Eureka!!I have found the answer to "Arimidex Belly

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JoanofArdmore
JoanofArdmore Member Posts: 1,012
edited June 2014 in Life After Breast Cancer
The "Arimidex belly? The one doctors tell us doesnt exist?
The one doctors say we should eat less and exercize more?The one that comes for no reason, other than taking hormone therapy?
So I was just eating my enormous salad and reading my AARP Magazine.And Dr Pamela Peeke let the cat out of the bag!
I can only paraphrase, but she said that until middle age, our estrogen and testosterone,( if we're men,) keep our body fat ratio very even.But around midlife, WITH THE WANING OF THESE HORMONES,much arm and leg fat moves to the belly, where it turns to visceral fat.This continues every year, as our homones continue to wane.
Voila.!!!

Imagine what happens when they put young women into surgical and/or chemical menopause, and THEN give a drug which removes SUPPLIMENTAL estrogen??
Hells bells.Wouldnt it be SO decent if they explained this to us??

Pamela's cure for the belly:No emotional eating, and since about 40 we should eat 100 calories less each year.How nice & gradual.
And someone like me?25 years X 100 calories--I should cut 2,500 calories??Come on Pamela!I dont even EAT that many calories.

Sign me Bitter and Angry

This is important.I'm gonna cross-post it into Moving Away

Comments

  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited July 2007
    Yep, some women "grow" bellies and their legs get thinner. LOL Somethings go north and somethings go south.
  • MargaretB
    MargaretB Member Posts: 1,305
    edited July 2007
    Great, there's no hope for me. I should do what a girlfriend of mine does - she wears her thong underwear and Spanx - swears by them so I guess I'll have to get some.

    Margaret
  • JoanofArdmore
    JoanofArdmore Member Posts: 1,012
    edited July 2007
    "I should do what a girlfriend of mine does - she wears her thong underwear and Spanx "

    Spanx who? Pamela Peeke?

    Shirley, I hate the potato on a stick look.So far my fat is still well-distributed, but WITH this belly.
  • Naniam
    Naniam Member Posts: 1,766
    edited July 2007
    Well, I lost my estrogen, have taken chemo and my stomach and waistline just seems to keep growing!!!!!!!!!! This is such fun - NOT. I bet I changed tops and pants three times yesterday to try to find SOMETHING that I felt I didn't looked as if I had been stuffed into them.

    Are you gals sure Vitamins/supplements don't make you gain weight??? I'm beginning to think that they do.

    Joan, according to that article - no estrogen - big belly. Worked for me!!! My initials are BB - that doesn't stand for "big boobs" for sure.
  • nosurrender
    nosurrender Member Posts: 2,019
    edited July 2007
    Joan, a nutritionist once told me that eating a lot of salads make you look bloated. Something about how they are digested. She recommended taking a couple of GasX tabs to counteract it.
    Not sure if the Gas x works, but my tummy is a lot flatter when I eat Ben and Jerry's than when I eat arugala
  • JoanofArdmore
    JoanofArdmore Member Posts: 1,012
    edited July 2007
    "Not sure if the Gas x works, but my tummy is a lot flatter when I eat Ben and Jerry's than when I eat arugala "

    Not mine!I'm lactose intolerant!
    I've not eaten ice cream in years! When I think of it....bleah!

    But then, LOOKING bloated isnt my problem!
    When you've been on AI a while, you'll understand!

    (And now that I've read why it's happening, I'll definately go on with the arugela.Calories!!)
  • Fitztwins
    Fitztwins Member Posts: 7,969
    edited July 2007
    I have come to the conclusion that thin people don't eat or drink. That is it. Seriously.

    Janis,
    on Femara, thicker than ever!
  • Primel
    Primel Member Posts: 731
    edited July 2007
    Joan, Namian (BB), Gina... you are all so funny... thank you for your humor... what would we do without it?
    I am on Tamoxifen (2 months only now), and I feel more hungry than ever... definitely need gaz-x (I take it when I remember) since it is salad+fruit season... I am really struggling for not gaining weight (3 miles walks + 7.6 miles of biking every day, or at least 6 out of 7)... makes me even more hungry (I start with plain low fat kefir or yogurt before thinking of food... hoping it will curb my appetite while bringing me calcium and fiber...)
    Take care dear ladies...
    CatherineH
  • JoanofArdmore
    JoanofArdmore Member Posts: 1,012
    edited July 2007
    Hi Catherine!
    We might as well laugh, huh?
    You're my girl!I'm a kefir-lover too!
    Salad doesnt actually give me gas.It's the couple of raw garlic cloves I mince into the dressing, (Which is about a cup of Trader Joe's fat-free Greek yogurt, and then a drizzle of olive oil over top the huge salad).Anyway raw garlic does give me gas AND um..flatulence
    But it is what my body craves right now, so I'm having it.
    Last night's salad had 3 cloves of garlic, 2 scallions, and a large amount of raw Cilantro , cut into it.And 2 nice beefsteak tomatoes.
    My body was VERY happy!

