|
Why the weight gain when you quit meth?
mdfaz
alea |
Why weight gain when you quit meth?
Okay, I got clean 19 months ago and I used
methamphetamine for 17 years, up my nose, everyday, including
weekends and holidays. I use to weigh 115 pounds and I am 5'1".
NOW I weigh 168 lbs. OMG! Okay I have maxed this weight for the
last 6 months sooo I don't think (heheh) I'm going to get any
bigger. My sponsor says that I'm healthy now BUT huh? I don't
feel like I am physically. I mean I never thought I would want
to try a size 16 pants okay. OMG help me figure this out. |
le
grumps |
Re: Why weight gain when you quit meth?
I know EXACTLY how you feel, I am going
through the same exact thing. There is actually another post
about this (sort of), I'll try to link it for you.
The weight gain is probably due to your body being in starvation
mode for so long that your body is now storing fat in
anticipation of another starvation period. It may not be the
only thing going on, but for getting off of meth, I think it's
at the core of it.
Also, your metabolism gets completely out of whack after
prolonged meth use. So, you are now living with a much slower
metabolism, PLUS eating more, PLUS your body storing more fat
because it's expecting another food deficit.
A healthy diet and exercise is really the way to manage your
weight and improve your metabolism.
TRUST ME, you don't want to wait and "see" if you lose the
weight... because in my case I waited until I had gained 110 lbs
before finally admitting that my body is not the same as it was
before. I am just now beginning an exercise routine. I'd
consider myself lucky if i lost 60 of those pounds, and I'd be
ecstatic if I lost 80.
Congrats on the clean time! Try not to sweat what you weigh or
what size you wear... focus on self acceptance and doing the
things that in the end, will have you feeling good on the
inside.
As it is, it's often the same kinds of things that have you
looking healthier, too. |
| Loraura |
Re: Why weight gain when you quit meth?
Metabolism, Weight Gain and Recovery from
Meth
Recovering from active meth addiction presents some special
challenges, one of those being unwanted weight gain. Before
understanding some specific weight problems related to meth use,
we need to have a good understanding of how our metabolism works
in general.
How does the human metabolism work?
Metabolism is a big word that means the rate at which the body
uses energy.
We eat, taking in calories, which are broken down and used for
energy. When there is a surplus, the body will store it as fat.
In order to use up that stored fat for energy, we must eat fewer
calories than our bodies require for the energy we use.
We could accomplish this by reducing calories, or increasing the
amount of energy used. Or both. It looks simple. But it’s not.
If we only ate for energy, this would probably be rather easy.
However, we generally eat for many more reasons than simple
energy needs.
Eating for Nutrients
Our bodies use specific amino acids found in certain foods for a
variety of purposes. For example, we need protein in order to
make dopamine (a brain chemical that governs our moods and
energy levels, which is destroyed while using meth). If we don’t
eat enough protein, our bodies will begin breaking down our own
muscle tissue. This often happens when people forget to eat
because they are high on meth. During this time, more protein is
lost than what is replaced. This imbalance causes a gradual loss
in lean muscle. This causes a big problem.
You see, lean muscle burns up to 20 times more calories than the
same amount of weight in fat. For example: a 200 pound body
builder, who has lots of lean muscle and barely any body fat,
burns more calories just sitting on the couch watching Oprah
than a different 200 pound person, who has much less lean muscle
mass, but carries around 60 pounds of fat with them. Fat doesn’t
burn any calories. Muscle does. These two people can weigh the
exact same weight, and have drastically different metabolisms.
That means they would have to eat and exercise very differently
if they wanted to maintain or lose weight.
This is worth repeating: If we deprive ourselves of the protein
our bodies need, the body will break down lean muscle mass,
which results in a slower metabolism. This means that it is even
harder to burn off the fat, and we would require even less
calories or even more exercise to maintain our weight.
On the other hand, adding a few extra pounds of lean muscle can
increase metabolic rate by up to 200 calories per day.
This is of particular importance to someone who is in
recovery from meth addiction. Many meth users have spent weeks
and months at a time depriving their bodies of enough calories
and protein to function. During that time, the body had no
choice but to break down existing lean muscle mass and use up
stored fat. Now that they have stopped using, they have much
less muscle than before, which means that their metabolism is
much slower than before. If they ate the same things they did
before they used without gaining weight, they would now gain
weight. They would have to eat less (or exercise more) to
achieve the same results. They would have to eat A LOT LESS (or
exercise A LOT MORE), to lose weight.
