I stopped sticking cancer-sticks in my mouth and inhaling the toxic fumes about four weeks ago, but I did it via the aid of nicotine chewy, and may I say it has been remarkably easy…after 30 odd years as an avid fag-addict, I surprised even myself!
What I’m interested in now is the regimen for weaning oneself off’ve the gum. Of more interest are the long-term health ramifications of STAYING on the gum…I’ve heard of folks who, five years after stopping smoking, are still chewing away like madmen, but are suffering no ill-health effects. Is this possibly true?
Gimme your giving-up stories please. I await with bated (but non-smokey) breath.
I met someone the other day who was still using the nicotine gum 10 years later! I did think that was a bit too long!
Figure out how many pieces you are using each day, and if there are particular times when you want that gum, then you can decide if you want to 1) use one less piece every few days 2) wait longer between times of starting a new piece
Think about what you want the gum to “do” (calm you down or perk you up or whatever), then think of other things you can do instead to accomplish the same result.
I was on the gum for about a year and a half. Off the nic for about 10 years. At first I just used it whenever. Later I had to kind of plan out how much I was going to use in a day, like one piece every two hours. Then I would try skipping a piece every now and then. Eventually I managed to pare it down to a few essential times - after meals, with my coffee in the morning.
When you get down to 4 or 5 a day and realize that the gum has just become a symbol (“Mmmm, time to relax and have some coffee and gum”) then you can try letting go.
One big step with the gum is when you go from HiTest (4mg) to low-grade (2mg). At this point I actually started using more, which cost more, and it just wasn’t very satisfying for a while. Stay strong. In all cases chewing gum is better than smoking, even if you can’t give up the gum.