Re: gaining weight and gas....

[Guest guest]

In a message dated 3/23/2007 12:01:24 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,

lisa_adan@... writes:

alone in this experience and the side effects of taking gleevec. i

started taking the medicine November of last year.i just wonder if its

normal to gain weight drastically?normal to gain weight drastically?<W

CML...please can anyone recommend a natural way?? also i am

experiencing gas pains and was advised also not to engage in too much

strenous activity that is why i dont think it is possible for me to

work out on this extra pounds i have..i used to be 108 pounds when i

was diagnosed 5 months ago and now i am 128 pounds..please

help...thanks so much...

Dear , I am so sorry you are having side effects from Gleevec. I don't

know how old you are but I was 42 when dxd with CML and when I started Gleevec

it put me into menopause. My metabolism slowed, and also I was down from the

fatigue and pain from Gleevec, so I was inactive a lot. I have had CML for 7

years now, and sadly, I went from a size 2 to a size 16W. I am not myself at

all.....I have had a hard time adjusting to the weight gain, and I am still

confused as to why I gained so much.

I used to walk about 4 miles a day, work out in a gym, do yoga, plus ride my

horses. The fatigue stopped me from doing many of those things, and also I

found I did not have the balance to ride like I used to so I had to give up

strenuous riding activities, like jumping, and such.

I wish there was something I can do to help you but if I knew I would not be

this heavy today. There was a bit of relief from taking a diuretic, Lasix,

but that only led to muscle cramping so I gave that up.

As for " flatulence " it is an affliction that has bothered me very much

lately. My stomach just will not settle down. I do take Compazine and Prilosec

OTC

but sometimes even that does not work.

I hope we all can figure out a way to get rid of these side effects!!! I

just wish there was something I could tell you to do to avoid gaining more

weight. - Lynne A.

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[Guest guest]

Hi Melisa,

Welcome to our group. You're definitely not alone and I can assure

you

that we all understand how you're feeling.

To answer your question, yes it is quite common to gain weight on

Gleevec. There are a few possible reasons for it.

One of them is water retention (edema). Gleevec has a tendency to

make

us retain water which will obviously make the scale go up. Drinking

lots of water can help with this.

Another possibility is that Gleevec may increase your appetite and

with

an increase in appetite, comes an increase in food which obviously

can

cause weight gain. Snacking on low calorie foods can help with this

problem.

A third possibility is that Gleevec is causing you to be more tired

which is restricting your activity level so if you aren't as active

as

you were but are eating the same amount of food, well voilà, once

again

there can be weight gain. Some people say that even when they're

tired, if they force themselves to exercise, they end up feeling much

more energized than if they didn't do any exercise although I have to

admit that I've never found it to be true for me. I'm usually just

as

tired after I've exercised as before.

I'm not sure why you were told not to engage in any strenuous work,

perhaps you can clarify with your doctor why this would be

recommended

for you because it's not the norm. Many of us exercise regularly

without any problems. I believe we even have some marathon runners

in

the group. I, myself, try to walk a minimum of 5 kms a day (approx 3

miles) and I've recently started using a stationary bike a couple of

times a week as well. This has been a huge help in losing weight and

maintaining it.

A few years ago I joined Weight Watchers and was able to lose 30

pounds.....30 pounds that I gained after I started taking Gleevec so

if

you really can't exercise, this may be something you could look into

as

well.

The gas pains are quite common as well. I've taken Gas X and found

that to be helpful in the past.

Take care for now,

Tracey

dx Jan 2002

[Guest guest]

thanks so much lynne..i am now 42...i used to play volleyball also and my doctor

prevented me from doing those activities i used to do..i dont want to add pain

and insecurity to my illness now by being so overweight..yeah i hope time will

come where we could do even a bit of what we used to enjoy doing..that would

only be our way to forget the troubles of experiencing some of the side effects

and hopefully this will all be gone soon..i just think that this are all normal

and it will soon fade...i think i might also experience the same as u are

undergoing like the early menopause..coz lately i have been experiencing

irregular menstraution...

is it true that taking pills the longest time causes cancer???i just spoke to

a breast cancer patient and she just felt that she got her cancer from it...i

used to take contraceptive pills also..for years!! beacuse of what she told me,

i also thought of it being the reason for this illness...a lot of people were

saying that these pills have no side effect but taking into consideration also

the number of those who took it and later on had cancer...makes me wonder???

thanks so much lynne..i just hope i could be able to control my weight as it

would add to my problems...

Godbless.....

MoonQn1@... wrote:

In a message dated 3/23/2007 12:01:24 P.M. Eastern Standard Time,

lisa_adan@... writes:

alone in this experience and the side effects of taking gleevec. i

started taking the medicine November of last year.i just wonder if its

normal to gain weight drastically?normal to gain weight drastically?<W

CML...please can anyone recommend a natural way?? also i am

experiencing gas pains and was advised also not to engage in too much

strenous activity that is why i dont think it is possible for me to

work out on this extra pounds i have..i used to be 108 pounds when i

was diagnosed 5 months ago and now i am 128 pounds..please

help...thanks so much...

