first off, it's pretty gross. The mint doesn't taste awful, but the release of nicotine makes your mouth tingle & feel numb & weird. You also have to hold the chewed piece against your gums like chewing tobacco for nicotine absorption, so it's overall unpleasant.
Also, it's slow release, so it doesn't give you a "hit" of nicotine like smoking would.
It does help with strong cravings, but nicotine replacements in general are something you have to decide on. They do help ease the quitting process, but also prolong it quite a bit. So you have to decide whether you want an agonizing, quick experience, or a slow one.
For me, the hugest factor in being able to quit was recognizing my "triggers." There were certain things that I strongly, strongly associated with smoking, so I had to replace smoking with something else. This is why a lot of people have success with vape- it weans you off the nicotine while giving you the physical feeling of smoking.
There's some book by a guy named Alan carr that a lot of ex smokers swear by. You might want to check that out.
Anyways, congratulations on making the decision. For me, that was one of the hardest parts. You should be proud of yourself.
Thank you. It is a decision that I really would like to succeed at. When you're still keeping yourself addicted to nicotine through nicotine gum though, you're at least no longer harming your lungs with smoke and toxins, that still seems like a step forward to me. I could continue to battle getting off the nicotine gum but at least my lungs would be healing.
Oh yeah, you're definitely right about the gum being preferable health-wise. I was just trying to let you know about some of the negative aspects so you could make an informed decision before you purchase it.
If you've had trouble quitting cold turkey, it's definitely a useful crutch.
Quitting in general is the best choice. Do whatever you need to do to get there.
Good, I didn't think so. It's the smoke that blackens the lungs. I'm going to quit smoking now. I'm actually starting to feel pretty stoked about it now, I'll probably soon be able to breathe easier than I've been able to in months. And risk of stroke goes down too if you quit smoking, doesn't it
Yes it does.
BTW, use that motivation to start a solid quit.
I would say the best time to quit is when you will have at least two or three days to suffer in peace, like say at the start of the weekend. That way you do not have people at work pissing you off and making you want to light up.
The point is, try to plan for a day when you can get your heels firmly planted to get the best start.
ALSO, toss out any tobacco as to avoid temptation. Now me, honestly, if I had cigarettes laying around I would smoke. I bought s pack a week ago and smoked a few but had my room mate destroy the remaining ones cause I simply cannot resist smoking if there are any available.
I unfortunately am still battling trying to quit smoking. I did say over a week ago that I made it 24 hours but I then gave in because I still was feeling rough, I know I shouldn't have but it's hard.
I see your point about how it may be harder to quit during the week due to work stress, but I've also had weekend stress last week when a member of my family was starting an argument with me and I then gave in and bought some more smokes due to the stress of that, and that was on Saturday. Also, and I probably shouldn't use this as an excuse, but I still let it get in my way: I feel that the weekend is an important time to unwind from the stresses of the week, but, aside from my family stirring me up last weekend, I've also noticed the point of when I'm spending an entire weekend feeling agitated and crappy from nicotine withdrawal, I'm wasting my chance to unwind. However, it's also hard during the week due to work stress. This is kind of a catch-22. I'm having no unwinding days this way.
But, I do need to think of some way to break out of the catch-22, and I guess this would be the only way: I simply just toss one weekend of my life away and endure the nicotine withdrawal, and I'll just basically have about a 12 consecutive day period where I have no days to unwind, it'll be 5 days work stress, 2 days withdrawal stress, 5 days work stress, before I next have a weekend I can relax a little more. But even though I'm finding the thought of this hard to do, I'm going to have to do it. I mean, what are 12 days out of your life in the whole scheme of things?
Questions for my fellow smokers, nicotine gum?
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I've quit & done both the patch & gum.
So the gum:
first off, it's pretty gross. The mint doesn't taste awful, but the release of nicotine makes your mouth tingle & feel numb & weird. You also have to hold the chewed piece against your gums like chewing tobacco for nicotine absorption, so it's overall unpleasant.
