HELP me with my appetite..

Estepp

Hey girls.. I am  released to exercise.. thank GOD! I have gained about 10-12 pds through this chemopause, and it is not good. I have been eating like I am dying or something. I need something to suppress my appetite. I have never dealt with this before. I have always been about to just stop. This is different. Any help ...??????????????? I am going crazy

please tell this sister what I can take to STOP the appetite.. I have even though of hypnosis.

Also... I get up in the night to eat chocolate... my onco and primary doc said this is 100% menopause.. but they will not tell me ANYTHING to stop my appetite.

I know I cannot be alone here...helppppppppppppppppp

Marple

Laura, I have just used plain old stubborness to cut way back on my food intake.  Yes, I am often hungry but I am eating enough AND shedding some extra pounds.  Part of my secret is I simply don't keep the foods I love to snack on (anything salty) in the house.  But also I've cut way back on my portions.  I don't know if there is a magic pill.  I just got fed (lol) up with a 5 lb. weight gain with each of my last few onch. appts.  Getting angry at myself spurred me to start.  I had chemo in 06 and am now on Arimidex.

Good luck.

Estepp

Well, I try the anger thing too.. does not work. I eat that chocolate in my sleep.. no joke...My docs told me this is a menopause thing.. GREAT! I

kfinnigan

Laura, I have discovered the ravenous appetite too!  Same with another gal on Tamoxifen I met.  I've never had a weight issue, but I just want to eat all the time now!  I try and eat healthy stuff and exercise before having a treat, but I do dream of milkshakes! LOL  

Estepp

I suppose no one know...eeekkkkkkkkkk any natural appetite suppressant???? Where is Floridalady... I bet she can help us...:)

Marple

Ravenous doesn't begine to describe how hungry I've been since chemo (steroids) and arimidex.

Marple

I could eat a bale of wood shavings and think............wow, this is great.

my3girls

Try Green tea...cut back on carbs..up the protein. I really don't know what to take to supress the appetite..at least nothing natural. But changing a few things about your diet will help too.

I have always been in shape and no extra weight..but after chemo, hysterectomy and now on Arimidex..it's horrible!! No matter what...it seems to creep on.

I have now upped my exercise and started lifting weights again. More muscle mass, burn more calories at rest.

Try eating a higher fiber food, it fills you up and keeps you full.

There is that berry pill...darn..can't think of the name of it. But I took it for awhile. It helped a little.

Good luck to all! It's hard!

Lisa

Sharon...I am not even hungry on Arimidex...but it doesn't matter..somehow the weight comes and doesn't budge! GRRRRRRR

my3girls

I looked back to another thread and found it...the Acai berry!  It helps to burn fat.

Just an FYI

hbcheryl

If someone could find out which one is my sweet tooth I would have it removed!!!!!

patsfan

Glad to hear it is not just me!!!  I have had 2 cycles of AC dose dense. I have been eating food like I am never going to see it again--things I haven't eaten for a long time, and very salty and spicy stuff.  Almost like cravings when you're pregnant.  Can't stand the thought of eating anything bland.  Had 2 stuffed jalapeno peppers on Sat, and now I'm paying the price!! 

Much more weight gain and I will have to go a size up!!   HELP!

Gayle

Estepp

Did the green tea and acia berry.. nothing...

I am going to up the cardio this week.... eeekkkkkk

abbadoodles

The steroids they give you with chemo jump starts your appetite. 

Exercise will, over time, help decrease your appetite.  Muscle-building exercise, such as weight lifting, will also help you burn more of the calories you do consume. 

It's a slow process and I know we all want immediate results.  Not gonna happen.  If it's any consolation, we're all in this together.  Respect your humanity, give yourself a break and just keep "steady as she goes."  You'll get there!

Estepp

Thanks Tina!

I do feel like it is one step forward... two steps back... grrrrrrrrrrrrrrrr

BornInWA

I've cleaned my house of all temptations.  I don't keep anything around that I'm not supposed to have.  For those chocolate cravings I'll occasionally allow myself some of the sugar free dark chocolate because it does not cause and appreciable increase in serum glucose levels.  I'm on steroids and they make me SO hungry!  It's like my stomach is a giant empty black hole that can never be satisfied.  High fiber stuff seems to help.  I'll eat a huge salad for lunch with some lean protien on it (like chicken or fish) and maybe some strawberries sprinkled with some stevia sweetener to satisfy my sweet tooth as a snack.  Check into alternative natural sweeteners like stevia and agave nectar.

Jorf

If there was something one could "take" to decrease appetite we'd know all about it and none of us would be dealing with this issue!

I use fitday.com. If I'm religious about recording what I eat it really keeps me in check. I've read that, in looking at a zillion studies on weight loss - different diets, exercise, etc - the only thing that works consistently is writing everything down. I think that if we're mindless about our eating (which is really really really easy to do, I'm here to tell you!) we eat far more than if we're really mindful of it.

