Wednesday

I came home early again today. I definitely have a cold. Still have a cough, sore throat, running nose and sneezing now. Summer colds are the pits.
Along with my cold, I'm trying to get over withdrawals symptoms from nicotine. I've been chewing nicotine gum on and off for about eight years now and it's time to stop it. I realized that I'm using more than the prescribed amount daily. Also it's only suppose to be used for a six week time period, reducing the amount of gum each week.
So, by quitting smoking back in 2009, I just switched one form of nicotine intake for another. I knew that I was chewing too much, but I guess I just needed a "wake up call" to jerk me into realizing that I need to give it up. In a way I was minimizing my nicotine habit.
You know it's funny. I was a substance abuse counselor for 16/yrs. I remember that countless of my clients would always say that I didn't know what I was talking about since I had never had a problem with drugs. But I can honestly say now, that I understand. After all nicotine is a drug. It may not be a major one, but it's still habit forming.
My sister and I had a long conversation about this on Monday and thats when I threw away all of my boxes of this gum. I felt funny at first throwing it all out because it costs 30 dollars a box. But I knew that if I had simply shoved it to the side and kept it, I would eventually chew it again. I had to get it out of my house.
So I said a farewell to it and threw it all in the trash. Last night I was having major cravings. I stuck ice in my mouth and that seemed to help. And the first thing I wanted this morning was a piece of gum.
I did do some research online about this and it said that sometimes quitting nicotine products is harder than quitting anything. The  cravings can be severe. Your body can not only physically crave it,but mentally as well.
I also think that a big part of it is the "chewing." Since I have been on Nutrisystem, I am eating less and the nicotine gum was taking the edge off of my hunger. I remember when I was smoking, I would smoke when I was hungry. I was still over weight, but it helped me for not "over doing it." I guess the gum psychology did the same. I have been chewing trident gum now, just to keep that sensation going. Eventually I'll ease up on the trident and not have to use anything. I just have to get through these next couple of weeks. At least that's what I think it will be to get over this.
So, the best rule of thumb is, when you stop smoking don't grab a substitute that contains nicotine cause it's very misleading.