Weight gain during Chemo & Heceptin?

Renee,

I think the steroids and the other meds can cause you to gain weight while on chemo. I had DD AC and then Taxol (and Herceptin) and I didn't gain any weight at all. After chemo I weight pretty much the same as before, a couple of  Lb up and down every week.

I've gained about 5-7 pounds since I started chemo on April 21, 2011 (it fluctuates the week after a chemotherapy infusion, but hasn't dropped below the 5 pound mark).  I just had my third dose dense A/C infusion last Thursday, May 19.  By my second dose, I was upset at my increasing weight because I worked so hard at losing 35 pounds 6 months before I was diagnosed with cancer last December.  When I was diagnosed I niavely thought, "Great, now I can lose that last difficult 10 pounds because everyone who has chemotherapy loses weight."  So not true!  I thought I was a chemo freak or failure because my weight began creeping up.  I hadn't changed my activity level or healthy diet I'd established.  I finally talked to my oncologist and oncology nutritionist about it and found out that I certainly wasn't the only one to gain weight.  It is definitely related to the steroids given during infusion and sometimes afterward.  I also had a severe and prolonged emotional reaction to the steroid dexamethasone after my first infusion.  For that reason alone my doctor reduced the dosage from 10mg to 4mg during infusion.  It helped tremendously while still providing necessary anti-inflammatory and allergy protection.  I no longer feel as if I should be laced into a straight jacket for 10 days and confined to a padded room for extra measure!  I don't take any steroids after infusion.  Even so, weight gain is still happening even on the reduced dose.  The best I can share with you is that I'm encouraged this 'season of treatment' will end and my body will readjust during the 'season of recovery' to its pre-steroid status.  I refocus myself several times a day on the structure of the treatment process and try not to zero in on the temporary blemishes (weight gain, bald head, dark under-eye circles, strange rashes, etc, etc).  Talk with your oncologist and oncology nutritionist for positive and healthy strategies to get you through the chemo phase weight fluctuations.  Best thoughts!    

I have had 3 TCH-due for #4 on Friday. I was 20lbs too heavy to start with and I also thought-well at least I will get skinny!! So not true!! I am eating the cleanest diet of my life-have dropped cola and sweets (my main food groups before) and processed foods. My weight has went up and down by almost 15lbs between treatments but it always drops down to my pre chemo weight. The biggest problem is something has shifted and my clothes no longer fit right. Onc and NP say they don't want to hear about losing weight. If I continue to eat well the weight will drop off after treatemtn is done.

So-do the chemo-eat well and exercise and worry about the weight later. By the way-I have had very few SEs from the TCH. Hope you do the same

I am heading into TCH #6 and have gained about 8 lbs. The onc also put me on Lasix as needed for fluid retention. The interesting thing about all this is my Lipid panel has changed. The bad cholesteral is way down and the good cholesteral is way up. I had it checked right before chemo started and again last week. Thyroid function is all messed up though. Swinging from hypo to hyper    

I had 6 rounds of TCH. I just had my 12th herceptin. I've been on Anastrozole since March 1st. Went into chemo-pause. I was 49 when I did chemo (turned 50 2 weeks after I ended).

Yes I put on 8lbs not including the 5-8lbs of fluid. I'm now 4 months since last chemo. I need to lose at least 5 more pounds but my exercise level is not yet up to were it was before chemo. (Just getting over shingles so just started again).

Bottom line is I'm pretty much the same weight and size I was if I weren't exercising. My thighs/legs are a little bigger but I know that's water retention. I'm convinced it's from the Herceptin. I bet that will go away once I'm off it.

And I didn't have DIEP. I didn't even have enough tummy fat for 1 B cup breast before surgery. So maybe I don't have tummy issues.

If you eat the same you probably won't gain too much. Part of the reason why you gain is less activity. After my 4th chemo I just couldn't keep exercising like I was before. I started to get stiff after the 4th and it only increased with 5 & 6.

I put on 22lbs during chemo... I had 4 AC 4 Taxotere... I am finally getting into cloths. It is the crazy steroids they give. I am TN so I did not get any other medication.

