Try Different Brands

This is probably just a good bit of blind luck for me. The first box of gum I bought was "QuitX" brand. Same amount of nicotine as the better known brand, but a bit cheaper - I'm buying nicotine not gum. Yesterday the local pharmacy only had "Nicorette", so I got a box of that to make sure I had plenty of supplies to take to work.

Now don't get me wrong, if I were a chewing gum afficianado Nicorette is probably better quality gum. It's firmer, and the flavour lasts longer. But I'm really not into chewing gum, I just want my drug hit. I find the softer, slightly larger pieces of QuitX more satisfying. I can play with it better on my tounge and with my teeth. It seems to gratify the 'oral fixation' part of the smoking habit in a way Nicorette doesn't.

I expect other people find different brands better for other reasons, just like brand loyalty with their cigarettes, but if I had happened to try the 'big name' brand first, I don't think this experiment would have lasted the first day. I've tried nicotine lozenges in the past too, sucking mints just didn't do it for me.

So, if you're going to change your smoking habit, my suggestion is by a box of each brand. The texture that suits you is more important than the flavour.

I've been smoking 1 cigarette each day at work, and I enjoy it guilt-free. I'm still a smoker. I now have a packet with 3 cigarettes in it. If just 1 comes home with me tomorrow, it will have lasted a full week.

The next game is to see if I can make a pack last 2 weeks...