weight gain while on chantix

I also quit smoking 10 months ago using Chantix. I gain 30lbs and I can not seem to get it to stop. I workout at a gym and my work is very physical. I have paid close attention to what I eat and it is not that much. The Dr. put me on water pills because after I quit my legs would swell and she thought that would help with the swelling and weight loss. The swelling stopped but they did not help the weight. I don't know what to do either. No one wants to here it is anything else but weight gain.

Hey everyone, the weight gain isn't from the Chantix. That stuff saved my life. When you were smoking the nicotine 'took control' of your body's glucose levels (for lack of a better term) and your metabolism. Your body's working on it's own now and since most of us are older than 30 we need considerably less caleries. It's not the Chantix, it's not smoking. As for me I was a thin chain-smoker for 36 yrs. I've gained maybe 10 months the past few months since I quit. But even if I gain 50 lbs I'll carry that 50 lbs proudly and thank God in Heaven that I don't smoke anymore.

I am almost at 3 months of not smoking. I have gained 22 lbs. It was almost like it was overnight. And its all in my abdomen which is not where I usually gain weight. I feel like I have this huge fat suit on. I am eating less than I was before. I didn't eat that great before but I never gained weight. my very conservative doctor put me on diet pills for a couple of weeks to see if that helps. I am eating less with them but continue to gain weight.

Oh boy, am I glad I found these posts. I have quit smoking before, but never before with Chantix. I will say Chantix helped very much with quitting.

I have always been lucky in regard to eating anything I wanted w/o any worry of weight gain and in previous quit attempts I never gained any weight. This all changed dramatically when taking Chantix. Within a week I gained 10lbs. Overall I have gained 20+ lbs.

Despite dieting, or just not eating, I am unable to drop a lb longer than a day. I noticed weight gain after starting Chantix but before I actually quit smoking but felt I had been a bit underweight and really didn't pay attention. Within a couple more weeks I was having trouble getting into any of my pants. My gain was all in my butt, thighs (I am a guy who had no butt at all) and also lower back (sort of a back love handles). Pants that had been too big for me were now too snug, pants that fit were unwearable. I am a 48 year old male who has not changed pants sizes my entire adult life. For the first time in 28 years, I bought different sized jeans.

At work today someone who I had been lamenting to about my weight suggested that it may be the Chantix - since the gain started before my quit date. Not sure why it hadn't occurred to me before but I googled it and found these - and other - posts. I will not be taking Chantix going forward. Agree it's healthier being a non-smoker, but not sure I am happier - especially with this significant weight gain. That sounds stupid I suppose but this is ridiculous.

Once weather gets warmer I plan to do cardio and sweat as much as possible this summer and get back to being....me. I presume that this isn't a permanant condition.

Calories in, calories out. Chantix can cause constipation and increased appetite but can't make you gain weight. You have to eat more calories than you burn to gain weight. I have quit smoking taking Chantix but I did not substitute food for a cigarette. I am steadily loosing weight now because I am more active.

Not trying to be mean or hurt anyones feelings here. Some drugs make you retain more water, or increase your appetite or slow your rate of calorie burn but they cannot absorb food from thin air and make you fat, you have to eat to do that.

The question to ask is if I changed nothing before and after as far as diet and exercise and now I am gaining weight where is it coming from? When you honestly answer that question then you fix it.

I am on Chantix and just finished my 3rd month. I am happy to say I am smoke-free. I have also put on about 20 lbs and had all this water weight and swelling in my ankles going on the last 2 weeks.

I am so happy I read these posts. I am not renewing my Chantix, I think I will be okay on my own. I have been working out steadily for the last month as I had stopped working out a year ago due to personal issues but not losing a pound. So, I will see if going off Chantix makes the difference.

Oh, and for the "Calorie In, Calorie Out" responder.... Do we sound like idiots to you? All of us who have posted are well aware of how you put on weight. Maybe just maybe its possible that some ingredient in Chantix is having a side effect on some and not others.

Thanks to all those who posted. Anyone lose weight after going off Chantix???

I have gained about 30 pounds with Chantix as well. Yes, I am not smoking but this weight gain has me seriously concerned because nothing is making it budge. I have been on a 1200 calorie diet the last couple months and work out for 1 1/2 hours four days a week at least and am not losing (which is better than what I had been doing). Good news is that I have stablized with my weight at least and don't seem to be gaining. Has anyone started to lose? How long does it take? This is so frustrating. I have outgrown my clothes already and do not want to move up another size. I'm doing my best. Anyone else overcome this?

I am sorry to report that I am in the same boat. The good news is that I stopped smoking after taking Chantix. The bad news is that I gained a significant amount of weight that is not coming off no matter what I do. Since I stopped taking Chantix eight weeks ago, I have done cardio exercise where I work out at at least 85% of my maximum heart rate for at least 45 minutes every single day and maintained a diet not exceeding 1,500 calories a day and usually around 1,200 a day. THe weight is not budging AT ALL, although I have managed to stop gaining weight with these efforts.

The weight is mostly around my abdomen, which I understand is the most medically dangerous place to have excess weight. Previously when I gained weight, it was never around my abdomen.

I still have daily gastrointestinal "issues" that first began when I started Chantix even though I have not taken any Chantix for two months.

The excruciating knee pain I had when I stopped Chantix finally went away in the past week or so...hopefully for good. It still feels like someone dropped a smoldering piece of charcoal on top of my right foot, but that pain is at least intermittent now.

While it is somewhat comforting to know I am not the only one with adverse and seemingly long term adverse efffects of taking Chantix, what I am really wondering is, is there anything that can be done? Has any research been done or is any being done? How long will this last? I'm not interested in getting involved in time consuming expensive litigation...I just want to feel normal again. How can I get this stuff out of my system for good??

I took my last daily dose of Chantix (3 month program) in February, 2008. I no longer smoke (Yeah) and after working with a counselor for 5 months, I'm "almost back to normal" - except for the extra weight. Almost 20 years ago I was advised that I had cholesterol issues. With information from my doctor, a book that he suggested and a new approach to eating, I lost 52 pounds and took control of the HDL/LDL issues in six months. Doctor insisted that I needed to regain 10/12 pounds. I had maintained the weight (within 5 pounds) since that time. I was delighted in 02/08 at the end of the Chantix program - I had only gained 6 pounds. During the next three weeks (after stopping Chantix), I gained 16 pounds - eating the exact same food (close to "fat free") that I had been eating for 20 years. I have lost about 6/7 pounds of the 22 about 6 months ago (haven't gained it back - but haven't lost any more). Those pounds are very "localized". One person described it as "love handles" in back - I'm thinking "hate handles" after these many months. I feel that my present doctor really did not have enough information about Chantix to prescribe it. The only side-effect he mentioned was the possibility of strange dreams. When I have tried to talk with him about these issues, he finally said that drug would, of course, affect more than just the nicotine problem. I certainly wish he had shared that bit of information with me before the fact! "MY" BAD"....... I
didn't realize that I needed to research an FDA approved, doctor approved drug. Good luck

In a two months I have gainned about 20lbs not good my size 2's were lose when I started struggled this morning to get into a size 10!!