not shift.
Joined the local gym in February and apart from a two week break thru hols have been at least 3 times a week for a least an hour or more.
Like you I sometimes have a treat but I know my eating is the same or even less than before but I am stuck at this weight.
Husband says I should just buy a corset (big help).
Keep going…
Best wishes
Linda x
I am consolled that I found this thread. I was diagnosed in November 2007 and have had chemo, surgery, I have had 6 doses of herceptin so far and just started Arimidex. i am starting 6 weeks of Radiotherapy on Monday. And I have put on over a stone since I started all of this. For a bit I thought it was due to the fact that I was not so mobile during the chemo - aching legs, extreme tireness etc. I feel a bit more energetic now that the chemo has finished, but the weight is not moving. does anyone have any advice or any reassurance that it will eventually get back to normal
Whilst you await replies from your fellow forum users you may find it helpful to check out the following link, this will take you to a Breast Cancer Care web page which you may find of interest. We have produced a DVD and published a factsheet about ‘healthy living and breast cancer’ which includes advice about diet and exercise, please follow this link:
Thank God it is not only me who has put on a lot of weight nearly 2 stone to be precise in one year! I look at myself and do not recognise my body! No ins and outs just lots of outs! Tummy like a fat 5 year old, thick thighs and the only thing that has not put on weight is my ankles! Everyone tells me not to worry and be grateful to still be alive!!! Ok for them they are thin and also alive! I have had to buy a whole new wardrobe, mostly elastic waistbands to cope with my ever increasing girth. I eat like a bird and when i was in hospital recently for an abdominal operation was on a drip for 3 days and still put on 1lb!!! I walk everywhere to try and shift it but that does not help though i must be getting fitter! I even asked my GP for diet pills after seeing myself in my new size 18 mastectomy bathing suit, i looked like an oxo cube with legs! Seeing me in my swimsuit will turn the male population of Spain homosexual! Never fear i looked around the town yesterday when i went shopping and most women were out of proportion too, my hubby who is 25 stone loves my new cuddly body!
oh how i can relate to this thread, ive put on nearly 2 stone since ive been on arimadex! i hate this new body ,i was always a size 12 before treatments,and hate to look at myself in the mirror and when i have to buy a size 16 i could cry! but hey im here and alive so really despite this im determined to still fight the good fight , cant exercise very much as like yourself the aches and pains get to me and the tiredness boy i could sleep for england ! wish you all the best .take care lynn x
Aroma… I totally endorse what you’ve said. The aches and pains are really getting to me now and I recently had a shoulder operation and I don’t know how much of the pain I’m in is due to the op or the damned Arimidex.
For the first time since taking Arimidex last September, I’ve just started feeling nauseous in a morning, after my first cuppa tea.
I was diagnosed in May 07 and weighed 8stone 4pounds. After chemo i had rocketed up to 10 stone which my oncologist said was down to the steriods. I think half f it was down to me eating just to prove that i could without being sick. Anyay i had bilateral matectomy and ovaries removed in Nov 07 which shifted 2 pounds, finished radi end of Jan this year and have been on have been on Herceptin and Arimidex ever since. I haven’t been on any diet and i’ve eaten what i’ve fancied even with the odd glass of red wine. I now weigh 8stone 10pounds. I do still feel very fired and have a lot of those blooming aches. The only thing that i have done is to do light yoga movements, initially to help get my arm movement back.
For those of you who are in a lot of pain with the aches, my oncologist prescribed me Gabapentin and it really does work, down side is that it makes you feel really spaced out so i try not to take the full dose.
I am having terrible problems with weight gain. I have been on Tam for 2 years and have gone from a slim 9 to 9 1/2 stone to just leaving 12 !!! gone from a size small 12 to a massive 18 and its still rising. My specialist who has now prescribed femeral for me says its possible it will help my problem. I have looked at my holiday snaps and my head looks like a pea on a drum. Its very depressing.
I put on 3 stone last year with all the treatment etc, and have taken Arimidex for 6 months during which I managed to lose a few pounds BUT my onc changed me to Femara last month and when I went back today for my check up I’d lost 5 lb…so Pineapple… maybe there is a light at the end of the tunnel…good luck!
Marcos
Glad to be of some help Julie22 Let me know how you get on. The hot sweats are something but these aches make you feel like your 100 yrs old don’t they.
I started this topic a few weeks ago thinking I was depressed about my weight then…well I am even more so now.
