The warning on the package of nicotine gum says not to use it until you stop smoking completely.
But I want to use it a temporary substitute for the nasty weed on long plane flights or when the coughing reaches such a ferocity that it puts out the flame on the lighter everytime I try to light up.
Any thoughts, or experiences to share?
Unless you plan on quitting for good, don’t mess with the nicotine gum. It’s a drug, and an expensive one at that. Use regular gum, sleep on th plane, and if it’s still a problem, book a flight with connecting stops for smoke breaks.
Now, if you want to QUIT, I would suggest seeing your doctor and getting Zyban. It works, if you want to quit.
Yer pal,
Satan
way back when the gum was perscription only,a good friend of mine got a good deal on some (nothin shady his wife was a PA who got deep discounts) We deciced it was time to stop smoking and used to sit around in his studio chewing the stuff. It was nasty tasting stuff and we discovered that the taste of a cigarette made it more palatable. we got quite a buzz. The manufacturer is covering himself, that gum has a lot of nicotine in it and there is the slight possibility of an overdose if you chew and smoke. As for chewing regular gum instead, it just don’t work for a true nicotine addict.That’s the purpose of the gum and the patches etc.To give you the fix,while you concentrate on the other physical aspects of the habit.And that’s a reason the gum won’t help a hell of a lot in a boring situation or a situation where you nwould otherwise 'naturally light up ( after a meal) the ritual isn’t there. I gotta tell you those patches don’t work so good tho ,they don’t burn very evenly.
“Pardon me while I have a strange interlude.”-Marx
I have a friend who smoked while wearing the patch and chewing nicorette gum at the same time. It didn’t kill him…but I shudder to think of what it was doing to his nervous system.
Don’t mess with the gum until you have made a commitment to yourself to quit smoking for good. Then it will supplement that determination to quit.
My favorite thing to say at family get togethers: “I have been considering starting smoking, but I’m lazy and lack resolve. Maybe I should start with the gum and work up to actually smoking.”
There are also ads on tv about a RX drug for this. Seems easier to take one of those. They don’t look like nicotine though. I wonder how those work?
Handy, that is the Zyban I was talking about. It is a pill made of Welbutrine (spp), a drug originally used (and still, Ii believe) to treat depression. Doctors found that it took away the desire to smoke because it told the part of the brain that gets addicted that it really isn’t. That part of the brain loses interest, voila! So does the smoker.
Also, unlie the patch and gum, you actually smoke for a couple of weeks after you start taking the drug, until you hit a quit date after the drug starts effecting your body.
Before then, cigarettes taste funny, feel odd in your hands, and are generally NOT very appealing.
I stopped for seven months with it’s help. I fell off the wagon, unfortunately, but I know better for when I quit next time, and I will eventually.
Yer pal,
Satan
A kid at a high school in my town was apparently expelled for bringing Zyban to class.
I think that’s the first case of a kid getting in trouble for getting unhooked off drugs.
I use the 4 mg. Nicorette and smoke…BUT, just to be safe, I wait at least an hour. I use the gum to get thru the work day - can’t smoke in the office (of course!) and I hate standing outside. As for the taste, they have a mint flavored Nicorette now, but I prefer the regular. Just doesn’t seem as strong with the minty flavor.
I used the gum when it was 'scrip and quit for 9 months. They finally cut me off and it was a matter of (2)days before I was back on the ciggies. You have to learn to chew it, but it worked great for me. BUT, to get to the OP question, I would not mix the two. I regularly (well, when business isn’t in the pits - merry xmas folks) have days where I get up at some unspeakable hour and go to the airport and fly to another city and meet with people all day long and work and rush to the airport and fly back and get to my hometown about 6:30 or so and wind up going through a long working day without a smoke for ~12-13 hours. I’m a fairly heavy smoker (~1.5 packs a day), but I can do a day without pretty easily; but I did have to convince myself of that. I focus my thoughts on what’s before me, and, really, I had to train myself to do this, I will not let myself dwell on the thought of a smoke.
Hope it helps.
Probably the biggest worry with using nicotine supplements while smoking is raising the blood levels of the drug to much higher levels than smoking alone would.
While OD is a marginal risk at best, the higher levels may result in increased nicotine craving as the levels drop off. The result being, you now require a higher nicotine level to support your addiction. Translated roughly, it makes it harder to quit as you now are (in effect) a 2 pack a day addict rather than the single pack you were before you started boosting the nicotine levels of your cigs with gum.
Didn’t some states recently sue tobacco companies for artificily boosting nicotine levels of cigs to insure addiction?