Herceptin Side effect - weight gain?

That would explain the weight gain!  I had lost 15 lbs. when I started this not so enjoyable journey.  Largely because I started eating better and didn't spend time that summer sitting around the pool with friends and drinking beer on weekends due to chemo.  I looked and fealt better with the weight loss.  Then I started Taxol/Herceptin in Oct. 08.  I really didn't start to gain weight right away, though.  It seemed to start creeping up in the summer, when I was on Herceptin and Zometa. 

My husband works for a consulting company, and all his assignments are out of town, so he was only home on weekends.  However, from May thru December of 2008 they didn't have any assignments for him, and he was home 24/7, so I was cooking almost every night, so I was eating more.  Plus we had friends over around the pool each weekend so I was also drinking beer and eating a lot more snacks.  I regained the 15, plus added another 15 lbs. to my original weight.  Most of it was around the middle.  Needless to say, I wasn't very happy!  Hubby is back on the road again, and I have lost a few lbs., but it's slow going.  I'm thinking the Herceptin may have had something to do with it - my onc. said as much that it was probably responsible for the weight gain.  Since I'm on it for the long run, i guess I'd better get used to it!

I too have the weight gain and belly fat (and joint pain; I feel like an old lady some days!).  I did not work out during treatments like I did when I had ovarian cancer.  I finished Herceptin on Jan 8 and since then I have lost 6 lbs (3 per month) and one and a half inches from my waist (in Jan, nothing in Feb and 1 inch from my hips.  I do a step work out for 40 min every other day and light weights (leg weights and 5 lb. arm weights) every other day.

For me, I think part of the belly fat is due to menopause which is well documented but I now believe the Herceptin has definitely contributed.  I have also started eating healthier and it helps me to feel better, as does the exercise.

Good luck to all.

I had my last Herceptin on 1/30/09.......and I STILL haven't lost the weight. Maybe it's the Arimidex......or maybe it's my new normal!!!  My Lord -- I HOPE NOT!!

I saw a nutritionist yesterday, hoping for some words of wisdom. Alas, nothing I didn't already know. Exercise more, eat less.  Yes, but I am exercising everyday and eating way less. Still no weight lose and a big stomach. I had my port removed Wednesday and my onc. surgeon said. "Eat one Lean Cuisen every day and all the salad you want and in 2 weeks you'll lose the weight."  She is young, 5'2' and probably weighs 90 #s. At age 60, it's just not that easy.  But I'm going to try very hard.

The nutritionist told me about a website she thought I might enjoy. https://www.fitday.com  WOW!!!! It's wonderful and free. It will keep track of all your calories, fats, carbs, protein just by putting in the food you ate. They have almost any food imaginable, including restaurant food. It will also chart all your activities.  I especially enjoy seeing on a graph just how many miles I rode my bike and how many miles I walked each day/week/month.  You can put in your present weight and your ideal weight and the date you wish to achieve it. Then it will tell you how many calories your need to reduce daily.. If you put in your weight everyday, it will chart it against your ideal reduction rate.  great fun and very easy.  I think it will really motivate me.  Maybe, it will help you, too.

I completely agree with runner girl's comments...  I've been to a number of nutrition classes and spoke to a naturapathic doctor since completing Herceptin in December and when I asked about how to lose the 13 lbs I gained during chemo + Herceptin (and I'm taking Tamoxifin now), I was told the only healthy way for me to lose the weight is to completely cut out refined carbohydrates  (ie. white rice, pasta, refined sugars, cookies, cakes).  Those are the calories that can afford to go because they have no nutrition.  I also found out I wasn't getting enough protein, which is essential to combat fatigue and help w/ cellular repair (and improve my peeling fingernails).  5 servings of veggies/fruits per day is essential to reduce our risk of recurrence and we should go heavy on veggies and a bit lighter on fruits as they have more sugar, which will also contribute to weight gain.   I was told to check ingredients on labels... avoid anything with more than 5 ingredients listed (the least processed the better), and especially avoid trans fats and partially hydrogenated oil and fructose corn syrup... those contribute to inflammation and lead to disease..  I have lost 4 lbs and have 9 more to go.  It's hard!!!  I also walk daily and am taking an exercise class at the YMCA.  Good luck to all of us!

 PS... one other interesting thing I learned from my nutritionist is to avoid *low fat* products.  During the *low fat* craze diabetes and obesity have skyrocketed.  She says we need the fat in whole foods as that is what signals to our body that we are full and feel satiated.  For the first time in my life I am buying whole milk and full fat yogurt, and now I'm losing weight.  Also, some vitamins are fat soluable, so we need a bit of fat with our veggies to absorb the nutrients in them. 

