This post is a "thank you" for this forum, specifically this thread: https://www.steadyhealth.com/topics/stopped-smoking-and-severe-stomach-bloat?skip_caching=1 . Even though nothing I saw in this thread helped me, it saved my sanity.  Any mention of weight gain as a consequence to smoking cessation is attributed to the substitution of cigarettes for food, and therefore shrugged off.  I was going crazy until I found I'm not alone.  Now that I am finally seeing some light at the end of the tunnel, I wanted to share and joined the forum just for this reason.  

  1. PSYLLIUM HUSK. A couple of days post-cessation, my whole GI system went on strike.  Nothing was moving and within a week I started looking pregnant.  I didn't want to use laxatives, stool softeners or other medicated options long-term.  I tried the enzymes and probiotics to no avail.  Fiber supplements helped but I didn't like the additives.  Psyllium husk works wonderfully and it's completely natural.  I eat a teaspoon with water morning and evening.  It's also an excellent binder for cooking, so instead of flour or other binding agents I now use just this.
  2. Toilet stool.  Yep.  Back to potty training days, folks.  Don't laugh! It helps A LOT. 
  3. Calorie counting: I got an app and log EVERY SINGLE THING I consume. Getting the same exact calories pre-cessation I gained 20lbs in 2-3 months.  I then cut down to 1500 calories per day and stopped gaining.  Only once I got down to 1300 calories did I start losing. 
  4. Exercise: I was doing lots of low-impact before, but had to start weight-bearing exercises to see some difference.  And lots of walking, daily. 
  5. TIME.  It takes a freaking long time to detox the body! I'm still not out of the woods, at 6.5 months post-cessation.  I still have another 10lbs to lose of the original gain.  But, there is light at the end of the tunnel: I am now regular and losing some weight, albeit veeery slooooowly.  It may never be the same as when I was getting the nicotine, but that's a trade-off I'm willing to make.

Hang in there, everyone!