Have been on tamoxifen for over a year now and I have to live on a diet to just maintain my weight. I ate normally last week and put 3 pound on in a few days. Its a nightmare as I am only 44 and prior to this I could eat what I wanted and never gain weight.
I went stropping back to my onc who insists that tamoxifen does NOT cause weight gain. He said trial have shown that women with ER negative cancers who are not on it put weight on as well . He siad its because I am not as “fit” as I was before and probably comfort eat!!?? HELLO that’s the point I hardly eat anything !!
Just thought I would check if anyone had managed to eat the same as before and not gain weight?
im pretty sure the onc shouldnt have said that because im sure there are many ladies on this site that HAVE put on weight due to Tam! Doesnt it even say in side effects of Tam about weight gain.
Im actually losing weight but thats because im more active and not eating as much so im working hard at it. But i do blame the tablets for my eyelashes keep falling out and my nails wont grow properly, so it has a lot to answer to!
Im sure you will get alot of replies back saying they have put weight on and apart from doing a bit more exercise there isnt really any other solution.
Like you I’m 44 and have put on weight since starting tamoxifen in Jan 07, I struggle to maintain my weigh and also exercise daily but have still managed to put on 1 stone. My BC nurse said most women put on weight when they go through the menopause so as the tamoxifen puts us in the early menopause that prob has something to do with it. I’m sat at working typing this reply and as its Friday most of my colleagues are having bacon and egg butties but I am battling against having one! how cruel can they be!!! I hate the way BC changes your body, losing a boob then piling on weight - when will life ever return to normal. Rant over.
it’s interesting how many times patients report side-effects and are told that what they are experiencing isn’t really happening or is due to something else. why can’t they just say, “yes, it does do that, but it’s something you’ll have to live with”?..however, my absolute weight doesn’t seem to have changed, but the distribution has. i have a huge roll of flab round my middle which i didn’t have before and which is really uncomfortable. i met a colleague recently who i hadn’t seen for ages and who didn’t know i’d been ill, and she commented on it, so it’s most certainly not my imagination. what worried me more is that i also became extremely depressed on tamox…yes, maybe i’m “just” depressed because of having cancer, everything i’ve gone through etc etc…but of all the side-effects that’s the hardest to deal with because it affects my ability to cope…not to mention to be motivated to exercise, eat right etc…presumably if you’re having a natural menopause all these things happen more gradually so it’s not such a shock to the system…
I lost weight, and I believe people eat more when they are diagnosed and probably become less active. I ate less due to stress of diagnosis. I’ve put a bit back on recently but I stopped taking tamoxifen over a year ago due to side effects so can’t blame it at all
hi alsie, iv just been put on tamoxifin before i start cmf, he said its the best for me as im pre menopausal (30) the first thing onc said is il put on weight, reason being it slows down matolobism and retains fluid around your middle and ankles can swell too…its bad enough having to go true breast cabcer but then to be told ud put up weight really peeed me off as iv finally got to my goal weight…im drinking green tea as it helps get rid of fluid so maybe ye should try that… havent had hot flushes yet, then again i only on it a few days…
can anyone tell me this if i get an ovarain eblation done with that do instead of all these drugs???
i had hysterectomy done begining of may before i new i had bc and the gyne left my ovaries ashe said i too young to be going true menopause well now im gonna go true a fake one anyway…huh rant over…
funny i was pre men and had chemo first, then op then rads and now on Tamoxifin, dont be to disheartened as i put on weight easily and through a little exercise, walking cycling and not comfort eating ive lost loads of weight which is good as i comfort eat whilst having chemo, so not everyone puts on weight or gets spots etc. I get mini flush every so often but nothing to sweaty.
Hi Breda, I have been on Tamoxifen since April 07. I have been loosing weight since last November. 3 Stones now, but I have stayed the same for 5 weeks now. although I am wearing a smaller size skirt ‘hooray’. I feel that some medication dose put some weight on but as another lady said you have to work a bit harder to avoid it getting too bad. I am determined not to put back any that I have lost but we do seem to be battling all the time. I have more problems with hot flushes as I had been getting them for many years but they are much more intense now. Fans in every room where I sit!! Bit of a joke now, still that’s better than being too serious about it.
Good luck
eileenmary
thanks girls il definitly watch waht im eating and try a little excrsise too so il avoid putting it on, im only going to be on it for a month firsr as starting chemo mid sept and onc said i cant take tamoxifin and chemo same time, but i think when im finished all the treatment il be put back on tamoxifin, very confusing i no. i also have to take herceptin for a year as im her2 posotive…
will let ye know how i grt on and best of luck to ye all during yer treatment ect…
I’ve been on tamoxifin for a month and am losing weight. But I also had to come off the minipill, reading about diet and BC has made me stop raiding the junk-food machine at work and I have lost my taste for wine. Is this just the “honeymoon period” and will the spare tyre round my middle return?
I have been on tamoxifen now since Jan 07, and yes i have also put on weight and like you hardly eat anything. So i got fed up as clothes were feeling tight so joined the gym go 4 times a week over the road from where i live. I have only been going for 4 weeks, husband bought me a crosstrainer ( trying to hint do u think)…lol and its brill may have not lost any weight as yet but me now starting to tone up and seeing the benefits.
I’ve been on tamoxifen since Feb 07. I’m 48 and was pre menopausal when I was diagnosed. My periods stopped after my 4th chemo. I’ve had no side effects from tamoxifen, no weight gain, nothing. I lost a bit of weight during chemo because I was so sick and everything tasted vile. I’ve since gone back to my usual wieght and I’m still a size 8. I finished rads at the end of Feb and I could n’t be happier now, getting on with my life.
I’ve been on tamoxifen since April 07 and haven’t put on any weight yet - My consultant told me that it was an appetite stimulant and so it was my job to put the lock on the fridge! I do seem to be getting some side effects at the mo - think the hot flushes are arriving although I am still having heavier periods than I’ve had for years. I’m also starting to have panic attacks - don’t know if that’s the tamoxifen or just the stress of everything that has happened. I’ve just bought a load of running gear to try and get fit again and hopefully this will help with the stress as well.
I am on tamoxifen, and i have found my i have not lost or gained weight, i have little interest in food, but think thats more the emotional side of all of this, but my finger nails have never been so long or so strong! just shows how this effects us in different ways, i get a lot of hot flushes, not so many night sweats now, but thats cos i’,m normally knocked out by sleeping pills! been on it just over a month, and have just had the worst and heaviest period of my life, and my knees are so sore of a night that its untrue, but fine in the day! maybe i need to take more exercise.
I’ve put on weight since being on Tamoxifen even though I don’t eat a huge amount. I do bloat a lot too. My GP has just put me on Peppermint Oil capsules to help with that.
I find that some symptoms of being on Tamoxifen seem to come and go. I am very stiff in the morning - old granny hobbling kind of stiff - and then again in the evening I get achey too. My knees and other joints will often ‘buzz’ (not literally, just in feeling!!) when I get into bed. Odd sensation!
Periods been ok - very grateful for that. Even more grateful that I’m starting Zoladex this week and will have a reprieve from them.
Hugs to all fellow Tamoxifen sufferers ((( )))
love,
Jacki xx