Femara and weight loss

Hi Mich

I have been on tamoxifen for 14 months and it too has a bit of a reputation for making weight loss difficult. However I slowly lost a total of 9kg during the first few months after finishing chemo (put on 3kg during chemo) and have maintained that for over 6 months now.

I believe it helped me to research about hormone therapy, weight gain and recurrence of BC. Research has shown that it is the side effects of hormone therapy rather than the actual drug itself that can make weight loss difficult. For example fatigue and aches and pains can make it harder for people to exercise. Fatigue and chemo brain can make it hard to plan, shop for and cook healthy food. So it helped me to not think that taking hormone therapy was automatically going to mean weight gain or no weight loss. I just knew that it might mean I would need help (saw a physio for advice on exercise, researched lots about healthy eating) and need to be really motivated.

Threat of recurrence was my motivator. I know that my chance of recurrence is already higher than I would like due to extensive spread into lymph nodes at time of diagnosis. I read that research has shown that exercise and maintaining a healthy weight (my BMI is now 22 instead of 25.8 at time of diagnosis) definitely reduces your chance of recurrence.

I made simple changes to my eating, slowly, one thing at a time. I think about food differently now. I really only eat food that I like and that I know is nutritionally good. I just have to think about having to go through diagnosis and chemo again (or a secondary diagnosis) and suddenly chocolate cake or caramel cheesecake  ( I had a very big sweet tooth!) is no longer on my wish list! I eat smaller meals, rarely eat between meals and don't eat unless I am actually hungry. I used to eat when I got tired, now I exercise instead.

I exercise every day (brisk walk morning and evening, 5km in total, swim, pilates) and find this helps to lessen the side effects of hormone therapy as an added bonus!

So basically I eat less and move more since diagnosis. I think that treatment such as chemo and hormone therapy makes losing weight harder (because of fatigue and pain) but motivate myself using that threat of recurrence. Keeping a food and exercise diary can really help. Getting professional help from a physio experienced with recovery from BC really helped me to get moving. It is tough but I found a lot of support on this network. The Healthy Eating booklet and the Exercise booklet that BCNA have produced are great sources of good info too. Hope this helps. Good luck with it. Deanne xxx

Just remembered that a lovely lady on here posted about her frustration with trying to lose weight and everyone (even her doctors) just kept telling her to eat less and exercise more. Turns out that her weight gain, tiredness and thinning hair were not just side effects of treatment but she actually had an under active thyroid. If you think that you should be losing weight but it just is not happening, it might be worth getting your thyroid function tested. We tend to blame BC and treatment for everything but sometimes it is another seperate issue altogether. Deanne xxx

Just remembered that a lovely lady on here posted about her frustration with trying to lose weight and everyone (even her doctors) just kept telling her to eat less and exercise more. Turns out that her weight gain, tiredness and thinning hair were not just side effects of treatment but she actually had an under active thyroid. If you think that you should be losing weight but it just is not happening, it might be worth getting your thyroid function tested. We tend to blame BC and treatment for everything but sometimes it is another seperate issue altogether. Deanne xxx

Fanx huny appreciate that and look forward to your update

Mich xoxoxo

Thanx Deanne

Luvly to hear from you huny,

I have lost 9 or 10 kilos but I have been sick with gallstones, removal of gallstone and then pneumonia so that helped to take the weight off.

While I was very ill with the massive gallstone etc I went off Femara.  I have since gone back on it.

My weight has so far...........stayed the same but I am looking for answers of how to keep it off and keep losing while I am back on the Femara.

I am very interested to see if people are able to lose weight while on Femara.

I lost the weight but not in a nice way so now want to continue losing or at least keep off what I have lost.

I have quit sugar for a while now and do exercise when my poor body allows me to which is no where near as much as I would like.  As usual I am thinking ahead and planning for the worst which I hope to god doesnt happen and I dont want to continue being sick to have to lose weight LOL.

I hope you are doing well.  We havent chatted for a while.

