Chemo weight gain

Its just the steroids giving you a fat face and probably because you aren't out and about as much you've become a little pale. I take vitamin D3 and I drink a fair bit of water. During chemo I used to drink 3 litres a day. I lost weight during chemo from not eating much, then it went back on when I could eat, and now its come off back to chemo weight so I don't know, I just gotta be different lol.

I'm 52 now...but was youthful and spritely...but oh gosh the whole surgery, treatment was hard. The lack of sleep (fretting and worrying and discomfort) made me feel tired all day and just exhausted (not to mention chemo side effects)  But here I am 8 months following chemo...4 weeks since my final changeover surgery after reconstruction, and I might not be quite at full steam but I certainly feel youthful again. And you will too. It's your bodies way of saying, stop, take a breathe, rest and heal. It gets better, eventually. You can do this. Kath x

Molly, my first diagnosis I was 43 then I had a recurrence at 47, I did rads first time but 2nd time was chemo and that seems to be the clincher. Its harrowing, Ive had an awful lot of side effects since it, but Im working on everything currently and determined. I find I love popping on my makeup before I go out, it helps me feel a little the way I used to. I know it sounds stupid, but when home and dagging around no makeup, it really shows what its done. I agree of course we are grateful I guess, my Cancer was gone after lumpectomy, no node involvement, full body scans nothing. We made decisions based on their expertise, I did everything I could and should, but it doesnt make it any easier to be thankful or put on a happy face when you are the one left to pick up the pieces from the aftermath? they don't...so be kind to you, its so key..and find little way to nurture you that make you feel important and feminine :) It will get better promise xx Melinda

Oh, it's comforting to know I'm not alone. I worry a lot about how taxing cancer treatments are on the body. Before cancer I felt a young, fit, spritely 39yo mum. Now I feel old and unhealthy and I've still got rads & hormone to go after chemo. I feel guilty complaining cos it's far better than having cancer, but never having had cancer would be even better.

Molly, I HEAR YOU!!!! Its exactly how I felt through Chemo...it was beyond SHIT!!! Im now 16 months post, whilst my hair Im grateful has grown back and nicely. I dont recognise myself anymore, it aged me like I would never have imagined, OMG I looked still quite youthful prior to treatment it seemed to really happen once I finished. Weight?? GRRRRR I put on 5kg and it NEVER came off no matter what I tried and it really has added to the whole thing of not feeling like you anymore at all. Im 9 weeks post surgery now and back exercising but chemo nearly killed me so its been a long road back, I want my slim petite figure back too!!!! so Im working on it, but its not listening!! So rant away LOL its good for the soul!!! it will get better though...give it some time and just remember in spite of what you see in that mirror make sure you love you that little bit more each night as you go to sleep and remind yourself what an absolutely awesome job you are doing!! Hugs Melinda xo

I gained 23kg between diagnosis,  surgery and end of chemo. I was able to lose it steadily after a month recovery and have since lost all of the amount I put on. Still need a few more but just settlibg presently. So I'm  through menopause and on hormobe blockers so it can be done. 

Now your original weight was a little under a healthy bmi so yes...it would be an adjustment. 

You can definitely lose it once treatment has completed. I stopped weighing in as it stressed me out so much. The chemo nurses just recorded the weight for me and we didn't discuss it. Kath x

Thanks ladies. Always good for a laugh... the best medicine! @InkPetal yes, the apetite can seem utterly insatiable at times, scarfing down ridiculous amounts of food to feel better. @Zoffiel plastic bags full of scrambled eggs, hilarious, perfect description! I know theres not much to do about it til after treatment. Just coming to realise that 'normal' might be very different to life pre cancer.

I'm hearing you!
i gained 8kg during chemo which put me well into the overweight category. 2 kg fell off straight away (probably fluid retention from the steroids) but my rad oncologist was adamant that I not TRY to lose weight during my radiation treatment. 
Her concern was that the scans they do at the beginning of rads locate the area to be treated within 1mm and losing weight would change that. She insisted that I maintain a healthy diet and concentrate on staying as active as possible. She said she didn't want to be damaging healthy tissue and missing the target zone!
I had read horror stories on weight gain on Tamoxifen so the minute I finished radiation I really focused on my weight. I was able to lose the extra quite easily and was back at my pre diagnosis weight within 2 months.  
I was able to maintain that during the 18 months I was on Tamoxifen but when I switched to Arimidex the joint pain brought my exercise to a stop and I gained weight again. I started working with an exercise physiologist and a personal trainer which has been great and I'm now slowly getting back to where I want to be. I'm finding it much harder and slower to lose weight while on Arimidex.
i really hate the weight gain. Losing hair was almost a badge of honour - my eyelashes and eyebrows not so much. The mouth ulcers and skin rashes were annoying. Feeling crap for so long was horrible but the weight gain was just the last straw. Especially when everything I heard and read said how important maintaining a healthy weight was!!!
Anyway my long rambling story was mainly to give you some encouragement. Most of us put on weight during treatment but it is possible to lose it. Eat as well as you can and try to exercise during your treatment. When the active treatment is finished then concentrate on getting your weight back to where you want it.  
Good luck. 

After 3 months of icecream, rice cakes and cream cheese, I'm hearing you. Steroids don't make it easy either.

I'm far from petite and the 4 kgs I put on are stubbornly stuck to my arse. My thighs look like plastic shopping bags filled with scrambled eggs. It's insulting, and I sometimes think it is against the laws of physics--how can I have put on a kg overnight? It's not possible unless I got in the car, drove into town and gorged on Macca's. In my sleep!

Blame the steroids for the moon face and the back muffin. Worry about unpacking the rest when you finish chemo, you will be able to sort it out later if you are motivated to do it.

I feel you, ugh. Rant away! Rolls... in my back!?!? Well that's new. *Yelling from the bathroom* "Babe, the mirror is broken, this one has some bald chick with no neck in it who keeps staring at me." :lol: EEEESH.

Yeah, it was described to me as "if you lose 2kg of yourself you lose 2kg of fighting power" because the dose becomes too strong for your body. I don't know how accurately that translated over to me, but that was my understanding. I'm 5'4 and when I was 49kg friends would describe me as "skeletal" and it's barely within the healthy weight range, so I do understand where their concern with your treatment comes from. It's your normal, but it's their danger zone. 

Some days during chemo the goal was just "eat any food you smell that doesn't make the room spin," and that thing would end up being a health nightmare. But you've got to eat to heal.
Waiter: Miss, I think you've had enough
Me: But this is the only thing my chemo isn't making taste like butt-hole risotto 
Waiter: But you've had 7 slices of Madeira cake ma'am, perhaps you would like to try the stea-
Me: I SAID FETCH ME MADEIRA CAKE, FOOD SERVANT.
...Yeah, this never happened but you get my feels.

On the note of dealing with it all; I think that having to sort out weight issues is recovering Molly's focus. You have so much more going on right now. I'd say eat the burgers, get the nutrients, be kind to yourself in front of the mirror, come out the other side of treatment, and then if it still bothers you get to doing things about it. Yeah? xo