how to lose weight on tamoxifen

I would love to know too I keep telling my friends when they tell me how well I look ie fat .its great with this cancer treatment you put on weight in spite of having bits chopped off , loose your hair , and when the hair comes back its whiskers and nasal first with a couple of Dennis Healy eyebrow hairs which I have had to trim , I have a reverse Brazilian very attractive look , but I am here in all my glory that's the main thing . Onward and upwards !! Fiona

When I first began chemo my nurse told me to eat a bar of chocolate a day (Green & Blacks heard of this and sent me a year's supply!) to compensate for the weight I would lose. Pffft! I only gained.

I've had chemo, surgery, rads and am now on Tamoxifen while I wait for more surgery. I've always eaten very healthily but  now have to eat less. I only gained 10lb but on me, (my normal weight hovers around at just under 7 stone) 10lb looks a lot. And it's all relative, isn't it? It's about how we feel about ourselves. I am finding it much slower to lose than ever before.

I've just started weight and resistance training again so hope that will help. I know I will gain once more after the next surgery.

Rebecca x

I remember when I was diagnosed last March a lovely friend (NOT!!) said to me aw sure think of all the weight you will lose !!! Well, I think my body decided to prove her wrong! Im not on tamoxifen, though had mx, full node clearance, ld flap recon, 6 x chemo & 25 x rads - all finishing on 2nd Nov. Since being diagoniosed I gave up the dirty fags (which I was only smoking around 5 a day .. I know it doesnt matter how many but trying to take the bad look of it all) So gave them up at the same time & have since put on almost 3 stone being the heaviest I have ever ever been in my life ( even when pregnant with twins !!! )  I googled weight gain with breast cancer & they sait its very common to put weight on in face, neck & belly which is exactly where it has went on,, well okay has went on everywhere but most noticeable where I have said !! I am now suffering terribly with neuropathic pain in my feet which at night time is horrendous at times. I do not want to go on even more meds for this as Dr Google has told me the norm meds for this is anti-depressants / epilepsy meds - dont get me wrong absolutley nothing wrong with these meds but I really want to get all the poison out of me now not pump more in. I am taking Glucosamine + Chondroitin, Omega 3 & Calicum + Vit D religiously since I stopped rads & have been fine up until last week when I seem to be going down hill. My scars are all really painful all the time, my arm aches even though Im doing the exercises religiously every day - it just seems to be that life is going backwards. I plan on doing the mini marathon in June to give me something positive to achieve this year & I really dont want the hassle of all the crap again ! Now, Im getting paranoid ! I did see my surgeon (my hero !!) at teh end of Nov & he was so pleased but have not got any appt yet to see Onc or a follow up scan. Am I being a spoilt little brat ?? I have had one period since the chemo started as well. Aaaarrrggggggghhhhhh !!!!  Screeeeeeeeeeeeeeaaam !! Want to just cry. Hit the booze a few nights as well just to block it all out ! Im so pissed off that Im even feeling like this !! I do not want to let the tramp get in on me again ! Been there done that got the boob off to prove it ! Why oh why does it still niggle at me like an annoying itch !!! Sooo sorry for the rant ! Has anyone else had this pain or have become as huge as me !! Sooo feeling sorry for myself..

Patricia xxx

 

Damn, was really hoping someone would say something positive.  Been on Tamoxifen for a year.  Put about 3/4 stone on since my diagnosis.  In fairness, originally I was deliberately trying to put some weight on for a DIEP which I've now decided I'm not going to do.  Told my husband I was going to diet in the new year but he's been sabotaging it, so have given up.  

I have battled with my weight all my life, on one diet I halved my body weight and everyone said I looked awful! I thought I looked fab lol! I have been on a, 'sensible eating regime' since my diagnosis and it was taken me five years to loose 3 stone. I don't know what Tamoxifen does to the metabolism and I will be interested to see how ceasing Tamoxifen in March (end of my five-year sentence lol!) will affect the speed at which I lose weight.

Everyone seems to be raving about the 'fasting two days a week  - 500 cals, then eating normally the other five. The days of fasting not to be consecutive. Not sure I could trust myself on non-fasting days - probably scoff all the buns!

Good luck to you all.

KateG

Right, this might not be much of a diet plan for anyone here, but tbh, I think we need to include the thought of exercise here, too. 

With having all these meds and ops and waiting times etc I think it is only natural that we are tired, and lethargic and would like to just cuddle up in a lovely cosy blanket. 

