Nicotine Patches help you lose weight??

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HappyTemple
HappyTemple Posts: 57
in Health and Weight Loss
So I saw an article on CNN or something last week with a couple doctors saying that nicotine patches could help dieters when they hit a plateau. Has anyone else heard of this? Supposedly nicotine cuts appetite and (if I'm remembering right) speeds up metabolism. Not sure if the two docs were just quacks looking for some quick publicity, or if it actually had some merit. I would think that even though it's smoke free, just bombarding your body with nicotine randomly can't be that healthy... Or can it?

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  • CinthyNair
    CinthyNair Posts: 261
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    Hmm, not too sure if you want to go down that road. I have some women friends who smoke, and they have a fear of stopping coz they can gain weight ... so nicotine via inhale or absorption ... you want to risk it??
  • RaeN81
    RaeN81 Posts: 534 Member
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    It's a bad idea to use nicotine patches if you aren't attempting to quit smoking. It is an addictive substance. I'm sure it could help with weight loss since it is a stimulant, but it is simply not advisable. The good news here is that this might encourage smokers to quit since one of the excuses for not quitting is that it can cause weight gain.
  • jjustjo
    jjustjo Posts: 285 Member
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    nicotine is so additive and it constricts your blood vessels. It's the main cause of heart attacks or strokes in smoking related deaths. Take it from an EX smoker don't mess with nicotine...its NOT worth it! Take an appetite suppressor!
  • mynameisdumbnuts
    mynameisdumbnuts Posts: 111
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    Nicotine is a carcinogen. I'd rather struggle with losing weight than struggle against that.
  • blueelephant1212
    blueelephant1212 Posts: 100 Member
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    that sounds like a horrible idea... why get addicted to a drug to help weight loss? i'm afraid it might be like a bounce effect once one were to stop using the patches... and weight would come back. not good for your body.
  • HappyTemple
    HappyTemple Posts: 57
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    Just to exonerate myself, I wasn't planning on jogging down to Walmart and buying out their Nicoderm supply. Hehe. Just wondered what you guys thought or if you had heard anything about it. So if you were saying, "I wouldn't get it if I were you" as a personal warning, you needn't worry. (but thanks for watching out for me!) If it was a general statement, pardon my paranoia. Must be the weed. (Haha! TOTALLY j/k)
  • roylawrence87
    roylawrence87 Posts: 970 Member
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    nicotine is so additive and it constricts your blood vessels. It's the main cause of heart attacks or strokes in smoking related deaths. Take it from an EX smoker don't mess with nicotine...its NOT worth it! Take an appetite suppressor!

    I agree but the best appetite suppressor is good ol willpower. And its waaaay cheaper!
  • HappyTemple
    HappyTemple Posts: 57
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    Oh! I forgot to ask, wasn't nicotine considered a carcinogen because of the inhalation process, with all the tar and stuff? I didn't think it was carcinogenic via the patch... (again, not promoting it or anything!)
  • jjustjo
    jjustjo Posts: 285 Member
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    Just to exonerate myself, I wasn't planning on jogging down to Walmart and buying out their Nicoderm supply. Hehe. Just wondered what you guys thought or if you had heard anything about it. So if you were saying, "I wouldn't get it if I were you" as a personal warning, you needn't worry. (but thanks for watching out for me!) If it was a general statement, pardon my paranoia. Must be the weed. (Haha! TOTALLY j/k)
    haha you know weed has nicotine in it....I wonder why it makes you have the munchies instead of not hungry???? ps...LOVe your sense of humor...cracked me up!
  • HappyTemple
    HappyTemple Posts: 57
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    haha you know weed has nicotine in it....I wonder why it makes you have the munchies instead of not hungry???? ps...LOVe your sense of humor...cracked me up!

    Holy crap - does it really?! I *did* do it in high school (yuk yuk yuk), but I had no idea. How did I go the past decade and a half not knowing this? Or maybe I forgot... :smokin:


    *ETA: So to quote someone, you apparently have to be smarter than the HTML.
  • jjustjo
    jjustjo Posts: 285 Member
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    Oh! I forgot to ask, wasn't nicotine considered a carcinogen because of the inhalation process, with all the tar and stuff? I didn't think it was carcinogenic via the patch... (again, not promoting it or anything!)

    exactly....carcingene because of the smoke...not nicotine. Nicotine is responsible for the happy well-being feeling you have after you light up (god I miss that part!), constricts your blood vessels, and makes you addicted, so come back for more.
  • Sweet13_Princess
    Sweet13_Princess Posts: 1,207 Member
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    Not a good idea. It's a drug and I'd rather not rely on products to lose my weight. Besides, what happens when you stop taking it? You'll probably regain it all back anyways.

