Chemo and Weight Gain

When you think of a person who has undergone chemotherapy, you tend to think about someone who has lost hair and also a considerable amount of weight because of general debility and nausea that is a common side effect of chemo.

However some women have experienced considerable weight gain due to their chemotherapy. This may be as much as 20 to 30 pounds.

It is believed (erroneously in some views) that this weight gain is due to the slowing down of the entire metabolism of the body and that as the hair and nails are negatively impacted by the chemo, so is the metabolism.

However, what is widely believed as being the reason for weight gain resulting from chemotherapy is estrogen levels. For premenopausal women, chemo can often bring about menopause which results in the decrease of estrogen hormones produced by the body.

In post menopausal women fatigue and depression may well be the side effects of the chemo that could result in a woman being less active or changing her dietary habits or activity levels, which in turn could be the cause of the weight gain.

Again it may be something as simple as women taking refuge in comfort eating during this stressful time, which causes their weight to balloon.

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