Addicted to the Gum

[MiwSher]

Anyone else have this problem?


MiwSher

[Synnical]

1. My mom

Chews packs of them everyday. She's been on them for years and years. Which is why I don't want to quit that way. Going to try the patch, though.

-Cindy in Fort Lauderdale

[murielm99]

2. The patch was great for me.

BTW, I don't think it is so awful for your mom to chew the gum every day. It is much, much better than smoking.

The nicotine may be the addictive part, but the rest of the stuff in cigarettes is what kills you.

[Synnical]

3. Mom ended up with Nose and Throat Cancer

Nasopharyngeal to be exact. Did the gum contribute to her disease? Don't know, will never know. But she want thru some wicked chemo and radiation treatments and has yet to fully recover. She's 70 years old and will never be the person she was before the cancer treatments - taste buds are gone, feeling lacking in her fingers, memory issues. She's cancer free at this point, two years after treatment finalized, but she's not the Mom I knew. Part of this, of course, is due to simply aging, but the chemo and radiation are definitely responsible for the taste buds failing (she just doesn't eat anymore!) and lack of feeling in her fingers.

I won't use the gum to quit. But, hey, I've read your posts and am committed to quitting again on Feb 20th, and this time I'm going to use the patch.

Thank you so much! May I PM you when I get a craving?

-Cindy in Fort Lauderdale

[murielm99]

4. I am so sorry about your mom.

She must be suffering. You probably suffer too, watching it.

My mom quit at 49. She was not going to turn 50 as a smoker. She quit cold turkey. She is 76 now. She was recently diagnosed with asthma. I don't know if that is smoking related, but it seems to be her only health problem.

Please do PM me if you get a crave. I am not expert, but we can help each other. This is the hardest thing I have ever done. And it is a work in progress.

[Synnical]

5. Thanks

As I stated, I'm quitting again on the 20th, with the help of the patch this time.

Glad your mom is otherwise healthy - my bro has asthma - was acute in his childhood, manageable now. He was never a smoker, of cigs anyway. Smoked pot in his teens, as did I.

BTW - My Dad (72) and a 50+ year smoker, is Day 16 without a cig using the patch. I'm so proud of him.

Thanks for the support.

-Cindy in Fort Lauderdale