Weight Loss drugs and Tamoxifen

[Anonymous]

I am curious if anyone is using weight loss drugs, like ozempic, with tamoxifen. I have gained an excessive amount of weight since I finished chemo (TCHP and then HP) about a year ago. I can't find the answer in google and would like to know something before my next dr's appt.

My issue is my stomach fat and general puffiness...no amount of calorie counting and exercising is helping lose the weight.

Thanks!

[Anonymous]

I would ask your oncologist. Most likely no.

[Anonymous]

Hi - my friend is taking tamoxifen, and one of the side effects is increased A1C - she became diabetic and is now on ozempic for the diabetes and has lost significant weight. so she isn’t taking ozempic for weight loss but I think this means you can take tam and ozempic concurrently. Good luck! I have the whole slew of tamoxifen side effects and the weight gain is just horrible.

[Anonymous]

I'm curious to hear other people's experiences, as well. I have this on my list to ask my oncologist at my next appointment.

My Primary Care doctor was supportive - she said she's not aware of it being contraindicated with Tamoxifen, but she wants me to confirm with my oncologist first.

For what it's worth, she ordered thorough blood tests to check my thyroid, cholesteral, and sugars/diabetes numbers, and all came back normal. So the good news is that my weight gain is not causing problems there. But it is causing joint and muscle pain, which in turn inhibit my exercise and mood, which is obviously bad for my overall quality of life. So my PCP is open to prescribing Ozempic (or the other one with an M?) even though I'm not diabetic.

Finally, one more data point to consider: After 18 months on Tamoxifen, I developed a bold, butterfly shaped rash across my face to go along with the increasing joint and muscle pains that started three months earlier. Plus the raging appetite and slow-but-steady weight gain. Both doctors thought they might all be side-effects from the Tamoxifen, and my oncologist recommended I take a three-week "holiday" - a break from the Tamoxifen - to see if things reset. Sure enough . . . no more rash or joint pain, AND I lost five pounds in three weeks while eating normally (mostly healthy but not formally dieting or restricting.) So yes, the Tamoxifen really does contribute to weight gain - at least for me.

I'm now working with my oncologist on next steps - go back to the Tamoxifen or try something else. My cancer was strongly ER/PR+, so I do need something to prevent recurrence for 8 more years . . .

Good luck, OP. Please post back as you learn more!

[Anonymous]

I don't have an answer for you, but I feel your pain. I'm 5 years into hormone therapy, and went from 145 lbs pre-cancer to 185 now. My body is just unwilling to shed the extra weight. My cancer was also very strongly ER/PR+, so I still have to finish another 5 years of treatment.

[Anonymous]

This is very late reply to your post, but yes, I was recommended by my internist and my oncologist to take Mounjaro for the weight gain due to tamoxifen. Once I lost the weight weight that I had gained from the tamoxifen I began to use Mounjaro only as needed to maintain that weight. Basically, when the tamoxifen makes me gain 3 to 5 pounds. I take one injection and it brings it back down. I do this once every one to two months. It works like magic.