Dramatic weight loss on imbruvica

[Cali69]

I am finishing up week 4 on imbruvica. Since starting I have dropped 20 pounds. Is this normal? No other side effects.

[Zia2]

Hi I posted something similar earlier today. Can you read it?

[Lisa-1959 in reply to Zia2]

Agree...I just replied on your post. Had the same issue with weight loss.

[Rose-white]

I struggled to keep weight on when I started but more because I had upset tummy For the first 6 months. I’ve stopped losing now and am stable.

Some people report weight gain but I haven’t experienced that.

[CBeauty]

I am on Acalabrutinib (7 weeks) and have noticed weight loss. Holding steady now. I started to lose weight from CLL before treatment and thought when I started treatment the weight would come back. Nope, just holds steady even though I eat more now. However I give some credit to positive lifestyle changes.

[BluMts]

20 pounds is a huge amount to drop in a month. I lost weight when I began IB but not 20 lbs and I had nausea, lost appetite and there is one other thing. I feel tired with normal activities and thought I should not as my blood results were good quickly and lymph nodes became normal quickly. But on shielding I've put on weight. Do think IB takes a lot out of me... But 20 lbs loose is dramatic and worth investigating.

[Smith123456]

how are your blood counts

[Cali69 in reply to Smith123456]

WBC is still high and climbing, RBC went down a smidge, and platelets are starting to come up.

[LeoPa]

Cali, half of the weight lost is probably water. 20 pounds of fat is what a regular person burns in a month in terms of calories. So it can't be all fat and muscle, can it? You'd have to fast for a month to loose that much. Did you start eating less carbs lately? That could have a side effect of a large water loss, which is nothing to worry about. If there are other problems with water retention then I don't know. Worth investigating.

[Cali69 in reply to LeoPa]

Really haven’t changed eating habits.

[lindalou5]

I lost 80 pounds in four months when I first started IB. I did lose fat and muscle, and friends /family thought I was dying. I have since gained about 25 back. I feel like I was half out of it when this was happening and was a bit concerned, but the doc did not seem that concerned. I did have excess weight to lose.