Can anyone give me hope - Given up nicotine and gained 10 lbs.

I quit vaping in May. I was never a smoker but in a sense I changed deck chairs on the Titanic. I lost over 100 lbs and was doing well but while losing I took up vaping. It kind of replaced the eating. Now I have quit vaping and although I feel I am eating the same I am up 10 pounds. I know it's normal to gain when quitting nicotine but will it ever come back off? I'm tempted to go back to vaping because I don't want to gain all the weight back. Anyone have experience with this? Is there hope that I will get it back off?
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Replies

  • slbbw
    slbbw Posts: 329 Member
    No experience with quiting nicotine, but I did go off a medication that had appetite suppression as a side effect, wellbutrin. A brief google search and knowledge that this med is used to help quit smoking says that dopamine is affected with nicotine use as well and that can affect hunger.

    For me I added a tyrosine supplement as well as a methyl folate supplement, which are both reported to help dopamine production. I also changed up my WOE a bit to reduce carbs, which tend to make me hungrier. Once I got over the initial change I was able to go back to my previous WOE. It took about a month to get it all straightened out and that was with the added tyrosine.
  • geraldaltman
    geraldaltman Posts: 1,739 Member
    edited October 2019
    I will be a ten year ex-smoker in January and thankfully had no interest in e-cigs or vaping. However, you choose to quit, the keys to doing it are making your reasons and motivations for doing it exclusively yours and your methods equally so and then commit to it totally. I could spend the ten minutes telling you how I quit, but that could be totally meaningless to you as you are a different person. Example: What fueled my final attempt to quit was pure and simple rage!! I got so angry with myself that after days and days of thinking and planning the previous try, I was smoking again within hours! It really *kitten* me off. That propelled me to try a few days later and I haven't looked back since. Find your fuel!!! And trust me the obstacles that keep you from staying smoke or vape free are total mirages, easily broken through when focused!

    I forgot to mention that this final attempt was "cold turkey" and such was my driving fuel (inward rage) that the so called "withdrawal effects" at least for me were negligible, and with each obstacle (mirage) that I passed through without smoking [some I didn't even notice until afterwards], things got easier and easier, then suddenly I began to wake up amazed, "Did I just go a week, month, a year, ten years (Jan. 4, 2020) without smoking or vaping?!?!?" YES!!!! Honestly, it is that easy! Too many of us (I've forgotton how many times I've fallen victim) allow our minds, bodies, emotions and life circumstances to dictate and feed us excuses for not making changes. So far as smoking, it's all manageable. Take control!
  • Mcwi3681
    Mcwi3681 Posts: 67 Member
    I quit cigarettes 1.5 years ago and finally got off the patches/lozenges 6 months ago. Which also happened to be the same time I started CICO and logging on MFP so any hunger I experienced due to lack of nicotine, I chalked it up to the calorie deficit I had just started. I don't have much advice to give other than keep up what you're doing, every day is a struggle but every day is easier than the one before.
  • lalalacroix
    lalalacroix Posts: 834 Member
    Before I lost the 59 pounds that I lost so far, I quit smoking. It's been 7 years now.

    I quit slowly because I was never good at the cold turkey thing. I didn't gain maybe more than 10 pounds but I was already obese.

    You obviously know how to lose weight but keeping weight off while quitting nicotine is a different story. I really recommend to anyone who is in your shoes to replace those nicotine moments with something else. For example, a lot of smokers smoke when they feel stress. So if you quit smoking, what will replace that stress mitigator? For some it's food. For others it could be meditation or playing a video game.

    Maybe think about some healthier habits that can replace smoking to help prevent reaching for food or the vape pen. Keep close tabs on your weighing/logging, replace the NEAT you spent vaping with something else, and be easy on yourself - quitting smoking can be difficult.

    Good luck. I hope something I said is helpful.
  • nooshi713
    nooshi713 Posts: 4,877 Member
    Thank you to those of you who have shared your experiences. I don't feel so alone. I had to quit vaping because my blood pressure was through the roof. So no patch for me. It's become harder lately because my husband started vaping again and I'm fighting it. The weight gain seems to have stopped but now getting it back off is frustrating as I can't seem to make it budge and I'm still hungry.

    There are some good suggestions here and thank you especially to @nooshi713 for your input. It does feel like my metabolism is slower. I have been walking a few miles a day but I need an at home solution I think. I've started crocheting a blanket for my neice's new arrival in February, lol. Maybe that will help. Gonna look in to the Peppermints and see if that is an option here in Canada.

    Congratulations to you. I know it is not easy.

    Best of luck to you! ❤️