Weight Gain

Ever since I started the herceptin I have been gaining weight steadily. I mean at least a pound a week, sometimes more - the first week, I was SIX POUNDS in three days. Total gained so far over the about 16 weeks is 24 pounds as of today.

At first the nurses told me it was from the steroids they were giving with the Taxol (and later, at first, with the Abraxane). That made sense, but as soon as I read that I didn't need the steroids with the Abraxane I asked to stop them (and the Benadryl, you may recall).

Each week, as I got farther and farther from my last dose of steroids, it kept going up. And while my diet is not exactly a weight loss diet, there is no way I would be eating enough to gain that kind of weight!! I mention it each week to the nurses, I am at the point where I almost cry each time, because I KNOW I should not be gaining like this! They tell me it takes time for the steroids to wear off, or it's just from having IV fluids every week, whatever. (I can't remember when my last dose of steroids was but it was at least a couple of months ago. I'm too lazy to look it up in this blog.)

Finally just now I looked up "herceptin and weight gain" on Google. When you look up a side effects list for Herceptin, weight gain is not mentioned. In fact, it says weight LOSS may occur. But when you click on the hits for message boards, it seems that many others are having weight gain they attribute to Herceptin. They, like me, are wondering WHY this is happening if it "isn't supposed to". Many of these women never even had any chemo, just the Herceptin.

I'm not worried about the cause of the weight gain for me. I know it's the Herceptin. There's just no way it could be anything else, a month after the chemo ended (so I am fairly sure it isn't from the chemo itself). I just wonder why they don't list it as a possible side effect when it so obviously is.

Just another thing to piss me off and make me go hmmm.