    Shannon
  • Donnamaria68
    Donnamaria68 Posts: 2
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    Oct of last year i went under Hypnosis to quit smoking ( smoked for 28 years, stopped for 2 pregnancies than right back after they were born) I haven't smoked in over a year. i joined a gym a week after stopping and ended up going 6 days a week and working out for over 2-3 hours a day. Even though I wasn't feeling the withdrawls my body was. Even though i was exercising like a mad woman and watched what i ate. i still gained the weight within 4 months of quitting I gained 20 lbs. Not happy about that. I still go to the gym tried some products ( diet pills etc.etc) and once I hit that one year mark I been craving craving more to have a smoke. One to calm the nerves and two to lose weight. So instead of me picking up a pack of cigs my doctor told me i could get the nicotine patch that is the smallest dose to calm the cravings and be able to lose my weight. So here is my question, if i am already working out, eating healthy and drinking up to 60 oz's of water a day. what else can i do to relieve the cravings and lose the weight that can Substitute nicotine?
  • steffytailor
    steffytailor Posts: 1
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    So I saw an article on CNN or something last week with a couple doctors saying that nicotine patches could help dieters when they hit a plateau. Has anyone else heard of this? Supposedly nicotine cuts appetite and (if I'm remembering right) speeds up metabolism. Not sure if the two docs were just quacks looking for some quick publicity, or if it actually had some merit. I would think that even though it's smoke free, just bombarding your body with nicotine randomly can't be that healthy... Or can it?
    its better to use hoodia patches. It is natural weight loss formula, which includes the ingrediants that by suppressing your appetite, helps you in controlling your exact weight and stops it from increasing. And as per <a href="http://www.hoodiapatch-reviews.com ">hoodia patch reviews</a>, It won't have any side effects also.
  • LabRat529
    LabRat529 Posts: 1,323 Member
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    Ummmmmm... actually... no, the doctors aren't quacks. Their hypothesis is pretty sound. Ex-smokers have known about the connection between nicotine and appetite forever.

    Nicotine is an interesting drug. I do not partake of it... but I'd consider prescribing it to a patient with Alzheimer's, if I was an MD and if they had no objections to the stuff.

    There's some evidence limited evidence that nicotine by itself can be carcinogenic, but it's the combination of nicotine + other substances in tobacco (in cigarette form or chew) that's the big problem. Tobacco is definitely linked to cancer... pure nicotine? Maybe, maybe not. It still needs more testing.

    I personally wouldn't take it for weight loss... but again if I was an MD (and I'm not), I would not be opposed to prescribing it to a patient who had tried diet and exercise without success. It seems a less risky alternative to bariatric surgery.
  • Katiegirl2468
    Katiegirl2468 Posts: 1
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    Actually, I have smoked for a long time and I am 21. Everytime I eat or drink I bloat, I work out a lot to. I was wondering why my weight is wacked and why I always bloated when I eat. I had an EGD and colonoscopy done and everything was normal. I found out smoking is causing my bloating! My stomach hurt, i could breathe when i bloated and i looked pregnant. i knew this wasnt normal.Cause I was sucking in a lot of air and it got trapped in my stomach where when I eat or drink I bloat, drinking pop made me bloat so much. I quit a few days ago and now when I eat I feel a lot better so I decided to quit after finding this out, everybody's body is different, and I don't eat more after quitting
  • khall86790
    khall86790 Posts: 1,100 Member
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    This kind of makes sense to me. As I smoke and nicotine definitely curbs my hunger.
    I find that when I am hungry and am not eating for an hour or 2, having 1-2 cigarettes in that time stops me from being as hungry.
    However, I was also overweight and a smoker and now I am "normal weight" (as per my BMI) and a smoker so I can't really confirm that it helps at all as I smoked for 5 years before I started losing weight and that was all diet and exercise.

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