Not gaining weight on letrozole

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jen1
jen1 Member Posts: 110
edited July 2014 in Hormonal Therapy - Before, During, and After

Please forgive me I am new to discussion boards. I am on letrozle. It has been only 2 weeks. I am so afraid of gaining weight. I have struggled with weight all my life. Has any one managed their weight  well on this medication. I am willing to do what it takes to keep the weight off.

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  • Moderators
    Moderators Member Posts: 25,912
    edited July 2014

    jen1, Welcome to the BCO community. We are sorry that your diagnosis and subsequent concerns have brought you here but know that you have joined a caring and informed group who can provide great information and support. Noticing that you have not had a response yet and wondering if you have checked out this topic Femara in the Hormone Therapy Forum. It has been pretty active and you may consider deleting this post and posting there. Just a suggestion. Let us know how we can help. The Mods

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  • MsPharoah
    MsPharoah Member Posts: 1,034
    edited July 2014

    hi Jen 1,  It is always smart to manage your weight and bmi, but even more so if you are a bc patient and on aromatase inhibitors.  I have been on femara for about a year and have lost about 20 pounds through an exercise and food logging program where I kept my intake at about 500 few calories from the calories I burn.  There are lots of programs, but I like fitbit a lot.   Not expensive and a lot of on line tools to help you manage food logging, etc.  what I noticed though is that you will lose weight more slowly than the average person when you are taking this medication.  And once you get to the weight you like, you will probably still need to keep your intake lower than the calories you burn.  There is a lot of research indicating that women who maintain healthy weight have a lower recurrence.  Having gone through a year of grueling treatment, I am just so determined to do anything I can to better my chances.  

    I also use the walk at home series of workouts...free on you tube.  These workouts are low impact and you can start slow and work your way up.  This type of exercise really helps with the joint stiffness too.  Make sure that you put yourself first.  Finding time to work out can be difficult with all of life's demands.  My family knows my schedule and respects it...even when they have to wait for dinner.  Lol.  Just think....me first, me first, me first.  This is your time.  Good luck, hon. 

    MsP

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  • Lee7
    Lee7 Member Posts: 657
    edited July 2014

    Jen1,

    I stay active and try to eat well and so far I've not gained any extra weight taking letrozole.  Like MsP said, research points to maintaining a healthy weight can lower reoccurrence so it's worth the effort!  

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  • jen1
    jen1 Member Posts: 110
    edited July 2014

    Thank you so much MsP,

    I was getting so discouraged reading on diiferent sites about the tremendous weight gain some people were having.  I know that this medication  will help lower the risk of reoccurence but I am not willing to pay the high a price for tremendous weight gain because that is not good also. I am willing to do all the things I need to do to monitor my weight so I can continue to take this medication.  Thank you for the encouragement.  Lee 7  thank you to for your kind response as well as the moderators. This is the first time I have ever joined a discussion board so please be patient with me LOL. This site has been so helpful when I was doing chemo and radiation. I just finished all active treatment (radiation)july 2 . Thank you all for your support.

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  • vlnrph
    vlnrph Member Posts: 1,632
    edited July 2014

    My weight has been stable the past 4 months (which included 2 weeks of eating out while on vacation!) but I could afford to lose a few pounds. The fresh fruit & veggies available now are great and I do water exercise three times a week which also helps my swollen lymphedema arm. Hang in there - you can do it.

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  • MsPharoah
    MsPharoah Member Posts: 1,034
    edited July 2014

    Hi Jen, you are welcome!  Everyone responds to treatment differently so don't expect that you will automatically gain weight...and if you do, take charge of that situation.  I have found that I have to work harder to stay at my ideal weight.  It sounds like you have the determination to go the extra mile and that's good.    There are a lot of threads on this board related to other women who are supporting each other in their fitness quest.  Introduce yourself and let them help you along.    Aromatase Inhibitors can also cause muscle and joint aches and pains. So increasing your activity will help with that as well as managing your weight. 

     My daughter and I work together on our fitness program.  We tell each other that we are "the motivated" and "the motivators".  We are both doing well and just recently celebrated getting to our weight goals with a nice shopping trip.   

    Good luck, hon!!!  MsP

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  • Kicks
    Kicks Member Posts: 4,131
    edited July 2014

    I've been on Femara/letrozole for 4 1/2 yrs and have not gained (or lost) any weight overall.  Slight differences (5lbs) do happen throughout the year because winters are brutal here and I can't get out and do as much then as during summer.  Summer I'm outside a lot doing all sort of stuff but winter I have to go to the Base Gym.  Actually, the exact number that the scale says I weigh does not mean anything to me - my overall fitness is what matters most, also keeping clothes fitting the same.  To me, that seems like a good way to measure staying the same - if clothes fit the same then no changes to worry about.

    I worry more about loosing weight.   During chemo, I totally lost my appetite (no nausea or other issues with eatting except that I never thought about eatting or got hungery) so Hubby had to call me several times a day to remind me to eat something.  After chemo, appetite did come back a lot but there are still times when I have to be reminded to eat.  Unfortunately, Mom was aneorxic (sp?) so I know what starving the body does to every part of it and what it does to loved ones.  Hubby saw what it did to her (Daddy and I, himself  too) in her last 5 yrs and is petrified that with the effects chemo had on me that I might slip into that 'place' - I guess, to a degree, I am too.

    I have heard that some YMCAs have free fitness programs for BC survivors.  I've never checked at the one here as I really do not like 'exercise classes' and it's a lot closer to just go out to the Base Gym which is huge and has all sorts of equiptment (indoor track and lap pool too).



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