Hello...I have been having a lot of problems with weight gain, my Dr seems to think I should just watch what I eat duh!!! Like I don't know that. I have been reading some of your posts and see I am not the only one with this issue.... Herceptin, and I also read you seem to be only on it for a year, I have been on it now for 16months and gained 30lbs, no matter how little I eat or how much I exercise it won't budge, I am not sure why I am still on this drug still for this long, will have to see why, i have gained all this weight around mid and upper section of my body, I look like the michelin man, it's gross, anyway I am glad I looked in here, will be on Dr's case now I know I am not the only one....

Yep fat and now getting fatter. I am doing the herceptin clinical trial -TDM1. I also exercise at least 3 days a week and in past few weeks have gained some weight. Also notice my face seems puffier and fatter. So lovely! And yep also tummy is bigger.

I just love cancer drugs..NOT!~

I started treatment 2 years ago - chemo, op, radiation and then a year of herceptin and am on tamoxifen too.  I was 69kgs and quite fit when I was first diagnosed, went to the gym 4/5 times a week, ran, cycled, rode horses and have a healthy non-meat eating diet.  I finished the herceptin in Jan 09 and have just had my ovaries removed (last Friday) and now weigh 80kgs.  I have continued working through all my treatments and have tried to eat sensibly (hard when youre head is stuck down a toilet for most of the day when having chemo!) but the weight piled on during last year, all the consultants I spoke to said it was nothing to do with the herceptin - but the fact that I was going through the menopause (zoladex injections monthly).  I expected to put on a small amount of weight due to the fact I havent had the energy to keep my gym visits up but am really depressed at the amount I have managed to gain.  Now after having read other peoples reactions to the herceptin, perhaps my weight gain has been for the same reason!  Im now planning to start exercising in earnest after recovering from my latest op - so hopefully the weight will start to go....fingers crossed!

Does anyone have any natural remedies for hot flushes/tiredness symptoms from the menopause that work?

Cheers! 

I will be on Herceptin until Oct09 - one year.  I finished chemo in Jan09.  I have gained about 20 pounds through this ordeal.  I am cutting portions now and just started exercising again.  Does anyone know if when you stop Herceptin some of the weight will come off?  I have never had much belly fat and now it is in full force! 

Brenda,

You are not the odd one out.  I lost weight during chemo (no appetite) and continued to lose weight throughout my year on herceptin (a total of about 35 pounds which I could well afford to lose).

I am still working om losing weight.  It is just more difficult without the herceptin.

I lost a considerable amount of weight (about 50 lbs). 

My treatment was:

Adryamycian + Cytoxan - once every 2 weeks - 4 treatments total.

Taxol -  once every 2 weeks - 4 treatments total.    Herceptin was started with Taxol. I had 52  weekly treatments.

Within a month or so after finishing the Herceptin, I gained 25 lbs in 3 weeks.  I was diagnosed as having hypothyroidism.  I am now on synthroid.  I have not lost the weight.

I am eating MUCH LESS than when I was on Herceptin. When I was on Herceptin, I could eat a lot of food and not gain weight; in fact, no matter how much I ate I couldn't stop losing weight.  I was done to 110 lbs.

I suffered terrible anxiety while on Herceptin that was not helped with any drugs prescribed by a psychiatrist. 

In retrospect, I think the anxiety was caused by the Herceptin.  The anxiety started about 3 weeks after starting the Herceptin and started to go away about 3 weeks after I finished treatment.

Has anyone else suffered anxiety as a side effect? 

Ugh, still gaining and wondering if anyone would chime in on whether they could tell a difference (some weight loss) after the Herceptin was completed????  HELP!

I got a steriod and Benydryl with the Herceptin when I was also doing chemo (Taxol).  Now chemo is done and I get Herceptin every 3 weeks.  Once the chemo stopped so did the steriod and benydryl.

Another weight gainer here.  I initially lost weight after I was first diagnosed, but mainly because I was more careful what I ate, and cut back on drinking beer.  I lost about 15 lbs., and felt good.  After I was on Herceptin for a while, I gained it back, and more on top of that.  I've managed to lose a little bit of it, but not much.  And it's mostly around my middle and my thighs.  I don't eat that much.  I am now also hypothyroid, so I'm sure that doesn't help.  I really didn't start gaining weight until I started the thyroid medication.