    I know pretty soon someone wise will come along and tell me that women on Femara shouldnt eat garlic.It inhibits absorbtion.
    But my body gets anything it craves (w/in reason!)."After what it's been through".So maybe it doesnt want to absorb so much Femara.I dont blame it.
    Oh. my nerves!

    Anyway, do you know Tamox just blocks the estrogen receptors in the breasts? You should be just fine!You're not having estrogen removed, just ..moved around a little!

    See ya, Cultured Milk Buddy!
  • JoanofArdmore
    JoanofArdmore Member Posts: 1,012
    edited July 2007
    Hi Brenda!!!
    Hey, the function that puts you at the latest post isnt working here!If Catherine hadnt mentioned you, I'd not know you were here!
    Yes, Honey.When I got menopausal, I started growing this belly.
    But...imagine it now!They have removed my SUPPLIMENTAL estrogen!Yikes!Can you say "Santa Claus?
    And now Pamela tells me this! You young women will know what to do now!Cutting 100 calories is so easy!Me, I've gotta cut 2,500?Twenty-five yearsworth of cutting 100 calories a year?I dont see THAT happening any time soon.
    My rant has always been "When I become too old & weak to lift a fork to my lips, I will eat less."

    And in answer, vitamins = no calories, but oils?(fish oil, etc) THEY have calories!Read the lables!
    Still--we need them.What are you going to do?

    Happy to see you, Bren.
    j
  • JoanofArdmore
    JoanofArdmore Member Posts: 1,012
    edited July 2007
    Janice:QUOTE"I have come to the conclusion that thin people don't eat or drink. That is it. Seriously."

    They DO! They GORGE! I have had not one but TWO tall, skinny husbands.They ate MUCH more than (normal) people!
    This is a reason I had to get rid of the second!I was in my 50s, starting my paunch.He was devouring bowls of pasta, I was nibbling on dry lettuce & getting more paunchy.
    How long could you stand THAT?

    My only joy is that my daughter brought me some pix of her dad, my first husband.Haha!!His face has broadened, and he has a QUITE large belly.Finally!! (He is ONLY 70!)
    That man lives on bacon, and Wise potato chips.
  • sherloc
    sherloc Member Posts: 1,047
    edited July 2007

    as a skinny person WITH a tamoxifen belly I can testify that we do eat.

  • Cyndie
    Cyndie Member Posts: 7
    edited August 2007
    O.K. Don't want to piss you all off, but I've found that with Arimidex, I have lost cravings. I think it's because of the loss of estrogen. Wouldn't that make sense? Men don't usually have craving like women do, right?

    Maybe I'm turning into a man. OMG!! I am drinking more than ever, and growing lovey chin hairs. Geez, next I'll be peeing standing up.

    I still have my big belly, but I think it's more from genetics, 3 babies and numerous abdominal surgeries. Maybe it's my new manbeergut.

    Help!!!
  • Anonymous
    Anonymous Member Posts: 1,376
    edited August 2007

    Well I bought some water pills today and am going to try that well touted Hoodia. I am too afraid to try the Alli pill .... can't afford the embarrassment of an accident at work!!!!

  • JoanofArdmore
    JoanofArdmore Member Posts: 1,012
    edited August 2007
    Oh those oil slick accident pills are SO disgusting!
    I dont blame you at all!
    Good luck!
  • abbadoodles
    abbadoodles Member Posts: 2,618
    edited August 2007
    Quote:


    "Maybe I'm turning into a man. OMG!! I am drinking more than ever, and growing lovey chin hairs. Geez, next I'll be peeing standing up."

    Cyndie,

    Well, just don't forget to put the seat down.

    Actually, I am looking at my poochy belly in discouragement, but I do believe I just need to lose about 10 pounds. It's true that fat settles differently as we age, but the real issue is getting rid of the fat so it can't settle!

    So, I am being pretty good about my eating habits and have lost about three pounds recently. Last night I had a relapse, however, and ate butter-dipped lobster for dinner along with half a bottle of sauvignon blanc. What a bad girl, but how happy I was at the time.

    Tina
  • GreenHeron
    GreenHeron Member Posts: 85
    edited August 2007
    ROCKTOBERMOM-

    I saw your avitar photo and laughed out loud!!!!!
    I LOVE it!

    Flashdif
  • Mary-Lou
    Mary-Lou Member Posts: 2,230
    edited August 2007
    I was having a time being hungry all the time. I had gained to my all time high Grrrrr

    I started to just eat core foods. No sugars, or white rice, bread etc. And I have not been out of control hungry at all.

    I also have lost 12 pounds in the last 2 weeks. I'm sure if I don't give into the starch and sugar I will lose.

    I have been on Weight Watchers program core plan, so that is what I'm doing. No empty food cal.

    I eat brown rice, wheat pasta, and fruits and veggies. Nut's are great too!

    I just can't keep living like this. I had to regroup, and see that if I keep doing what I was doing, I was always going to get what I was getting.

    And that was getting "FATTER"! Grrrrrrr

    And on top of that I'm short, so there you go. Looking like a compact car....:)
  • GreenHeron
    GreenHeron Member Posts: 85
    edited August 2007

    congratulations!

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