Increasing exercise is especially challenging for recovering
meth addicts, because movement relies on dopamine which is
generally in short supply in early recovery.
Eating less wouldn’t be so hard if the recovering
addict’s body wasn’t deprived of vital nutrients, causing the
brain to send out messages to FEED ME!!! FEED ME!!!
Our bodies experience cravings to satisfy nutritional needs as
well as in response to chemical reactions in the brain. This is
a survival tactic. It’s supposed to work this way. Let me
explain:
Sometimes we eat because we have a craving. Some cravings are
just a result of our bodies telling us that we need something.
Maybe we need sodium, so we crave salty foods. Maybe we are low
on energy and crave quickly-converted carbohydrates. Perhaps our
blood sugar has dropped too low, and we crave sugar to fix the
problem. These cravings have kept us humans alive by
subconsciously telling us to eat what we need.
Recovering meth addicts face a particularly hard battle
with weight gain because on one hand, they need much less
calories now than before. On the other hand, they need nutrients
so their brain tells them to eat!
Mixed Signals
For many people, craving signals can be confusing. For example:
almost every one of us will experience cravings for unknown
foods, which tend to be hard to satisfy (resulting in continuous
trips to the fridge) because we have confused the feelings of
thirst with that of hunger. We feel like we are missing
something… so we keep eating… but what we actually needed was
water. Eventually we will either get enough water out of the
foods we ate to make the craving subside, or the discomfort of
being too full will outweigh the craving for water, and we will
stop eating. However, by overeating, instead of drinking, we
took in way more calories than we can use. This translates into
stored fat.
As a “double whammy” over 70% of bodily functions take place in
water - not enough water causes all our systems to slow down. We
want to speed things up, not slow them down!
A recovering meth addict also dehydrated their body while they
were using. Re-hydration is very important in beginning to
repair the damage done to the metabolism.
Sometimes people eat because it makes them feel better. This is
due to the chemical reactions that occur when we eat certain
foods. Sugar and carbohydrates cause dopamine to release in the
brain, which elevates mood. People who have learned to connect
eating sweets and carbs with feeling better can easily fall into
the habit of eating to cope with a feeling they don’t like,
rather than eating to provide the body with nutrients or
calories for energy.
Foods are a drug when it comes down to it. Food can be abused
just like drugs can.
Many chemical reactions occur when we eat. Another example: when
our tummies are full, our bodies send signals to the brain to
stop eating. Those signals are accomplished by the brain
chemical Serotonin being released in the brain. Unfortunately,
serotonin is also partly responsible for a general feeling of
wellness. Low serotonin levels are associated with depression.
So eating until you are full increases serotonin levels, which
decreases feelings of depression. One can easily make a habit of
overeating to make up for feeling low.
Eating to overcome neurotransmitter imbalances tends to result
in a marked increase in calorie intake. Without increasing
activity and lean muscle mass, our bodies have no choice but to
store the extra calories as fat. In addition, we’ve stuffed
ourselves with food we don’t need, leaving no room for food we
DO NEED, causing our bodies to lose more lean muscle mass and
decrease our metabolisms even further. It’s like a snowball
rolling down hill. As the cycle continues, it gets exponentially
worse.
Recovering meth addicts suffer from notably low dopamine
levels. The brain will naturally attempt to get a dopamine
release just to feel normal. This results in sugar and
carbohydrate cravings. Just when what they really needed was
protein, the brain tells them to seek out sugar! Very
frustrating, indeed.
How often you eat has a big impact on your metabolism. The
longer you go between meals the more your metabolism slows down
to conserve energy and the more likely the body will break down
it's own lean muscle mass. So if you haven’t eaten in days, your
metabolism is at an all time low. This means when you DO eat,
you will not be able to use all those calories for energy
because your body is still in the mode to conserve energy. This
translates to stored fat. AGAIN!!
Eating smaller, more frequent meals assures your body that food
is readily available, and there is no need to conserve energy.
This raises your metabolism. Eating 4 smaller meals, rather than
3 larger ones, is much more conducive to weight loss.
An active meth addict who rarely eats is forcing their
metabolism to slow to a crawl. It takes time for the body to
adjust to being fed regularly again, and even then, there is
still less lean muscle mass to use those calories.
Unfortunately, eating nothing but low calorie, low fat products
doesn’t work very well. Our bodies need a certain amount of fat
in order to be healthy. For example, hormone production is
reliant on at least a little bit of fat in the diet. Low-fat
diets tend to result in poor hormone production, which leads to
a slower metabolism. We don’t want that again!
