chemotherapy
Many people who have chemotherapy lose weight. This is because the side effects of chemo like loss of appetite, diarrhoea and feeling sick, can put you off eating and so your weight starts to drop.
radiotherapy
The side effects of radiotherapy can also make you lose weight. It's most likely to happen if you have radiotherapy to your:
- head
- neck
- chest
- abdomen (tummy)
- pelvic area - lower part of the tummy (abdomen). This includes your reproductive or sexual organs, parts of your bowel, bladder and some lymph nodes)
This is mainly because having radiotherapy to any of these areas can make you feel too sick to eat. But also, radiotherapy to your:
- mouth and throat - can make it difficult to chew or swallow
- gut - can give you diarrhoea or can make it difficult for your body to take the nutrients it needs from what you do eat.
If you're going to have lots of treatment over many weeks to your mouth, jaw or throat, your doctors and dietitian will probably recommend that you have a feeding tube put in your stomach. This is because you might not be able to eat or drink for a few weeks and you may need to have some liquid food through the tube. They will also keep a close eye on your weight during your treatment so that they can prescribe some supplements for you if you need them.
what can help?
- Tell your doctors what you think is stopping you from eating. They can give you medicines to make you feel better, like anti-sickness or anti-diarrhoea tablets.
- Talk to your dietitian about what you can do at home to help you to eat better.
- Try to drink some of the high-calorie nutrition supplements that your dietitian recommends.
- See the eating problems section for more info on food and eating.
