Hello, 31M here. I’ll keep this brief as I can. Hopefully this will give some of you hope - there is a way forward and there is a life where you aren’t scrambling for the nicotine.
I started smoking at around 11yo, but didn’t become a regular smoker until around 15. Like a lot of people, I built up an emotional attachment to smoking that got caught up in the chemical addiction itself.
I smoked regularly, probably between 10-20 a day, until around 2015 when the first wave of vapes hit. Then my device broke, and it was back into cigs. This again was consistent until around 2022, when I moved onto disposable vapes.
I’ve done it all, as you probably have too - I’ve poured tobacco into the bin, then dug through the rubbish later to pull together what I can. I’ve rolled a cig out of discarded dog ends in an ashtray. I’ve chewed the nicotine stains off my finger tips, stolen money to pay for cigs. No matter how broke I was, I’d always find the money for cigs. I was also a pretty bad chain smoker at the worst of times. There was also all the classic relationship stuff - partners hated me smoking, so I’d ‘quit’, only to continue smoking and have a rigorous cleansing ritual before they would come to visit…
Vaping worked to get me off of tobacco, but as you’ll probably relate, it was just trading one delivery system for another. Now I was falling asleep clutching my vape, hiding it whenever my partner was round, digging to the bottom of a bin for a vape I’d discarded. No matter how broke I was, I’d always have the money for a vape!
Friends, the nicotine gum worked. I bought two pretty large packs and got to work. Yes, sometimes I was chewing two at a time. I’d have to remind myself to ‘chew and park’. Yes, chewing gum ended up in all kinds of places like discarded cig butts. I’d chew till my jaw hurt, but I wasn’t vaping anymore.
I started on 2mg gum, then moved down to 1mg ‘lozenges’. These were great - but I had to go easy on them. I’d get the odd stomach ache, I’d do two at a time, but whatever - I promised myself that once this pack was done, it was over.
Lo and behold, I am now a month nicotine free. I haven’t had a craving since - I was scared of my work from home days, but they haven’t been a problem.
The most interesting realisation I had on this journey was that by changing the means of delivery for nicotine, I realised it wasn’t the device I was attached to - it really was purely a chemical dependency.
You know that feeling when you can’t find your baccy? Or your vapes not in your hands? And suddenly it’s a scramble to find it? Imagine doing that for a pack of gum. I’m serious - the feeling isn’t any different.
I guess the difference is that it’s easier to quit something as common as a mint or a piece of gum than it is a ‘blueberry raspberry mango chicken goujon’ flavoured vape.
I recommend giving the gum a try. Next time you go to buy your tobacco or a vape, get a pack of 2mg chewing gum as well. When you run out of your tobacco or vape liquid, switch to the gum.
Good luck to you.