Anyone out there gained due to nicotine withdrawl? Is it water?

cheryldumais

This may be confusing to some but I was never a smoker. I started vaping about a year ago. It helped me as I continued to lose weight because it gave me more energy (I have chronic fatigue) and reduced my craving for sweet things. Now I have had to quit at least temporarily because I'm having surgery and the surgeon says healing is better without nicotine. I have gained 7 pounds! I am weighing and measuring my food and have in fact reduced my intake a couple hundred calories a day. I have read alot of posts on the internet by people who said they retained water when quitting. Anyone have any experience with this? I'm not a noob. I've been on MFP for 2 years and am basically (or was) at my goal. I have lost 85 pounds. I know how to weigh and measure and in fact have increased my diligence since this started. I'm just wondering if anyone else has had this issue and if and when the water will come off if indeed that's what it is. Just for those who will tell me I need to reduce my calories... I'm on 1200/day.

leeshender

Somewhat off topic, but did you know there are vaping options that have 0 nicotine? If it was helping you control cravings, this might be something to look into.

aeloine

Currently on nicotine gum, have been trying to fully quit for some time.
Best thing I can tell you is to keep your hand occupied (fidget spinners, fidget cubes, whatever), and to keep a glass of tea, water, coffee, etc nearby.

Tea and coffee are probably going to be your best bet. Low cal, help with the oral fixation (hand to mouth motion), have a little bit of caffeine (good for the fatigue and good for the diuretic properties), and will keep you hydrated so you're not retaining water.

stanmann571

Nicotine, like caffeine, is a stimulant and appetite suppressant. As a stimulant, it increases your energy, and may increase your NEAT due to fidgeting.

Without knowing how long temporarily is it's hard to guess how much of those 7 pounds are water vs possible fat.

Probably mostly water. but the reduced energy will lead to lower activity/energy levels...

Perhaps you could switch stimulants for a while but you'll probably also need to replace the calories you were burning due to the increased energy/fidgeting... maybe add a 10-20 minute walk a couple days a week.

DamienAngelica

aeloine wrote: »

Currently on nicotine gum, have been trying to fully quit for some time.
Best thing I can tell you is to keep your hand occupied (fidget spinners, fidget cubes, whatever), and to keep a glass of tea, water, coffee, etc nearby.

Tea and coffee are probably going to be your best bet. Low cal, help with the oral fixation (hand to mouth motion), have a little bit of caffeine (good for the fatigue and good for the diuretic properties), and will keep you hydrated so you're not retaining water.

Yesterday marked fifteen months for me as a nonsmoker. I used the patch and it made quitting so much easier. I did, however, drink a ton of coffee along the way, too!

cheryldumais

Thanks to everyone who responded. Just to answer a couple of the comments, I am not eating more, I'm actually eating less now to try to stave off any further gain. When I say I'm on 1200 calories I don't mean I'm shooting for it I mean I'm consuming 1200 or less pretty much every day and that includes exercise calories being ignored.

I'm vaping zero nicotine which continues to help with oral cravings for sweets. I've also lowered carbs which has effectively lowered cravings.

Not sure how Nicotine stimulates an ANTI-diruetic hormone. If that's the case I should be losing water now not gaining since I am no longer using nicotine. This really concerns me if true. I will have a look at the study. My doctor asked me to eliminate nicotine because he says it's a vasoconstrictor which I assumed means the volume of blood should be reduced when using nicotine and increased when not using it unless of course it is only causing the blood vessels to constrict increasing blood pressure which also makes sense.

I could be stressed about the surgery, had not thought about that. If that's the case hopefully any water weight from stress should come right back off.

Congrats DamienAngel! 15 months is great.

I'm drinking 8 - 10 glasses of water a day so increasing fluids further probably won't help much but it's worth a try.

Basically just wondering if anyone else has had this issue. If not then I must be eating in my sleep to account for a gain this size.

anubis609

For any injury/surgery/procedure/reason to actually promote tissue repair, a surplus of calories is going to be better for recovery.

Nicotine as a chemical is appetite suppressing, a natural stimulant, and therefore ergogenic. For these reasons alone, your doctor may be asking you to stop nicotine intake so that a true surplus of energy comes in.

On the other hand, nicotine also doesn't halt or impair recovery. You'd have to ingest massive amounts and chain vape high mg to hell to see any real change in bp/pulse/vasoconstriction OR you have a medical condition where you are sensitive to stimulation and are unable to handle much. In any case, exercise does the same thing (increases hr/bp and constricts blood vessels) without stimulants, but it's completely recommended for everyone.

Hormone/stress induced water retention is also plausible.

cheryldumais

Just a quick update for anyone else who might go through this... Water seems to be finally going. I am right back around where I was before quitting. Thank goodness!