And this winter weather is not helping the thought of going out there - have another chocolate instead. But NOOO! Get the wellies out, extra socks on and go for long walks! 

Diet on it's own just doesn't work, ladies, not in the long run. You cannot starve your body off food, because all it does is go into famine mode, and then at the end of it it compensates by putting it on even more. And all the weight lost is usually water! 

Now for real fat loss you need to 'burn' the fat. And that is done with exercise, not dieting. All the dieting weight you will otherwise loose is muscle! And that will make you feel weak. And to build muscles you need to eat proteins. 

Sorry guys, you probably all know what I am saying. And I know its not straight forward to loose the weight. Just thought I put my thoughts out there, too. 

Dorothee xx

Hola everyone,

Weight gain with breast cancer treatments is scarily true with 28lbs being the average - yikes especially when you don't think you've been eating !! Then further weight gain with Tamoxifen is very common. This is not starting off very positive is it ?? 

I gained 9kg about 18lbs on chemo largely from the bloat and swelling the steroids encourage and it's coming off now from really sensible eating, slight calorie reduction and more activity. I'm 7 weeks past chemo, I've cut out rubbish foods and save them as treats - have increased exercise from 30 mins walking every day to include sessions of Zumba that I've built up to 60 mins twice a week. You have to want to do this and get a routine and that isn't always easy if you have aches or feel tired, every day is different, but exercise is proven to improve fatigue, so increasing it by 10 mins a day or every few days is a good way to build up stamina. 

Like Dorothee has said you need a combination of diet and exercise to crack this. To crack the Tamoxifen weight gain curse is going to be a bit of hard work sorry. The weight we gained on chemo is pure fat too, so really combined exercise and healthy eating should strip this over time. None of these short term crazy diets or starvation or your body will hang on to it. We need 150 mins of exercise per week to make a difference , so 30 mins a day will help, and we also need to start adding in some resistance training too, not just for bone density stuff, but to boost our metabolic rate. 

It's frustrating and a bit insulting to have gone through all the treatment , lose bits and bobs and then gain weight. Grrrr I'm hoping to shake all chemo weight before I start Tamoxifen. I think it's stick with it

Enquire about GP Referral for personal trainers to help or find a Cancer Survivorship Fitness Programme in your area. Do wii fitness with friends or join a walking group or swim.

Dance around the house, tap your toes when you sit still and fidget !! Move it move it is helps and kick the rubbish food to the kerb.

Good luck xx 

Hi Sassy & everyone,

ZUMBA...I wish...I went shopping for 3 hrs yesterday and felt wiped out. Not tired, wiped out heavy shoulders, shattered feeling.........this is 4 months after end of chemo!!!!!!!!!!!! I have had to lie down horizontal for most of day.

I got away throughout chemo and surgery fairly lightly as far as symptoms go but boy did I pay on the lack of energy front.

I have joined Pilates and did this last wed a week ago and felt knackered ever since. I also started diet, quite strict (1200 cals a day) since last Sat and am really finding it helpful to use MyFitnessPal as it tracks everything and I have lost 4 pounds since last sat. Woo hoo.

Off to Florida week Friday so am going to really relax and do some gentle walking and swimming and hope by time I get back that I have bit more energy. Nurse told me 6 months after chemo to get drugs out of system. That will be March....bloody hope so anyway. Sick of feeling like this.

Catherine

xxx

Hi, My consultant has spoken about putting me tamoxifen, waiting for op at the moment, does everybody put on weight with this or can you actually loose. Also are there any alternatives or do you have do go with what's recommended, sorry but this is all new to me and still comming to terms with it all.

hey Amber,

Although we seem to be having a very one sided discussion here, I am sure there are lots of women out there who are not having any weight issues with Tamoxifen.

I imagine this medication is a bit like the pill. Some people put on weight with the pill.

Problem with hormone induced tactics is that when the weight creeps up we don't much like it, because we live in a society where overweight is not much accepted. Slimmer looking is still so much more the in thing. 

Apart from that, there are health issues which we are made aware of. But then, Tamoxifen is actually a kind of 'life-saver'. So, what will it be? I feel I am happy on Tamoxifen, because it is recommended by my specialists.

So then I need to have a think about, what do I do about the possible weight gain. I will be as active as I can be, as healthy as I can be. Within reason, and within the enjoyment that I get out of it.

Leading a healthy balanced life is exactly that: it's a case of careful balancing! Or juggling without dropping everything.

But bottom line for me is: I have to see the advantage of it! Otherwise there is no point! Life is about living!

Dorothee xx