Come join others currently navigating treatment in our weekly Zoom Meetup! Register here: Tuesdays, 1pm ET.
Take our poll: Caregivers, what do you find most difficult about caregiving?
Weigh in: What are the best and worst gifts for people with breast cancer?

arimidex and belly fat

kerry32
kerry32 Member Posts: 21
edited June 2019 in Hormonal Therapy - Before, During, and After

Has anyone found that Arimidex (and maybe the other AI's too) increase the girth around the belly?  I have lost weight but still things are tight there and it almost seems bigger.....bloating?

Comments

  • Curlylocks
    Curlylocks Member Posts: 61
    edited August 2008

    Yes,

    Kerry I have been on Armidex for 2 1/2 years and full menopausal due to ooperectomy.  It's called the AI belly and its so frustrating.  I too have lost 17 pounds but even my mom made a comment that I looked great with the weight loss but my belly is bigger.....argh....

     Michele
  • gsg
    gsg Member Posts: 1,700
    edited August 2008

    I've got it too.  In the past, even if I gained weight, my stomach remained flat...not anymore.  I've been on Arimidex since December 2006 and I look pregnant. 

  • Isabella4
    Isabella4 Member Posts: 1,352
    edited September 2008

    Me too, on Arimidex for nearly 5 years and STILL haven't had that baby...it does look good to drop anyday now though.

    Seriously though, I must be carrying about 12 - 14lbs just hung on my belly area, its not a bloated belly its just plain fat. I never had this before bc.

    I have to buy pants a size too big to get my belly in, then take in the legs to make them look right !! Sometimes I am lucky and can manage to get some pants made by a German manufacturer, they advertise pants 'with an extra size in the waist ' I grab 2 or 3 pairs if I do see them.

     Does anyone know if this belly ever goes when Arimidex stops, or is it here forever ??

    Isabella. 

  • sungal
    sungal Member Posts: 1
    edited September 2008

    I've been on Arimidex for 2.5 years and I'm so tired of the wiggle jiggle that was never there before too.  

  • kerry32
    kerry32 Member Posts: 21
    edited September 2008

    Is this one of the known side effects?  What in the drug would cause you to have belly fat? 

  • AnneW
    AnneW Member Posts: 612
    edited September 2008

    I was bemoaning this to my GYN today. I can get 4-6 hours of heavy aerobics per week, cut my sugars and alcohol, tone my muscles through weight lifting and pilates each week, and I still have this midriff roll that I never ever had before my oopherectomy and AIs.

    Menopause sucks.

    Anne

  • dmk123
    dmk123 Member Posts: 5
    edited September 2008
    I thought I also got a fat belly while on Arimidex.  I finished my 5 years on Arimidex 5 months ago.  I still have a fat belly.  How long do the effect of Arimidex last?  Could it be a menopausal belly? Help!!
  • wishiwere
    wishiwere Member Posts: 934
    edited September 2008

    Wow....yet another SE to look forward to :(  I see many of you have been on it for some time.  Is this something that happened lately or later in tx, or did it come on when? I've not noticed, but then I've not had the weight gain (loss mostly) from all the chemo/Ai as yet.  Just wondering if this time next year, these new jeans I bought last night are going to be obsolute :(  Dd will love that, b/c I'm fitting in her size now so she'll just take them over :(

  • AnneW
    AnneW Member Posts: 612
    edited September 2008

    I had my ovaries removed in August. It was the following April when the changes took place, or at least when I began noticing them. I was off AIs for about a year when I developed my second primary and got back on AIs post-op. During that year, I was just beginning to make a little headway in the muffin top. Now, I'm ready to give up on the size of my jeans and the number on the scale, and just do what I need to do to feel well and stay strong.

    Well, maybe give up on the jean size.

    Anne

  • wishiwere
    wishiwere Member Posts: 934
    edited September 2008

    Geepers...is there no end to the side effects from this stuff!  I swear it's harder on our bodies than the A/C chemo I had!  Seriously!

  • Marple
    Marple Member Posts: 10,154
    edited September 2008

    I too am on arimidex and I too have a lovely (NOT) belly to show for it.  Menopausal women seem to pack it on there even without the help of arimidex.  I know I eat too much and don't exercise enough but I suspect the lack of estrogen in our bodies helps to create that increase in girth.  Kind of like the fact that we get those 'wings' under our arms. 

  • swimangel72
    swimangel72 Member Posts: 142
    edited September 2008

    I can't blame the Arimidex which I only started 2 days ago........but I blame the lack of estrogen and menopause for my own weight gain in my midriff - which, btw, contributed to my RISK for developing BC. So the question is - if Arimidex is supposed to reduce our risk for recurrence by lowering our estrogen levels - and causing menopause symptoms - doesn't the extra belly fat INCREASE our risk since fat produces estrogen? Seems like a Catch-22 situation, sigh.........

  • burns_la
    burns_la Member Posts: 14
    edited September 2008

    I agree swimangel...oh boy! My question is, I had a r tram flap in 2004 and my foob seems to be getting bigger. I attributed it to le, but is it my "belly cells" growing? OMG! How can I deal with this?

  • wishiwere
    wishiwere Member Posts: 934
    edited September 2008

    Oh my!  I never thought about that!  They do say if you lose weight it, you would lose in there too, so I suppose that would happen also!  Oh my, oh my!  Never considered that either!  So sorry....

  • burns_la
    burns_la Member Posts: 14
    edited September 2008

    Oh, yeah...it is getting so "unbalanced" that it is apparent in my clothing also. Does anybody know if insurance will pay for a second "revision" to even out my chest? I dream of going back to my PS and getting even...

  • melmedic06
    melmedic06 Member Posts: 1
    edited September 2008

    i have joined the belly fat club as well- i have been on arimidex since january of 05 and read that "weight gain" was a potential side effect and felt lucky for the first few months that despite all the other awful things happening to my body i was not gaining weight- WELL- that did not last long!! i have always had a nice flat tummy even after 3 children but no matter how strict i am with my diet or how much yoga - pilates and walking i do there it is- looking pregnant is a good description especially after a bad day at work and treating oneself to lemon iced poundcake from starbucks-very frustrating - belly fat girls unite- let's hope there is an end to our special roll and our cancer-

    ILC  october 04  0.9cms  lumpectomy- negative nodes- radiation - arimidex (left breast)

    DCIS  august 05  found on mammotome- lumpectomy (surgical pathology negative)-radiation - continue on arimidex  (right breast) 

  • PeggyDixon
    PeggyDixon Member Posts: 5
    edited September 2008

    Melmedic - all I can think about now is lemon iced pound cake from Starbucks!! lol. Seriously though, I start Arimidex in a couple of weeks and I am hoping not to have too many SEs....still, would rather have SEs than a recurrence. More belly fat is not something to look forward to. Sigh. Cancer really sucks doesn't it.

  • Lmorrison
    Lmorrison Member Posts: 1
    edited June 2019

    yes i feel like im on birth control pills with horrible joint muscle pain weight gain but it will hooefully stop another occurrence

  • dtad
    dtad Member Posts: 771
    edited June 2019

    Hi there. This is an old thread so I'll try to answer you until someone else comes along. Joint and muscle pain are common symptoms of aromatase inhibitors. Sorry you are suffering from them. So is weight gain. As far as belly fat, that is also caused by a lack of estrogen. You do not say what your stats are but yes anti hormone therapy has been shown to lower recurrence rates by 50 percent. Hope this helps. Good luck and keep us posted

Categories

Join Us on Zoom: Upcoming virtual meetups. Read more...
Give your account some personality! Add a profile photo.