While the metabolism does slow some due to aging, most of what
we notice is actually due to a reduction in physical activity
and lean muscle mass. Think about how active you were in high
school, or shortly after. Always running around, lots of walking
places, maybe sports or dancing on a regular basis. Fast forward
10 or 20 years, throw a few kids in the mix, and there is
probably a whole lot less physical activity happening, and a
whole lot more Oprah watching going on.
Physical activity and lean muscle mass have a much bigger impact
on metabolism than aging.
So what do I do now?
Well, here is my “Top 10 List” of suggestions to address a slow
metabolism, weather meth induced, or otherwise:
10. Increase physical activity. Just walking 45 minutes a day
will burn more calories and build lean muscle mass.
9. Drink plenty of water. This increases metabolism and reduces
the chances of a thirst craving being misinterpreted as a hunger
craving. No, Cokes and Coffee are not water substitutes…. In
fact, caffeinated drinks will dehydrate you and often have too
much sodium.
8. Speaking of sodium…. lay off the salt! Sodium is one of the
most common appetite increasers!
7. Plan regular balanced meals that provide the nutrients we
need. A multi vitamin couldn’t hurt. Break 3 meals into 4
smaller meals.
6. Do not skip meals. Yes, breakfast really is a meal.
5. Don’t allow yourself to get so hungry that you make poor food
choices.
4. Don’t eat until you are stuffed. Our bodies take some time to
communicate to our brains that we are full. Give it that time!
3. Keep a diary of what you eat. Make special notes if you eat
something and realize later that it was a coping mechanism.
Write it down if you were feeling bored, or lonely, or stressed,
or upset when you made a bad food choice. Therapy or self-help
books can help you deal with these “food issues”, by helping you
learn new, positive ways to cope with those feelings. Just like
with drug use, abstaining from coco-crispies is not recovery
from eating as a coping mechanism!
2. Build lean muscle mass. Very simple exercises that can be
done in the home without buying any equipment or weights are
quite effective. Do some arm curls with an empty milk jug filled
with water or sand. Stand on your tippy-toes for 5 minutes. Lift
that basket of laundry up and down 10 times before hiding it
behind the couch!
1. Give it time. If your metabolism has been slowed due to meth
abuse or crash dieting, it will take time for your body to
recover and “believe you” that you won’t starve yourself of
nutrients or calories again
|
| Rescue |
Re: Why weight gain when you quit meth?
I knew ahead of time weight gain would come
when meth left and being a former truck driver already had me in
a jam of sorts-confined and less physically fit and active. My
friend made my stubborn-headed self go see a doctor, as I have
had no regular doctor because I am a hard-headed man (I am
working on changing the hard headedness). Without seeing a
doctor first and seeing how physically sound you are and how
tolerant your body will be to exercise and what kind of
exercise, cutting back on junk food, eating smaller and more
frequent high-protein meals, and a good water intake are good
places to start.
My doctor has guided me into proper diet and exercise and it
does help, just not overnight. I am a somewhat vain man and I
hate any extra weight but I'll cope following the doctors advice
until my body is able to shed the weight. At least it beats drug
use hands down. Good luck and God Bless. |
mdfaz
alea |
Re: Why weight gain when you quit meth?
THANK YOU SOOOOOOOOOO MUCH Loraura and le
grumps. I am now printing out what you guys said to me because
this forum goes by so fast that this info will be gone by
tomorrow.
You know I don't feel fat and I don't feel ugly. I actually feel
beautiful and it's my mother and my brother and ya know the
people who aren't use to looking at me like this sooo I just
want to lose 40 lbs. No biggie I know I can do it. I quit
using...I go work 2 jobs. what the heck...Thank you for the info
and pats on the back!!!!! |
| lax2 |
Re: Why weight gain when you quit meth?
Did they like it better when you were
all skinny and tweaked out? |
| Loraura |
Re: Why weight gain when you quit meth?
You can find the article i posted above, and
others that I have written here:
www.kci.org/meth_info/res.../index.htm
You can bookmark that link so you don't lose the info as posts
here get older. |
Back to Crystal Meth & Methamphetamine Questions, Answers & Advice
THIS SITE DOES NOT PROVIDE MEDICAL ADVICE. The information provided is for educational purposes only and is not a substitute for professional medical advice. Always seek the advice of your health care professional if you have a specific health concern.
|
