Losing Weight While on Tamoxifin

Yes...Yes...Yes...

I started Tamox and Lupron at the same time in July 2008. I did gain weight from treatment but was able to loose 27 lbs in Oct 2008 with a very strict no carb, no dairy 800 cal diet. I went off the diet and gained it back.

I exercise and watch what I eat. I only eat "good" carbs and avoid all the "bad" sugar and consume between 1200 - 1500 cal a day. This is what was told to me due to my weight and height to loose the extra pounds. Has it worked? Nope. Nothing!

I asked my onc..he said Tamox doesn't cause weight gain. I thought, well he should know more than me, and just accepted it. But...I have seen to many stories of woman on the boards and their struggle with weight loss and being on Tamox. There HAD to be a connection right?

Well, for me there is!

I went off Tamox in the mid of January for 3 weeks for my exchange surgery. I did a little experiment. My last day of Tamox I weighed myself and made a note. I then had surgery and to be honest just laid around and actually indulged in pizza ect...lol. Surgery was a good excuse to have pizza. Laid around more. I din't go to the gym.

Well....well. the day that I was to start Femara....weighed myself....and....5 lbs gone! In the 4 months of eating right, gym 5-6 x a week nothing. But stopping Tamox? Yes...the weight came off.

Im actually back on the stupid Tamox, long story, but am having an ooph soon so I will be switching to an AI. Im actually looking forward to this. Sad huh?

Thats my story, and Im stickin to it.

I've been on Tamox for 18 months.  Since DX I have changed what I eat.  I always ate healthfully, but now more so than ever.  Very little meat, maybe 1-2 servings a month.  Fish daily.  Tons of veggies.  I exercise every day (6 days a week) by walking 4-5 miles a day, using the elliptical 3 times a day at 25  minutes each, and doing about 200 sit ups a day along with other squats etc.  I CANNOT LOSE WEIGHT!!  Once I started the tamox, I watched the weight creep on.  It stopped at about 15 pounds or so!  I want my old body back!!

Lexislove - you give me hope!  I'm so happy to hear that you lost 5 pounds when you stopped the Tamox.  I will be 47 when my 5 years on tamox is over, I would like to lose weight my body starts to naturally gain it from going through menopause.

Best of luck to you all!

I lost 40 lbs the year before dx.  I was in the best shape of many years and loved how I looked/felt.  I am also convinced the smaller boobs allowed me to feel the lump, and therefore may have saved my life!  Anyway, fast forward a year, and I finished surgery/chemo/rads. Started Tamox in October. I felt like I could LITERALLY FEEL the weight gaining every day.  Between Oct and March I gained 20 lbs. Every 6 weeks I see the doctor and get weighed and am another 4-5 lbs more.  He has given me a fairly hard time about it, which only makes me feel worse about it. Still am at the gym regularly. Have not pushed down to super low levels of eating and hardest levels of working out yet - want to wait till my port comes out next month (YAY!) and will work with my personal trainer again. But I harbor a secret fear that the weight will not come off.  I keep telling myself I did it before and can do it again. But I am afraid inside that maybe my best effort will not achieve results and that is HORRIBLY DISCOURAGING. 
I KNOW that being/staying cancer free is the most important thing. But this is a loss to me and it makes me sad.

I KNOW the Tamoxifen changed my metabolism or hormones or SOMETHING. The weight came very very quickly & steadily.

Sorry to say but that's my story.

Amy

I can see pointing a finger at a smoker for developing lung cancer, but pointing a finger at a woman for developing BC...is wrong.

when I read articles like the one mentioned above, it pees me off. Not because I don't like what the article is saying, but it makes me feel like  its my fault!

 My fault?...30 yrs old, no family history. Ive always had a little extra something going on...but I was never classified as obese. I come from a European/Mediteranean background, eating is in my blood...lol.

This is off topic, but I just read an article today on Gestational Breast Cancer. Gestational! Meaning, a woman who develops BC while being pregnant or up to 12 months post baby. hmmmm....I was always had a gut feeling that my pregnancy and hormones played a role in developing ER+ BC at 30!

This is the perfect forum for me today.  I am eating healthier than ever & more conscious about calories.  I have gained at least 5 pounds since starting tamoxifen in July.  If this keeps up I will be really really down.  I am keeping a food journal as I thought maybe I was eating more than I realized as I can be prone to being a grazer.  It is tough after all we have been through.  I am walking around hungry all the time.  Going to bed hungry, waking up hungry and gaining weight!!!  Frustrating when you feel like you are doing all the right things and getting the opposite results. 

I watched a news clipping this week which stated that most breast cancer could be prevented with proper diet and exercise.  Well, I have always been a health nut (as people refer to me as) and a very avid exerciser.  My 2 older sisters are quite overweight, smokers and not very healthy eaters.  

A lot of us have gone into menopause which is affecting our metabolism too.  I am a cardio nut and going to make a point of adding more weight bearing exercises.  Jillian Michaels has just put out a book about metabolism.  I haven't looked at it yet.  Maybe we could all post our tips.

