Weight Gain and Full Face

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Gingermiss65
Gingermiss65 Member Posts: 37
edited September 2018 in Managing Side Effects of Breast Cancer and Its Treatment

I am 2 years past all surgeries and 1 year past chemo and 6 months past Herceptin. I've heard the steroids you get with your chemo to prevent nausea causes fat to distribute in your abdomen and face..like cheeks and neck. My face is really full..fat looking and neck too...how do you get rid of this? I can exercise the abdomen...and I've never had fat there like this before..but my face...looks really full still..the cheeks..and my nose looks fuller... i actually think my nose looks bigger? Does this go away? Googling it says it should go away after you stop using steroids... assuming that is the cause? But it doesn't seem to be. So here I have short hair...with a fat neck and cheeks. I am almost wondering if I need plastic surgery to fix this..if that is even possible? What can I do about this?

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  • Jewel15
    Jewel15 Member Posts: 3
    edited August 2018

    Hi Ginger,

    I thought that I would reply to let you know that you’re not alone :)

    I noticed the same thing. Especially in photos of myself. So discouraging considering I have always been a slim person.

    I had 20 weeks of chemo starting in October 2015. Herceptin for a year. Surgery and radiation. On Tamoxifen now. Have had my ovaries out (yay, full on menopause at 42) and had a few surgeries related to reconstruction.

    I have noticed that I have slimmed back down over time. Not completely back to “normal” yet but I’m hoping to continue to lose this fullness. I went from 135 pounds to 166 pounds while on chemo! I didn’t even gain that amount during pregnancies! I’m currently 145 pounds.

    Someone who had been through treatment said that it took her at least 18months so I guess that we just have to be patient.

    Hang in there, exercise, eat well, and be kind to yourself.

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  • buttonsmachine
    buttonsmachine Member Posts: 930
    edited August 2018

    Has your MO checked your heart lately? Some of the swelling from heart damage can affect the large veins in your neck.

    Hope your heart is okay and you get better. I still had some leg swelling more than a year out from Taxotere, but it's improved now.

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  • Gingermiss65
    Gingermiss65 Member Posts: 37
    edited September 2018

    Well, it feels like I have lost weight. I have been exercising but the scale says differently. I was away for a month for a summer vacation and it was much more humid there. It seem to help the face swelling a bit. My face looks thinner. I had an appt for an echo a few months back, but there was a bit of a mix up and it didn't get done. I was thinking my heart rate may not be back to pre herceptin and this is causing the swelling? Meaning my heart is still sluggish? So I need to get back into my GP and get referred for that again. If my heart rate isnt back to pre herceptin at this point, I would say there would be damage? Because after all this time, it should be? I shouldn't jump the gun on that though, I was told it would be rare for heart damage.

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  • sbelizabeth
    sbelizabeth Member Posts: 2,889
    edited September 2018

    After chemo, surgery, and radiation, I noticed that my face felt full and puffy all the time. No other symptoms. I mentioned it to my onc, kind of in passing, and she knew immediately what was wrong. My thyroid had completely quit. The lab results were almost frightening. Once I got some thyroid on board, the puffy, full feeling was gone.

    Apparently chemo and rads can really do some damage to your thyroid. You might have yours checked, if you haven't already. SB

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  • Meow13
    Meow13 Member Posts: 4,859
    edited September 2018

    I had same problem taking exemestane perhaps you can take a non steroidal AI.

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  • Gingermiss65
    Gingermiss65 Member Posts: 37
    edited September 2018

    Sbelizabeth...I take natural thyroid pill. 60 mgs per day..first thing in the morning. I just had my blood work on it and it is normal. So it can't be that. I remember the oncologist saying near the end of my treatment, the treatments could have temporarily altered my metabolism? Whatever that means. I am getting exhausted and discouraged from trying so hard to get rid of the weight. I don't feel I can keep up with what I need to do to make a weight difference.

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