Ive just had a weekend away…seeing myself in hotel mirrors…shop windows…etc. I am totally appalled by what I see. I am 47 years old and look horrendous…soooo fat it’s disgusting. I am totally and utterley depressed about it.
Two weeks ago I had a routine app at my doctor’s and told her about my depression about my weight. She said that being on Arimidex…the menopause…and an anti-depressant called Venlafaxine makes weight gain very common. She has referred me to the nurse at the practice to look at my diet…fobbed me off really I suppose. The GP ‘can’t be arsed syndrome’
I don’t really know why I’m writing here to be honest…I’m not bothered if I get any replies or not…I’m having a moan, a rant.
I try and give myself a shake…friends I know have died recently of BC and others are terminal…they would love the ‘trivial’ problem of weight. I KNOW THAT but it doesn’t lift me. That is really shallow isn’t it.
I have reached over 2 years since dx…isn’t that the inportant thing??? See what I mean…I’m just talking aloud really…why can’t I get a grip??? I think it must be social conditioning…if you aren’t a 10 or god forbid a 12, you are a failure. That sums it up I guess…I feel a failure.
How pathetic is that???
As I said, don’t worry about answering but if you want to come and find me and give me a hug…that would be nice.
Sheanamarie - here is a huge big cyber hug for you. The most important thing is that you are NOT alone with your weight problem. In the first instance I would definitely ask your GP to change your anti depressant as it doesn’t appear to be lifting your mood. Not all anti depressants have the tendency to increase weight. Also try and do some form of exercise preferably in a class with other people - yoga, pilates etc. I find exercise is the only thing that keeps my weight in control and I always feel better afterwards even if I do have to force myself to the gym. Keep in touch please. XX
I am still having chemo and I can sympathise with you Sheana. I feel like a diffrent person, all puffed up stomach and having to wear bigger clothes. Favourite trousers no longer fit. To some it may sound trivial but it is yet another thing that bc has taken from us. I was a slim size 12 now nearer a 16.
I do have long arms. Sending hugs to you.
I know in the scheme of things being over weight can seem trivial but it it eats…no pun intended…at my confidence. People will ask me how I am and I say fine but I hate feeling fat. I always get the same reply…’ at least you are well, I wouldn’t worry about it’ II always think that in their heads they are saying…god, I’m glad I’m not that big…breast cancer and then you end up fat.
Before I started treatment I was about 8 1/2 stone…god knows what I am now because I refuse to get on the scales…oh, it’s awful. I’m goint to see the nurse at the doctors’ practice tomorrow so it will be interesting to hear what she says…I’ll let you know.
I logged on to start a new link re weight gain, and was delighted(?!) to find out I am not alone.I hate the mirror now, and my hair has come back VERYcurly after chemo. Having had a bilateral last year my partner jokes that my boobs must have slipped to round my stomach and beyond (ha ha) but I know he means well. .
I never thought I would be seen in elastic waists. The Arimidex pain is not good, and I find that I’m having to shuffle along the mattress to try and get out of bed in the morning, as I am unable to turn . However I have found that if I go for a walk first thing it gets my joints moving, then I just have to cope with the aches, and difficulty in bending and getting up from chairs. .
I have recently been diagnosed with a torn tendon, and having had a cortisone injection found all my aches went away. It was wonderful to be able to bend down again. However my onc. will not consider it for a treatment alongside the Arimidex/ too many other problems with it apparently.
Elasticted waist and I have become very close in the lasy year or so! My first thought when I see anything I like is…what is the waist andmy little hera sinks if it’s not my new bestest friend Mr Elastic.
I have been onArimidex for about 15 months and my aches and pains are better I think which is great news to those of you juststarting out on your 5 year stint. Mind you, first thing in the morning I’m not at my best it has to be said…my feet go very odd. I can’t seem to put them flat on the floor and walk normally…it goes after a few minutes of hobbling around thank goodness. Also, if I’m sitting still for over quarter of an hour when I get up I knew a few steps to get going. All that kind of stuff certainly has not got worse which is great.
My worries are my weight and there is another thread about eyesight which concerns me too.
Is there anyone else out there who struggles to GAIN weight? All I read about is ladies who cannot shift it and last time I saw my oncologist I swore that the next woman to moan to me about her weight would get a knuckle sandwich as I was eating cream, ice cream, puddings etc. to try and cling to 8 st - I’m 5’ 7".
It is easier to lose than to gain, believe me. I was on Tamoxifen for 6 months and have been on Arimidex for 15 months.
