Weight loss

What causes weight loss after a breast cancer diagnosis?

A breast cancer diagnosis comes with both medical and emotional changes that can impact your weight.

Many breast cancer treatments, including radiation therapy, chemotherapy, hormonal therapy, and targeted therapy, can cause side effects that make it hard to eat healthy meals in a sufficient amount to maintain your weight. Nausea and vomiting, mouth sores, taste changes, problems swallowing, constipation or diarrhea, dry mouth, and low appetite are all common side effects of breast cancer treatment. It’s understandable that someone going through these may have a hard time eating and therefore experience weight loss.

Breast cancer also has a strong impact on people emotionally. Many report feelings of depression, anxiety, extreme stress and mental fatigue as they cope with the disease and its impact on daily life. Loss of appetite is common with all of these emotional challenges, even in people without cancer. Simply being too tired or too busy to cook a decent meal can lead to weight loss.

How can I prevent or stop weight loss?

Weight loss during breast cancer treatment can impact your ability to tolerate and respond to treatment. It can also lead to increased fatigue, weakness, mental health changes, and challenges with body image. Fortunately, there have been improvements in preventing some of the side effects that make it hard to eat and maintain a healthy weight during treatment.

If breast cancer treatments are causing nausea or vomiting, tell your healthcare providers. They may be able to put you on anti-nausea medicine that can be used before, during, and after treatments to prevent nausea and vomiting. Several different drugs are available and can be used in combination to help many people with cancer avoid feeling sick or vomiting throughout their treatment.

If mouth sores are keeping you from eating, talk to your doctor about medicines that can help ease the pain they may be causing. You can also discuss foods that are less likely to make mouth sores feel worse.

It’s normal to feel a range of tough emotions after a breast cancer diagnosis, including sadness, anxiety and anger. But if stress or difficult emotions are getting in the way of your day-to-day life, and stopping you from doing basic things like eating, you may have a mood or anxiety disorder, like depression. Anxiety and depression are serious medical conditions that should be treated by a mental health professional. Talk to your healthcare providers. They should be able to recommend a mental health professional with experience treating people with cancer.

Some tips to maintain or increase your weight:

• Choose calorie-dense foods like avocados, nut butters, creams, mayonnaise, and oils. Cooking in rich oils such as coconut oil or avocado oil can greatly increase your calories per day.
• It may be easier to drink, rather than eat, your calories if you feel nauseous. Try making a high-calorie, protein-heavy shake with supplemental drinks such as Ensure or Boost, ice cream, nut butters, protein powders and fruit.

Your healthcare providers can also connect you with a registered dietician, who can help you manage your weight and what you eat.