i quit suboxone, now i'm fat
 

has anyone experience rapid weight gain after quitting suboxone?
it's been 7 months and i have gain almost 20 lbs. i'm freaking out.
my appetite was insatiable but is starting to subside. but no matter how many calories i watch or exercise i get, i'm not losing any of it. it's frustrating. i went from a junk that looked like death everyday, to a clean and healthy fat girl. i just want to look like myself again. any advice?

I gained 60 and that is after gastric bypass (five years out at that time).

I've been clean and sober for almost two years. I'ts taken me 8 mos to take off 30lbs but you know, I'm clean and sober. If I never lose another pound I can be the mother my kids need and the wife I want to be and the best person I can be.

well thanks but it wasn't very encouraging. did you quit suboxone?

It is normal to put weight on after quitting anything I think, even alcohol which actually has calories in it! My diet is apalling at the moment. I have very little real appetite, but just crave sweet stuff. And I've never had a sweet tooth!

Also, is 20lbs that much if you were underweight before - it might be what you needed to gain. Sometimes we have such a distorted image of what is a healthy weight because of what we see in magazines.

Find out what your BMI is, and if it is in the normal range, give yourself a break, and carry on eating healthily and exercising. You've come a long way!

Being on suboxone and having had to struggle all my life to keep my weight down, I'm interested in hearing the responses.

I agree with LB as far as 20 lbs not being a lot for an underweight person to gain (which you sound as if you were definitely underweight).

Still, this is an interesting post and I would like to say to those who may never have had a weight problem (and especially if you've never spent any time FAT), please don't dismiss this post as frivolous. You may think that fat is better than addiction any day day of the week and that no one should worry about it. I promise you that they both (opiate addiction and being fat Monday through Sunday) can kill your spirit, equally painfully.

Whether or not it's common for other folks to gain weight, "cleanandheavier" (still not sure that I'd call you fat), you may want to attend a few Overeaters Anonymous meetings to help you to put into practice the step principles when it comes to eating. (I'm assuming that you've kicked up your exercising and that you're on a 12-Step program already).

Christin, I can hear you. There were times when I used just to lose few lbs. I know it sounds silly but I liked the feeling of loosing more than more than 30 lbs .I liked being skinny. Now, I'm struggling with my weight. It's frustrating sometimes.

I detoxed from opiate abuse on a short course of suboxone. When I entered detox on 1/8, I was about 185 pounds (6'4" frame...not pretty).
At the doctor's the other day I weighed in at 212. My clothes don't fit and I feel a little uncomfortable. My appetite is occasionally ravenous. And I am am male, so it's not just a female-body-image thing. I agree with Christin, it should not be dismissed as simply a symptom of withdrawal...addictive behavior is the same, regardlesss of substance.
Christin has an interesting idea there, as far as OA. I am familiar with their program...it can work with food as a primary addiction. However, they don't take kindly to folks that are there to "diet". It's a program of abstinence from overeating for them.
For me, today, I am not worrying about the food, because it will only make it more of a problem for me. However, I am thinking twice over every food choice I make and choosing to avoid some things, a little at a time.

Scared that I agreed with Christin twice:lmao, I remain,

No experience with suboxone, but after I c/t'd from opiates, I gained about 20-25 lbs. I've always been small, so I felt huge (even though others told me I looked "healthy"). I wasn't in a position where I could turn all that weight gain into muscle, and I wasn't at all comfortable with the extra pounds, so I cut out refined sugars, made sure my snack foods were healthy, and started eating regular meals instead of grazing. I also upped my water intake. Over the course of a few months, the weight came off.

Peace & Love,
Sugah

I was only on suboxone a very short time.I have gained alot of weight.(35)The thing is I quit cigarettes at the same time.It's been a long and snowy winter I think once we get out and live life fully not under the influense of any mind altering drug we will move more and hopefully lose it:ghug2

I’ll take a clean and healthy fat girls any time of the day. But your second sentence scares me a little.

Be careful for what you ask for, you might just get it.

I know, it wasn't very encouraging.

