I will come to the question of “does nicotine gum help quit smoking” in a while but let me first tell you about a bit of my experience with it to give a clearer picture. I have smoked for about 10 years of my life; give or take a few months. In this entire duration, I must have quit smoking for at least 8 or 9 times. No I am not talking about the usual “I quit smoking” resolution where you quit for a few hours or a couple of days to return back to smoking again. My quitting was quite planned where I decided to stop smoking for a certain period; by the end of which I knew that I will get back to it.
Now I know what you are thinking. This guy is either lying or is a fool. I mean why would anyone successfully quit smoking and then come back to it willingly; when millions of people all over the globe are struggling hard to give up this habit. To answer this question; and I am being very honest about it, I used to give up smoking for primarily 2 reasons. One was to clear up the cough a bit and second was just to test my wits; to tell myself whether or not I can give up an addiction. Each time I will give up smoking for a few weeks or a couple of months and in that period, I would not smoke even a bit.
As a matter of fact, back in 2011, I did not smoke for an entire year. I had my last cigarette on 31 Dec 2010 and then the next one on 1st January 2012.
Why am I boasting about it here? The idea is not really to boast but to indirectly answer the question “Do nicotine gums work?” In all the times when I successfully gave up smoking, I do not think I would have been able to do it if it was not for nicotine gums. So yes, nicotine gums do help you quit smoking but only if you really want to quit. Let me explain this a bit.
Now I think everyone will agree to the fact that about 70 to 80% of people who smoke are struggling hard to quit it. But then you really got to ask; are they really struggling to quit or are they just thinking about quitting? In majority of the cases, the answer would be that they are just thinking about it. Most of us would go on with our daily lives; smoking cigarette after cigarette with a thought in our minds that we should quit; or that we need to, or must quit. It is true. This is what happens. Only a handful few will actually make an effort to give it up; for rest it just remains a long term plan, a remark they casually make when someone points out that they have been smoking too much.
“Yeah I am trying to quit” is always the answer. But then are they really trying?
Does Nicotine Gum Help Quit Smoking?
There are two aspects to smoking. One is the “need” part and the other is the “want” part. Or in other words, the “craving” part and the “habit” part. The first one is when our body needs nicotine and sends us a message to light up a cigarette. Second is when you just light it up out of habit while watching TV, or waiting for someone, or while working; or in other words, times when you would have a cigarette in your hand just for the sake of it. Nicotine gums can only help you with the first part but it is only you who can help yourself with the second aspect. The answer lies in the question itself. “Can Nicotine gum help you to quite smoking?” Yes, but it can only “help”, it cannot “make” you to do it.
You must understand that it is not a magic pill that you can just put in your mouth and voila, there goes the habit of smoking.
The first part of quitting is to make up your mind. This is the part where your willpower is going to get tested. You really need to tell yourself that you are not going to smoke anymore. I know this is easier said than done but unless you get this part right, nothing is going to work. You may successfully quite for a day or two but not longer than that. Tell whatever you need to tell yourself. Motivate in anyway that you can, give an excuse that can really get you moving.
Do Nicotine Gums Work and How you can make it Work?
An interesting theory that I once heard was of scaring yourself into it. I haven’t really tested it on myself but have seen it work successfully on a few other people. So how do you scare yourself? Think of one thing that is capable of giving you nightmares. You losing your job, going bankrupt, or anything which if happened will ruin you for good. Something that you are shit scared of happening. Once you have that in your head, kneel down on your knees and pray to god that if you ever smoked again, that one thing should happen to you. Sounds cheesy? I know but worth a short, right? Anything that can get you to stop smoking in the end. Trust me I have seen it working on a few people.
So once you have your mind made up, now comes the hard part and this is where nicotine gums come to rescue. You will get that craving to smoke and when you do, you will have two choices. One will be to pop a gum in your mouth and chew on it; and the second one would be to light up a cigarette. Which one you chose will actually define how strong your willpower is and will you ever quite smoking successfully. Once you have a gum in your mouth, the craving will go away and your mind will not be stuck on a cigarette anymore. Chew any number of gums that helps you but do not think about cigarettes. If you do then you will just make it even more difficult for yourself.
Does Nicotine Gum Give you a Buzz
No it does not. It just provides the body a certain amount of nicotine which will kill the craving to smoke.
Does Nicotine Gum Make Your Teeth Yellow
As far as I can tell, no it does not. It is the smoking that will cause your teeth to stain, not nicotine gums.
Also read: How to remove Nicotine Stains from your Teeth
Does Nicotine Gum Cause Weight Gain
When you quit smoking, some amount of weight gain is bound to happen for several reason which I will not get into details here because it will just make the article lengthy. But the weight gain is because you stopped to smoke, not because you started to chew gums.
Which Nicotine Gum to Chose
I have tried a few brands; Nicotex, nicorette and Kwiknic. Kwiknic I totally hated and would advise you against trying it. It is just the taste that is kind of weird, nicotine part is OK though. Nicorette and Nicotex are by the same company Cipla and these are the ones I would recommend.
Does Nicotex Help quit smoking?
Yes it does but only if you really want to smoke. Once again, it can only “help” you with the herculean task of giving up smoking. But you must set up to that task yourself. No one else can do it for you.
The label that comes with the nicotine gums will tell you to take one gum every hour and keep reducing the number for next 12 weeks. This actually did not work for me that well. In the initial few days, I ended up chewing as many as 25-30 gums because I was a really heavy smoker. As time passes however, the need to chew on the gums too would go away and by the end of 3 month period, you will hardly feel the need for the gum too.
Is Nicotex Addictive
No it is not. None of the nicotine gums is addictive so it will never be a case that you gave up smoking but got hooked to the nicotine gums. You will not even realize when did you stop chewing on these.
Does Nicotex Contain Nicotine
Yes it does. There are two type of gums available. One contains 2 grams of nicotine while other one contains 4 grams. Depending on what kind of smoker you were, you can pick either of these. If you were at least 1 pack a day person, then definitely go for the 4 grams one.
How much does Nicotex cost
There is not really much of price difference in the 2 grams and 4 grams gums; just very minor. At the time of writing this article, a pack of 9 gums costs about Rs. 70. There is also a pack of 25 gums which costs about Rs. 145, a better deal.
Does Nicotex Really Work
So in the end, to answer the question, yes Nicotex really works but only if you really want it to. If you are half minded about it and do not make an effort to actually quite smoking, nothing will ever work. You need the will power first and then nicotine gums can help you with the task.
I hope this information was of help. If you have any other questions; or have an opinion to share that can be in addition or of help to others; please feel free to mention it in the comments section below; or at our Community Forum; and I will be glad to answer.