I have maintained my weight-which was 20lbs too heavy anyway-gained from Sept thru Feb. I eat less than 1/4 of what I did before I started chemo. No soda or sugar-very few processed foods. Because I cook for my parents I spent all winter trying to fatten them up-it worked out way too well for me.

I worked an extremely physical job-I am off work right now. I am walking at least 2-3 miles a day but certainly not at the pace I was before. I cut an acre of grass with a push mower (now need to stop at least twice for breaks). Extensive garenening also. I have been hugely disappointed to not have lost at least a little. Onc and NP don't want to hear anything about it. They keep saying if I continue to eat clean it will come off after i am done. Not gaining is the same as losing they say-it isn't their fat ass trying to fit in last summers clothes either!!

I will say I am not miss puritan-the only reason I gave up soda is because it tastes like the worst medicicne I have ever taken. I swear when someone pops the top on a soda can saliva runs into my mouth!! I miss Coke so bad I still get the shakes every morning at 5am when i would be having my first one of the day!! Just giving up the Cokes alone  should have given me -10lbs.

Ladies, I must say that I didn't have to do have chemo but, I did have the herceptin treatment with 6 weeks of radiation. Before I started any treatment I weighed between 183 to 186 lbs. Now I am weighing 206lbs and I am trying everything. I had a small tummy, not flat but small before I started any treatment and now I have a stomach. When I first started gaining weigh I question the doctor but, she claim that I may only gain 5 to 10lbs at the most. So not true; after my treatment and my breast had heeled pretty good I did Crossfit for about 2 1/2 months kept gaining then I went to insanity but I had to leave that a long to something less strenuously like P90X. Have I lost weight no. I've always had a nutritional diet before treatment but I have now stopped eating meat and have not eaten meat for a month and I still don't see any results. I have to keep exercising to maintain my health and the weight I have gained because I don't want to be any heavier than I am. I really believe it's the herceptin because all of us have had the treatment and not all of us have had chemo. I personally know other women who have had the treatment and has gain a lot of weight as well. I feel weight gain need to be added as a side effect. I asked if it caused weight gain because I had worked hard to lose weight and at first I was told no then when I started gaining my doc said maybe 5 to 10lbs. I am no happy but, I guess it's a treatment that is needed. God please help these researchers and doctors

find a true cure that want cause any other harm to the body in Jesus name, Amen

I actually lost weight - about 8 pounds - during chemo, but, as it turns out, I also was harboring a colon tumor that we discovered a month after my last TCH.  I finished Herceptin last August, and by Christmas, I'd gained back those 8 pounds, plus 10 more.   I started doing my own version of Weight Watchers in January, and have dropped 4 of the extra pounds.  Before cancer, I didn't have a lot of trouble losing weight when I needed to, but now, it's really tough!

I am sooo depressed I have gained 35 lbs since radiation over and went on with herceptin & now tamox I did not need this I am a gal that was already way over weight and I am just only 5 feet tall so it looks even worse. Now I feel I can't do this I am to weak and tired to exercise all the time now I need to loose 75lbs YES 75lbs that would bring me down to 135lbs it's sooo hard I don't even know where to begin the only time I am able to loose weight is NOT EAT AT ALL i have done this in my past and lost 35lbs with in 3mo But it makes you feel weaker and sick so I don't know what to do. Thanks for letting me vent.

During my active phase, the weight came on slowly...i Had 8 treatments ..1 every 3 weeks. I was off work and had an excellent appetite as had decadron for a week each time due to nausea and weakness. When the weight started I decided to not worry til the end of treatment, I figured extar weight was good if I got sick...and frankly did not want to deprive myself...lol. I walked daily til round 6..then got more limited as i was feeling ill a lot of the tme and had 2 hospitalizations for febrile neutropenia. I was in chemopause as well.

After my rads, I stopped feeling sick, became stronger...so upped my exercise...I walked, joined a dragon boat team which paddled 2-3 times/ week...I stopped any extra treats...deserts, chocolate,alcohol until my weight returned to normal. My periods returned. It took 6 months I think to get back to normal.

I recently went through menopuase and my weight has shifted up a bit...but that is another story...lol.