Luv always, Mich xoxoxoox

So sorry to hear that you have been so unwell, Mich. That is definitely not a good way to lose weight but I can understand you wanting to keep it off and try and lose some more through healthier means.

It is very hard to lose weight after everything (and you have had so much on top of BC) and I found that it was much slower going than before BC pushed me into menopause. The fact is menopause causes us to lose muscle and this means that our metabolism slows down making it so much harder to lose weight. I find I need to exercise much more to build or at least keep some muscle and help keep that metabolism going along. I really struggled at first and had to start little, just walking for 10 mins at a time. Seeing the exercise physio for a couple of months really helped to get me going in the right direction with exercise that my body could manage.

I know that if I stay in menopause (which looks very likely) that I will probably be put onto one of the aromatose drugs in a year or so. Hope that I can continue to exercise and keep myself well if that happens. Hope that you can recover from everything and start to feel better soon. :) Deanne xxx

I am hoping you and I have a better year after a difficult 2014.(make that 2013 as well!) It is harder to lose weight on these anti hormone drugs but it can be done- as Deanne has managed. We need to identify what our "road blocks"are then work out how to get around them. For me it's my sweet tooth,my dodgy ankle(which excludes a lot of activities) and my husband!! When I stick to the 5:2 diet,it really works.I was able to lose a few kilos and then I blew it over Xmas.My husband is just not onboard with eating a healthy diet and gets grumpy about salads and fruit.He NEVER puts on weight and is slim and fit.I don't stress now- just put chips with his grilled chicken and salad with mine. 9kilos was a lot to lose - shame it was done by being sick.I sure hope you have better health this year.Take care,relax and enjoy life - you looked great in your holiday Facebook pics! Love n big hug,Tonya xx

It is really hard work losing weight after treatment.  Deanne is right and well researched as usual - muscle loss is a big factor - which I have really noticed after hysterectomy and menopause.  Nowadays it's a 5km brisk walk in the mornings, and another 3kms on the treadmill in the afternoons - with swimming in between when possible and stretches before bed.  After the first 3 weeks it becomes a habit, and the results are worth it long term according to recurrence statistics.  Big motivator.

Like Tonya, my husband and I have been doing the 5:2 diet which we found really easy to stick to, and we tended to eat less on non-fast days as well. So far after 5 fast days, we have both lost 2.5 kgs.  It really works. (Deanne's 9kg is fabulous!).  Even one day a week might help you maintain your loss Mich.

I hope you have a much better 2015 Mich & Tonya - you deserve it!  And keep up your positive input Deanne - I love reading it!  Hoping 2015 is a happy and all-clear year for us all.

Michelle xxx

 

I have been away so just catching up on things. Sorry to hear you have been unwell. I often think of you and your "alien" as you call it. I am triple negative and so no Femera or tamoxifen for me. However I have struggled with the weight gain from chemo induced menopause. I also have many aches and pains in my joints. I try and just suck it up as they say (hard at times) and make sure I walk as much and as often as I can. My lovely husband bought me a "Fitbit" for Christmas and so it really helps motivate me to do 10000 steps every day. It also measures what would be equivalent to climbing flights of stairs so I go looking for hills to walk up. I also try the no sugar, no processed food and am right into vegie juicing. Unfortunately just old fashioned eat less move more. Wish there was a quick fix!!! Hugs to you. Paula :)

I have been away so just catching up on things. Sorry to hear you have been unwell. I often think of you and your "alien" as you call it. I am triple negative and so no Femera or tamoxifen for me. However I have struggled with the weight gain from chemo induced menopause. I also have many aches and pains in my joints. I try and just suck it up as they say (hard at times) and make sure I walk as much and as often as I can. My lovely husband bought me a "Fitbit" for Christmas and so it really helps motivate me to do 10000 steps every day. It also measures what would be equivalent to climbing flights of stairs so I go looking for hills to walk up. I also try the no sugar, no processed food and am right into vegie juicing. Unfortunately just old fashioned eat less move more. Wish there was a quick fix!!! Hugs to you. Paula :)