I’ve been taking lenvatinib 8 mg for 6 months now for stage 4 kidney cancer that has metastasised to my pancreas and two other sites in my stomach.
I have gained almost a stone in weight. I’m less active due to feeling so fatigued but can’t understand why my weight has rocketed.
I feel so awful about myself
Dear BellaC
Thanks for getting in touch on our Online Community, I’m Sue one of the cancer information nurse specialists on the Support Line. I can see you have also joined other forum groups which I hope you are finding helpful and supportive.
This sounds like such a difficult time I’m glad you have reached out for some support, struggling with the effects of cancer and cancer treatment can be both emotionally and psychologically hard.
Weight changes can happen for a number of reasons, although we tend to associate weight loss with cancer and cancer treatment, for some people, like yourself, the opposite happens, and they may gain weight.
It’s natural you may be feeling uncertain why this is happening and whether or not this is related to your Lenvatinib treatment. Whilst we can’t diagnose what is causing your weight gain one of the potential side effects of this medication is that it can cause the thyroid gland to become less active. Symptoms of this include feeling tired, weight gain and low mood.
Coping with these changes can be very hard and can affect how someone may feel about their body image and appearance. It can really affect a person’s self-confidence and may lead to feelings of anxiety and worry.
We would encourage and recommend talking to your hospital consultant or clinical nurse specialist as soon as possible to report what is happening. They will be able to assess you as to the cause of your weight gain and can offer you the right support and medical advice.
You’ve also mentioned struggling with fatigue, this can be very common and have such a detrimental effect on how someone feels and what they are able to manage day to day. There can be different reasons for this happening, it may be due to the cancer itself or cancer treatments, and people with an advanced cancer are more likely to suffer with fatigue. Once again, we would recommend discussing this further with your hospital team. We offer some further information about living with fatigue which you may also find useful.
I hope you find this helpful, if you would prefer to talk things through with one of our nurses on the Support Line, please don’t hesitate to call us, sometimes talking to someone can make such a difference. We also offer other ways we can help.
Sending best wishes
Sue
Ref: AC/SMG
You can also speak with the Macmillan Support Line team of experts. Phone free on 0808 808 0000 (7 days a week, 8am-8pm) or send us an email.