I dont know. I mean opiates tend to keep us thin so quitting them (obviously you know suboxone is an opiate too) will inevitably make us gain some weight I would imagine. Maybe you are now where you SHOULD be. Our metabolism naturally slows as we get older too. I think you should just keep doing what youre doing- eating right, excersising etc. Hey I would much rather be fat than an addict though and thats the truth.
By the way- I am in NC too.

i agree with all of you about how its better to be sober than a thinner junky. but the thing is, then i was strung out i wasn't thin. i looked like death because i had black circles under my eyes all the time and my body was covered in bruises and abscesses from where i missed, my circulation is still awful even after 2 years clean from needles, my hands and feet are constantly swollen but i was a healthy weight. i'm 5'3" and use to weigh 150 lbs, now i'm almost 175. when i started shooting heroin my body changed and i started gaining weight even though i never eat. after 5 years of sitting on a couch watching tv all my muscles have atrophied and it's taking for ever to build strength again.
it's been a long dark road becoming a human again, and i appreciate everyone's advice and input. after two long years i'm back in school, working a job and living with my sister who refuses to let me fail. today i don't mind her random drug tests where in the beginning i pissed me off. i call her to let her know where i am and she is finally starting to trust me again. it feels good.

Congratulations you on your accomplishments. Keep up the good work. Now I have better understanding of your dilemma.

I can tell you what work for me. I gain over 100lb when I was active. Once I put down all the substances and I had some clean time under my belt. It was time to lose the weight.

Like you I tried cutting down on calories and exercise with no success. A friend from the rooms suggested that I try the Akins diet and low and behold in less then a year I was down to my normal weight.

There is a lot of information online on the Akins diet. Including there own web site. Before you start any diet you should consult with a doctor first. I did.

I hope this helps.
Stay strong.
Ivan

hey cleanandfat, I have a sister, who was addicted to opiates for years. She stopped doing drugs and got heavy. But that was the first year. After that first year passed she went back to her normal weight. She was hungry. When she was using she didnt eat. She just got high. I think you will probably go back to normal. At least your off the drugs now. Congratulations and God Bless :c011: How did you feel coming off the suboxone? I am curious as to my son just stopped taking it a short while ago. Be proud of yourself, and watch what you eat. Stay away from fatty foods. Exercise is great, and just stay healthy. Good Luck... Angel :You_Rock_

better fat than dead...

thanks angle, coming off suboxone wasn't that bad. granted i only taking .5 mg a day when i quit. the first 3 days were a breeze then all of a sudden the weirdness started. i get really emotionally distant, i felt far away from everything around me. but that only lasted for a couple days. then it was over. i could sleep, eat, talk. you know, the difficult things to do in life.

oh and tryin2recover....did you come up with that phrase all by your lonesome? i mean come on...really?

when i started taking my suboxone i weighed probably 150lbs and for my body type i was fine with that, the longer i was on it the more i weighed i am currently at 205lbs and realized i was replacing food for my drug of choose even with the suboxone i was using food to fill this void in me i didn't even realize i as doing it till someone in my family pointed out that i had really been putting on weight. when i quit using i detatched myself from all the people i use to talk to and stayed in my house watched tv ate food read my na book and ate more food, lol. now i have been watching my cals and getting more excersize and just always moving. i hated how i felt i was always tired and i couldn't play with my 4year old son it started making me very angry at the world and also depressed. so when i started doing more stuff at first i was winded and tired easily but now i am a couple weeks into it and i feel so much better and i have already lost weight. i have experienced recovery weight before this time but never in the way i did this time but then again everything about "this time" is diffrent. :)

thanks for letting me share family.
Dani :ghug

I quit opiates in October and have put on about 25 lbs. I hate it I've always been heavy, but 10 years ago i lost 80 lbs I had gained about 20 back, now with this I've gained over 1/2 back.I've tried to hit the gym, I lost 10 ,but gained it back.When I was on opiates I ate everything Ice cream drank beer, but I guess not as much portions.

I've lost 15lbs since I've been off Suboxone. I think most of that though was backed up **** since I was always VERY VERY VERY constipated on it. Sorry if that was too much info. LOL..

For me, I'm currently on sub and I've gained weight. Could also be that before recovery 6 months ago, I was eating 30, 10mg pills a day plus smoking cocaine every day...so I probably needed to gain.

Now I need to get my exercise on!