Addicted to Nicotine Gum

dumbo

Has anyone ever become addicted to nicotine gum, I have been for almost 4 years & no matter what I try I cant kick the habit. I just want to chew all the time & I love the taste. Ive tried weaning off with ordinary gum but its not working. Ive tried eating boiled sweets but im popping these every 5 minutes & its not good for the teeth. Ive tried patched to ween me off the gum but I still want the chewing feeling, Im even grinding my teeth at night.
When I try to wean off I start feeling panicky & nervy, the same way I feel if I dont have any gum left.

Has anyone else ever felt this way & did you kick the gum habit, if so how?

Willyk

Try a google search for "Addicted to Nicotine gum"

dumbo

I've already tried this & it only brings up ads for nicotine gum & how to stop smoking

ooo000ooo

Have you tried smoking instead?

leftieM

You smoked cigarettes because you were addicted to nicotine. You chew nicotine gum because you are addicted to nicotine.

Forget about swapping one addiction for another. Just put the nicotine gum in the bin. The withdrawal symptoms feel like hunger pangs, they don't last long (a few minutes every few hours), they get further apart with time and after 3 weeks they are gone and you are free.

Indo77

dumbo,

The first thing I would say is to ignore anyone in this thread who have not been through the same experience.

I quit smoking in Feb 2009, strangely it was not the usual planned attempt. One morning in Feb 2009 I just decided to throw the cigs in the bin and made a decision to buy some cheap gum in semi-chem at lunchtime. At the time I thought it would be one of my usual futile attempts to stop but from that day onwards I never had another cig.

Of course I became addicted to the gum but I had heard that if you get over 48 hrs without nicotine then the addiction is gone. I must have eaten the gum for 16 months and tried on many occassions to quit. My big issue from withdrawing was the lack of sleep.

One day I decided to go for it and was willing to sacrafice 2 days sleep. By the 3rd night I was back to normal and the nicotine addiction was over. I am not saying you should stop sleeping only that it was a side effect from me giving up the gum. I probably got a few hours those first 2 nights. At that time I must add I was eating a lot of normal chewing gum.

Someone posted the withdrawl symptons last 3 weeks, this is nonsense. After 48 hrs the nicotine will be gone from your system. There are no pangs after this point and your addiction from the gum is over. By all means chew lots of ordinary gum after this if you feel the need to after association.

leftieM

I take offence to your describing my experience as 'nonsense'. I stopped smoking 15 years ago so perhaps I made a mistake in recalling the specifics. Or perhaps my experience was just different to yours.

I didn't use nicotine replacement so I can't talk about it specifically. Nicotine is nicotine however, whether it comes from a fag or gum, so the withdrawal symptoms are the same.

saverni

Dumbo, I really feel your pain on this. I've been hooked on 2 mg nicorette for nearly 3 years and I'm still struggling to kick it.

You're right, it certainly not good for the teeth especially if you have fillings.

The only advice I've been given is to try and switch to normal gum but as you say, it just don't work! I tried switching to the lozenges too but they don't give the same relief.

When I try to wean myself off it I get headaches and the odd dizzy spell, I guess we just have to ride out the storm.

Some good points by Indo77, I'm going to test the 48 hour theory after this pack.

Best of luck with kicking the habit (again).

Indo77

leftieM wrote: »

I take offence to your describing my experience as 'nonsense'. I stopped smoking 15 years ago so perhaps I made a mistake in recalling the specifics. Or perhaps my experience was just different to yours.

I didn't use nicotine replacement so I can't talk about it specifically. Nicotine is nicotine however, whether it comes from a fag or gum, so the withdrawal symptoms are the same.

Looking back at my post I can see why you would take offense and I apologise if I came across as self-assured, afterall I kept taking nicotine for a further 16 months. I was not a cold turkey quitter until it came to the gum. To clarify any physical addiction to nicotine is gone between 48 hours and 72 hours. The psychological elements may remain for a period of time.

In the case of dumbo the psychological elements of smoking itself are well behind him/her but not gum taking. 2 days nicotine gum free will free dumbo from his/her physical addiction to nicotine. I would advise dumbo to chew as much normal gum in this period. After 48 hours dumbo should have no reason to take nicotine gum.

Indo77

saverni wrote: »

Dumbo, I really feel your pain on this. I've been hooked on 2 mg nicorette for nearly 3 years and I'm still struggling to kick it.

You're right, it certainly not good for the teeth especially if you have fillings.

The only advice I've been given is to try and switch to normal gum but as you say, it just don't work! I tried switching to the lozenges too but they don't give the same relief.

When I try to wean myself off it I get headaches and the odd dizzy spell, I guess we just have to ride out the storm.

Some good points by Indo77, I'm going to test the 48 hour theory after this pack.

Best of luck with kicking the habit (again).

After 48 hours saverni these symptoms will disappear. Chew normal gum in that period of time and a good practice would be to take up physical exercise or a hobby that you don't normally do. Do not worry about lack of sleep, you have your whole life to sleep. A distraction like a hobby, exercise (especially) or past-time is a major plus during this period. You can do it and free yourself from nicotine addiction forever,

dumbo

Thank you to to everyone for all your comments, I nned to pick a day & just go for it I think.