My therapist also suggested the slowing down thing. I've taken to putting down my fork, chewing, swallowing and then waiting for a count of 5 before I put anything else in my mouth - even a dropped piece of letuce. I now eat slower than my husband. There are definitely times (especially lunch at work) when I'm half-way through lunch before I realize that I'm half-way through lunch and didn't even notice. But, it's getting better. I've always been a chocolate sucker. Literally. I get really good chocolate and pull off a small (or large) square and take teeny bites and suck on them. That's really helped in that regard and it tastes soo much better than when I chew it up.

Brendatrue

Jorf--Had to laugh out loud! A fellow chocolate sucker. I love really good, expensive, dark chocolate, and I definitely suck on it long enough to get every penny's worth! Sorry, that doesn't help with the appetite/weight reduction conversation so much as to emphasize there's a way to go more slowly and to enjoy more intensely our various cravings!

orange1

Sorry I don't have advice regarding an appetite suppressant.  I think we're doomed to be hungry.  I'm trying to learn to live with it.  My brother who is very disciplined tells himself hunger is good, because it means he's probably on his way to loosing weight. 

To attempt to get the weight off,  I have increased my exercise to between 45 min to 2 hours/day, 5 days a week and have finally stopped the gain, but so far have not lost the 10 lbs I put on. 

My next plan of action is to start bringing my own baked salmon for lunch everyday to toss on top of a lettuce salad at work.  The food they serve in the cafe at work has too much fat.  I also have started to measure my food portions (like breakfast cereal) with a measuring cup.  

If figure if I keep adding on calorie limiting behaviors, its eventually got to come off.

Good luck to everyone. 

Jane_M

I was actually looking for a thread like this.  I thought I was nuts.  I've gained 10 lbs in the last 9 months.  That may not seem like a lot, but it's going up - not down.  And I am always hungry.  I know it must be in my mind because my body obviously does not need this many calories.  I've resorted to buying those little carrots and munching on them as much as I can.  My PCP did check my thyroid levels and found out that my TSH was 0 - none - zilch.  She increased my synthroid, but I'm pretty sure she's going to order a thyroid US.  I have a history of Hashimoto's and it's been a while since I've had an US, so I think I'm due.  I'd like to blame all this weight gain on my thyroid but, truth be told, the problem is me. 

It's really taking a toll on my self-esteem.  Not only do I have only one boob, so my shirts don't fit and hang right, I now have a belly roll that I'm trying to hide and my hips didn't get any smaller either.  I hate my body.

Estepp

Sister, I know.

I wish I had those word to help. I doubt I do. I hate my body now too. It is not my body. It is the body cancer gave me and that makes me really mad. I am working on getting control of it again. Getting me back. I am walking/running 2 miles a day now on my treadmill or outside. I know I will win.

I wish I could make you feel better. I know only you can make you feel better. You are not alone. Most all of us bc patients are like you.

God Bless sister...

apple

i have incorporated more protein (eggs) at the beginning of the day.. then lots of fruit (tons) for lunch and snack.. a not to piggy dinner.  the eggs really keep me on an even keel... i don't even want to eat till about 3 or 4 pm.  if i'm hungry at lunch time, i try to eat a piece of salmon.  i think we really need the protein and it keeps you from getting hungry and reacting to carbohydrate cravings.

Jorf

Um, Jane ... a TSH of zero means that you're taking too much thyroid replacement already. Remember that the TSH is low if your hormone level is high and TSH is high if your hormone level is low. TSH is the Thyroid Stimulating Hormone.  Like with a thermostat and a radiator. If it's cold the thermostat notices and sends a message to the radiator to put out heat. If it's hot then the thermostat tells the radiator to shut off.

The pituitary senses how much thyroid hormone is in the body and sends off TSH to tell the thyroid gland what to do. If it senses too little then it sends more TSH to make the thyroid to put out more; if it senses too much then thyroid hormone (like in hyperthyroidism or when someone is taking too much thyroid replacement for hypo/Hashimoto's) it slows down the production of TSH. An undetectable TSH is a marker for too much thyroid hormone in your body.

I'd check this out - it may be that you heard it wrong (it took me a few times to figure out the backward nature of it and I explain it to people all the time and it takes everyone some time to turn it all around) or your PCP goofed. It is a bad thing to have too much thyroid hormone/be hyperthyroid.

Jane_M

My PCP thinks it's my thyroid and my pituitary.  The only thyroid hormone I actually had in my body was what I was getting through my medication.  I have the clinical symptoms of hypothyroidism.  She increased the synthroid and has also ordered a thyroid ultrasound, pulmonary function test, echocardiogram and bone density.  My thyroid lit up during my PET scan last year also.  She also said that she doesn't believe menopause is the cause of my weight gain.  There are a lot of things going on and she thinks the radiation does a number on our digestive system as well.