Premenopause peak fitness and weight loss on tamoxifen

I am in the same situation.  I had to retire my bikini last year.  I have always worn a bikini - even the year after my son was born.  I have never had belly fat until tamoxifen.   I exercise a lot and am a fitness instructor.  I have gained 25 lbs in the past few years.  This is what I weighed when I was really pregnant with my son!  I have never had this issue.  I am completely frustrated.  I eat healthy too.  I guess this is the new normal...........it sucks to have this happen after everything else we have been through. 

This is TOUGH!!!! And many really invalidate athletes' feelings in this regard.  Like - be grateful you're alive and so on.... And I am grateful to be alive, but I'm also an athlete and LOVE being an athlete.  

Anyway - not on tamoxifen - there's a mountain bike racer who was:

http://athletefightscancer.blogspot.com

She's pretty darn cool. Unfortunately, she had a recurrence on tamoxifen... and now she's had the ooph and she's taking a different drug...  But still - she's a total bad ass. I put the link to her blog up there.

So - on to thoughts. 

There's no doubt in my mind that this drug - and several others - are obesogens.  That is, they are molecules that interfere with the endocrine system, and they play a role in weight gain / loss etc...  Now, do I know the mechanism? Do the drugs make people more hungry? Have a slower metabolism? Do they change the way cells differentiate? How much fat is stored in a cell?  I don't know the answers... but there are several different mechanisms by which various chemicals (and drugs are chemicals) can act as obesogens.  I have some background in this area through a class that I teach at my university....

I do know that some people seem to really struggle with this...  And weight is also a risk factor for risk of recurrence.

So, I guess that leads me to this - can you have a candid discussion with your care team. What is the drop in recurrence risk if you take the drug? If you lose the drug, lose the weight, and maintain your fitness?  From what I've read, it seems like it's a wash in terms of the drop in risk of recurrence.  That is to say, if a person can drop the weight and the drug, their risk of recurrence looks similar to keeping the weight and the drug.  Now - I'm not a medical expert... This is what I've HEARD and READ about.....  But, if it's correct, then a candid discussion with your health care team is definitely in order.  MAYBE - just maybe - you can get the benefit of the drop in risk of recurrence by doing what you already love to do?  If tamoxifen is keeping you from maintaining that healthy low-bmi weight... well, could you end up with practically the same risk of recurrence if you drop the weight and the drug?

OK - well - those are my thoughts. I know many people who have decided to take the drug - to not take the drug - it seems to me that THESE ARE TOUGH DECISIONS!!!!!

But maybe - just maybe - it's worth revisiting?

Good luck... 

Meganmm - My oncologist said the same thing! I was angry! I actually called him out ... "Do you think this is my first rodeo?!? I know how to maintain a healthy weight!" But funny enough, when I met with the cancer dietitian at the hospital she told me that it was absolutely the tamoxifen causing my problem. 

A related question - do any of you struggle with edema in your legs since treatment? I am the only one of my cancer peeps with the persistent issue. It's pitted edema and it is FIERCE in my shins. None of my doctors really have an understanding of why it's happening or how to get rid of it... Meh.