Also, it's slow release, so it doesn't give you a "hit" of nicotine like smoking would.
It does help with strong cravings, but nicotine replacements in general are something you have to decide on. They do help ease the quitting process, but also prolong it quite a bit. So you have to decide whether you want an agonizing, quick experience, or a slow one.
For me, the hugest factor in being able to quit was recognizing my "triggers." There were certain things that I strongly, strongly associated with smoking, so I had to replace smoking with something else. This is why a lot of people have success with vape- it weans you off the nicotine while giving you the physical feeling of smoking.
There's some book by a guy named Alan carr that a lot of ex smokers swear by. You might want to check that out.
Anyways, congratulations on making the decision. For me, that was one of the hardest parts. You should be proud of yourself.
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CountessDouche
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Thank you. It is a decision that I really would like to succeed at. When you're still keeping yourself addicted to nicotine through nicotine gum though, you're at least no longer harming your lungs with smoke and toxins, that still seems like a step forward to me. I could continue to battle getting off the nicotine gum but at least my lungs would be healing.
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CountessDouche
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Oh yeah, you're definitely right about the gum being preferable health-wise. I was just trying to let you know about some of the negative aspects so you could make an informed decision before you purchase it.
If you've had trouble quitting cold turkey, it's definitely a useful crutch.
Quitting in general is the best choice. Do whatever you need to do to get there.
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Ok. Because gum is less harmful for the lungs than smoking, I'll do that so I don't have such bad withdrawal. I'll switch to the gum
Oh also, for me the gum was better than the patch for a few reasons.
It was faster because there was no constant supply of nicotine, so I could use it only when I had a strong craving.
It was gross AF, so I didn't want it unless I needed it.
Be careful though, because there are tons of people who get addicted to the gum.
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Getting addicted to the nicotine gum though, at least you'd no longer be messing up your lungs and blackening your lungs, would you?
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leggs91200
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No. Gum has no effect on your lungs.
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Good, I didn't think so. It's the smoke that blackens the lungs. I'm going to quit smoking now. I'm actually starting to feel pretty stoked about it now, I'll probably soon be able to breathe easier than I've been able to in months. And risk of stroke goes down too if you quit smoking, doesn't it
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Yes it does.
BTW, use that motivation to start a solid quit.
I would say the best time to quit is when you will have at least two or three days to suffer in peace, like say at the start of the weekend. That way you do not have people at work pissing you off and making you want to light up.
The point is, try to plan for a day when you can get your heels firmly planted to get the best start.
ALSO, toss out any tobacco as to avoid temptation. Now me, honestly, if I had cigarettes laying around I would smoke. I bought s pack a week ago and smoked a few but had my room mate destroy the remaining ones cause I simply cannot resist smoking if there are any available.
--
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I unfortunately am still battling trying to quit smoking. I did say over a week ago that I made it 24 hours but I then gave in because I still was feeling rough, I know I shouldn't have but it's hard.
I see your point about how it may be harder to quit during the week due to work stress, but I've also had weekend stress last week when a member of my family was starting an argument with me and I then gave in and bought some more smokes due to the stress of that, and that was on Saturday. Also, and I probably shouldn't use this as an excuse, but I still let it get in my way: I feel that the weekend is an important time to unwind from the stresses of the week, but, aside from my family stirring me up last weekend, I've also noticed the point of when I'm spending an entire weekend feeling agitated and crappy from nicotine withdrawal, I'm wasting my chance to unwind. However, it's also hard during the week due to work stress. This is kind of a catch-22. I'm having no unwinding days this way.
But, I do need to think of some way to break out of the catch-22, and I guess this would be the only way: I simply just toss one weekend of my life away and endure the nicotine withdrawal, and I'll just basically have about a 12 consecutive day period where I have no days to unwind, it'll be 5 days work stress, 2 days withdrawal stress, 5 days work stress, before I next have a weekend I can relax a little more. But even though I'm finding the thought of this hard to do, I'm going to have to do it. I mean, what are 12 days out of your life in the whole scheme of things?