Dear , I am so sorry you are having side effects from Gleevec. I don't

know how old you are but I was 42 when dxd with CML and when I started Gleevec

it put me into menopause. My metabolism slowed, and also I was down from the

fatigue and pain from Gleevec, so I was inactive a lot. I have had CML for 7

years now, and sadly, I went from a size 2 to a size 16W. I am not myself at

all.....I have had a hard time adjusting to the weight gain, and I am still

confused as to why I gained so much.

I used to walk about 4 miles a day, work out in a gym, do yoga, plus ride my

horses. The fatigue stopped me from doing many of those things, and also I

found I did not have the balance to ride like I used to so I had to give up

strenuous riding activities, like jumping, and such.

I wish there was something I can do to help you but if I knew I would not be

this heavy today. There was a bit of relief from taking a diuretic, Lasix,

but that only led to muscle cramping so I gave that up.

As for " flatulence " it is an affliction that has bothered me very much

lately. My stomach just will not settle down. I do take Compazine and Prilosec

OTC

but sometimes even that does not work.

I hope we all can figure out a way to get rid of these side effects!!! I

just wish there was something I could tell you to do to avoid gaining more

weight. - Lynne A.

************************************** AOL now offers free email to everyone.

Find out more about what's free from AOL at http://www.aol.com.

[Guest guest]

Hi Melisa,

I can see why your doctor might not recommend playing volleyball

since there can be a lot of bruising from volleyball (at least that's

my recollection of when I used to play...my wrists and arms would be

black and blue). Often people on Gleevec can get low platelet counts

which could present a problem if there is a lot of bruising but

please ask him/her if you can engage in other activities because I

can't see why you couldn't remain active, as long as it's a sport

where there isn't a lot of trauma/injury to your body.

I've heard that the birth control pill can sometimes be linked to

female cancers such as breast, ovarian and uterine but I've never

heard of it being linked to CML or any other cancer for that matter.

If you think about how many millions of women are on birth control

pills and the relative rarity of CML, it would seem very unlikely

that the two could be connected.

Take care,

Tracey

[Guest guest]

thanks so much tracey..that was enlightening...i asked my doctor if i could at

least work out or have an exercise to remove those excess pounds but she said

not at the moment..i would probably ask her on my next visit if its possible.

by the way has anyone heard of any reason or even any possiblity of how we got

this disease??is it because of tto much stress??or pressures in life???so sorry

for the so many questions..i just want to have a little peace of mind...thanks

again so much!!!!!

Tracey <traceyincanada@...> wrote:

Hi Melisa,

I can see why your doctor might not recommend playing volleyball

since there can be a lot of bruising from volleyball (at least that's

my recollection of when I used to play...my wrists and arms would be

black and blue). Often people on Gleevec can get low platelet counts

which could present a problem if there is a lot of bruising but

please ask him/her if you can engage in other activities because I

can't see why you couldn't remain active, as long as it's a sport

where there isn't a lot of trauma/injury to your body.

I've heard that the birth control pill can sometimes be linked to

female cancers such as breast, ovarian and uterine but I've never

heard of it being linked to CML or any other cancer for that matter.

If you think about how many millions of women are on birth control

pills and the relative rarity of CML, it would seem very unlikely

that the two could be connected.

Take care,

Tracey

Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.

[Guest guest]

> by the way has anyone heard of any reason or even any possiblity

of how we got this disease??is it because of tto much stress??or

pressures in life???so sorry for the so many questions..i just want

to have a little peace of mind...thanks again so much!!!!!

>

*********************************************

The best peace of mind I can give you is that there is nothing you

did to get CML and it's not something that you will pass onto your

children.

No one knows what causes CML although there have been links to

benzene exposure as a possible cause but for the majority of us here,

benzene was never an issue.

If stress was responsible, I think the whole world would have CML

because I don't know many people who aren't stressed in one way or

another.

Take care,

Tracey

[Guest guest]

thanks so much tracey....i admire you for the strength and courage that you have

and continously share to people like me, who up to now is still in darkness and

confusion. i hope and pray also that i will be able to share the same guts and

kind words to others who also needs it..

thanks again and Godbless....

Tracey <traceyincanada@...> wrote:

> by the way has anyone heard of any reason or even any possiblity

of how we got this disease??is it because of tto much stress??or

pressures in life???so sorry for the so many questions..i just want

to have a little peace of mind...thanks again so much!!!!!

>

*********************************************

The best peace of mind I can give you is that there is nothing you

did to get CML and it's not something that you will pass onto your

children.

No one knows what causes CML although there have been links to

benzene exposure as a possible cause but for the majority of us here,

benzene was never an issue.

If stress was responsible, I think the whole world would have CML

because I don't know many people who aren't stressed in one way or

another.

Take care,

Tracey

Send instant messages to your online friends http://uk.messenger.