Off to the gym.

Take Care,

Bev

I have been on Tamoxifen since July 09. I lost 12- 13 pounds towards the end of rads in August and September of 09 because I was just too nauseated to eat much at all. I had neo adj. chemo and ate more than I am eating now and did not gain any or lose any during chemo (was not on tamoxifen then). Once I resumed eating 1000 to 1200 calories a day the pounds came back. I am holding steady at my diagnosis weight but am eating very little carbs, not much salt or sugar or alcohol and I do 30 minutes on the eliptical machine and 15 minutes of weights and toning 5 to 6 days a week.... and the scale does not move. I have foggy brain from the Tamox I think and I stopped taking it for 4 days to do my taxes and then went back on it...I lost 3 pounds and my abdomen flattened some, and within 2 days of taking the tamox again the weight was back.

I too have been pissed at some of the info coming out lately....genes ARE being altered in a generation and mutated by toxins in the environment...I think it is bigger than weight issues and diet and pregnancy and breast feeding and etc. etc. If it was just about weight and eating poorly there would be many more cases...just my theory...I think causes of the cancer and effectiveness of treatment are very very DNA individually genetic specific and that is why people with the same diagnosis and pathology stats often have different success levels of treatment...again just my thoughts...I am married to a statistician but am leary ( of medical studies and statisitics ) because I am skeptical of motives of some of them and concerned about the control groups variations on so many of these studies. So much of this "weight causes breast cancer" info seems to be punctuated with the estrogen issue ... what about the negative cancers? What about people who did have healthy lifestyles and got it anyway....? I have more questions than my oncologist ever has time to answer!

Well, I have to say I have not cut out chocolate or wine---maybe cut down on it all, but haven't stopped.  I have been on tamoxifen since August and have sort of hit a plateau and just can't seem to lose the roll around my tummy.  A dear friend of mine suggested I eat almonds to help with the tummy roll. I haven't heard /read or thought about almonds being bad to eat for me a pr er+ person  and I enjoy them, so there I go!

Anyway, just like Koshka I taught exercise classes to people, was in pretty great shape, cut out fats , rarely ate chocolate, and drank moderate levels of alcohol and yuppers....got C!

Kosh - I would like to lose weight with you.  I have about 7 pounds I need to drop.

 Bev

Well I HATE working out.  Always have.  Doing "stuff" is fine but a gym has never worked for me.  So in December, I bought my first bicycle since I was about 11.  I have three monsters and they love to ride bicycles and unicycles and I figured they would encourage me and it would be a good family thing to do.  And so far, its working pretty darned well.  With the time change and leaving an hour early to accommodate Zapping, I have been able to fit in rides at the end of my day.  No weight loss yet but the exercise feels good.

Oh and like so many others, I am not overweight, I almost never eat fast food, I eat almost all organic etc.

I fall  in the camp of those who thinks its a combination of genetics and our rapidly decaying toxic environment.

I don't but my husband does motivate me a lot.  Personal trainers do seem to be getting a lot more popular.

On a positive note about being on the plus side of the scale...the more you weigh the more calories you burn doing cardio...lol.

I used an online cardio calculator...put in my stats and according to it, 1/2 hour on a elliptical/ski machine with a heart rate of such and such...  burned 400 calories. Still haven't made my way on it yet. ha!

Im getting there...

Marion - Congrats on the personal trainer.  You are tempting me.  They do make you accountable and push that extra little bit.  (or lot)  I have not been nauseous but I do get dizzy spells.

Bev

I had my first training session today with my personal trainer. He's called Luke and he's cute, I think it might give me extra motivation to go !

He pushed me to see what I could/could not do. I was so weak, it was kind of pathetic... Well, it can only get better from here ... 

I have also started weighting myself every morning. Is anyone doing that too?

I've put on approximately 25 pounds since being on tamoxifen (since September 2008).  My oncologist just this past week informed me that although weight gain is associated with taking the drug, 25 pounds is extreme.  I also am healing from third reconstructive surgery, and it may be that chronic back spasms associated with most recent surgery have aggravated these circumstances.  My online research has led me to stories of others who have similarly gained, but I have never heard it being referred to as "extreme."  (I am aware that any weight gain increases percentage of recurrence and have already had earlier discussions with oncologist when prescribed anti-nausea steroids and chemo drugs that caused weight gain earlier in treatment.) 

 Any feedback would be appreciated.

I have been on Tamox for 18 months and have gained between 5 and 7 pounds.  I walk everyday and try to work out at the gym at least 3 times a week.  Lately, I've been really bad about getting to the gym, for various reasons.  I am also menopausal and at every 6 month followup, have my hormone levels tested to see if I'm ready to switch to an AI. I eat well, little to no red meat (except when my husband grills a steak -- too delicious to pass up!). 

While I tolerate Tamox fairly well, those last few pounds make me feel bloaty and were just enough to push me right into the next size, which is very discouraging. I am really hoping I can switch to an AI soon because the other possible side effects of Tamox are more frightening to me.

Does anyone know if weight gain is an issue for AI's?