Being Addicted to nrt gum...

[TwiceOver]

On Friday night we had our company Christmas party. Unlike previous years we had to cut back a bit and had have the party is a cheaper location. The "room" wasn't completely private and there was a lot of noise from the bar and such while our owner gave the speech. Our owner has been "quit" for several years (10+). I went to the coat closet to get my camera out of my coat and he came rushing in mumbling "damn drunks" and grabbing his pack of Nicorette out of his coat. He was literally shaking like I had seen myself in the past when I really "needed" a smoke. He has been hooked all this time...

My mom also suffers from the same addiction to nicotine gum. She actually pays more for the gum than per pack of smokes. Arguably it is a better solution, but still can lead to serious health problems.

Just a word of caution to those thinking of using the gum. I'm sure it has worked great for some in the past, but it can become just as addictive.

[soul]

I know countless people addicted to the gum or to the lozanges. That is one of the reasons i went cold turkey!

[April]

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[WTBF]

I know someone at work that quit three years ago, but still uses NRT gum.

And as for following directions, I used Nicorette for six years while "trying" to quit.

[lolopixie]

Wow, I really didn't think that people became addicted to the gum and other aids. This being my second quit, I have used the patch both times and was able to come off of it fairly easily. I knew that if I went straight cold turkey the first day I would never be able to make it. We are all nicotine addicts, and eventually in order to truly be free we have to quit whatever aid we are using to get over it (of course meaning aids that include nicotine). I think that the aids are a great thing to use, just as long as you either follow directions or take yourself off them before the directions say to. After reading Katie's story, I bet I do know people that are addicted to the aids and are just closeted about it - crazy!

Katie - I'm glad you were finally able to kick your demon. Good job!

[Mountaingirl]

Wow Katie-Thank you for sharing that amazing story. I am sure that you are not alone and your story will be eye opening to many readers here.

[WTBF]

Tim, it does not surprise me at all that you used both the gum and still smoked—I can totally see how folks do that. I did not, but if I were still smoking and had already tried the gum BEFORE...I am quite sure I would have done it too....you smoke when you can and then BECAUSE so many places are smokefree now, you use the gum when you cannot smoke--makes PERFECT sense to me and another reason why I think that gum is so insidious....

That's why I destroyed the gum I had at the same time I destroyed the cigarettes. After six years, it was pretty obvious that the gum was not helping me quit completely. It may have helped me reduce my cigarette consumption, but really it was just a trade-off; if I didn't use the gum my consumption would go right back up.

[soul]

Katie,
Thank you for your honesty. It is indeed by telling our stories that we continue to change and heal. I have to be honest and say that whenever i meet people who are on the gum or on the lozanges and who tell me that they have quit smoking, i do see them as "cheaters". All i see is tht they replaced one form of intake with another. Almost as if an alcoholic told me that he quit drinking --beer-- by drinking wine.
One of my friends was with me for Christmas, i knew she has been addicted to the lozanges for TEN years!!!!! and at one point, she took two sheets of those lozanges, punched them out of that sheet, like you would punch out some pills, and put them in her pocket! I could not believe what i was seeing. I tried to bring that topic up later in the evening and she mentioned she was doing so much better, and had not had "one" in an hour and a half!!!!........
I felt so bad for her. I wish i could do something to help her. SHe has countless medical problems, blood pressure, low immune system, unexplainable rashes on her body, eosophageal narrowing and on and on ............
I am glad Katie that you are off that stuff, so glad.
Thanks again for sharing.

[lolopixie]

I just got done reading the link you put up katie and wow that is quite an eye opener. I had no idea that there were no studies about this stuff. What in the world?!?!?!!?!? Makes me ashamed to have grown up where I did. Winston-Salem, NC. AKA RJR Corporate. Take a look at the address on Camels, Winstons, Salems, (clever in the naming aren't they???), Kool, Dorals, Eclipse, Pall Malls...and one other brand I can never remember the name of....anyways, it will list Winston Salem, NC on there. Being the 2nd largest tobacco company in the world, I am pretty sure there are quite a few people in Winston-Salem that are getting some kick backs from these aids. Tisk Tisk. Another fun fact about Winston-Salem, NC is that it has the most millionaires per capita in the US (per capita not the most) all attributed to RJR money.

But yes, after reading that information about people losing their hair and their blood pressue sky rocketing, I am shocked that there have not been studies conducted. That is just crazy to me. I don't know how big business is allowed to get away with what they get away with. At least we now know that smoking is bad for us. I know it wasn't always like that, and for MANY they found out too late. But if you smoke today you are well aware of the side effects. I'm going to have to check my patch box when I get home to see if it has any warnings listed on it....will report back later!

[April]

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[slocum]

Wow, a paradox Katiem...smokeless but not really free for almost 6 and a half years! Congratulations on your 5 months! Thank you for sharing your experience.

The freedom comes from letting go of the nicotine and whyquit.com has expressed this several times that when we use the word "cigarette" we need to replace it with the word "nicotine".

[WTBF]

Personally, I think it took a lot of courage to make that admission, and I am proud of you for doing so, katiem. From what I have seen on this board, no one changes their quit date to the date they stop using NRT, Zyban or Chantix, so I don't think you should have to either.

[*Lena*]

Oh my goodness. Reading that article about people getting as hopelessly addicted to NRT as they seemed to be to the cigarettes now makes me actually GLAD that my second attempt to quit smoking (that time I used Nicorette) failed!

I do have to say though, in subsequent years when I'd occasionally think of quitting, it did occur to me that being hooked on nicotine gum or patches or lozenges "had to be better than smoking cigarettes," from the health standpoint (i.e., no more breathing in the toxic fumes of the cigs or forcing other people to breathe it), and I'd think back on my failed Nicorette quit (the gum didn't "satisfy" me, plus I expected quitting with it to be "painless" which it wasn't, so I went back to smoking cigs after only 3 days on it) and wonder maybe if I tried the gum again, or maybe the patch or lozenges this time and and was more persistent/determined? There were times I'd walk into the pharmacy for something else and think to myself, "I'm here, why not buy some nicotine gum or patches and try to stop smoking, or maybe even use gum or patches from now on instead of smoking?" but just didn't, I don't know why. Well, reading this article, WOW.

Now I'm REALLY glad I quit smoking cold turkey.

~Lena.

[April]

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[KarenLou]

Katie my dear friend....you have absolutely no idea how proud I am of you these days....and you do know why. What you have said here about your nic gum addiction took ALOT of courage for you to say. I'm so glad you are beating this complete addiction...you are becoming the Katie the Good Lord intended for you to be...free of addictions. Your future is looking brighter and brighter from my perspective! Love you girl