I did something today that I would have not have remotely considered a few months ago. I took my two remaining PopPac bottles of cherry Commit lozenges out into the middle of a field, opened them, and flicked the nasty things away like little frisbees. It's interesting just how far they fly. Hopefully some fire ants will find them and take them home.
NRTs have complicated the last few decades of my life. I've been a smoker, a patch user, a gum chewer, and a lozenge sucker. Often I continued smoking, but sometimes I quit for a while - but only as long as I had the NRT - the expensive designer crutch to fall back onto.
I didn't tolerate some of them well at all. The patches gave me contact dermatitis. The dermatogolist told me to stop using them. The gum gave me yuppy disease - temporal mandibular disease - pain in my left ear and a swollen masseter muscle. That's the big muscle that contracts to move the jaw upward. I still get that swelling if I chew too much, so even normal gum is out for me now.
And, gee, that only took a couple of years, on and off, of chewing Nicorette to develop.
So I smoked and I smoked. I tried Welbutrin - smoked while doing it and nothing happened. Tried Chantix, and it made me mean. Not being a mean person, that created some psychological discomfort. It also made me very nauseated, so I quit taking it.
But ah the lozenges, the wonderful lozenges. They helped me cut down on cigarettes. I could smoke, or I could suck. Did I say suck? Yes! You can let a lozenge gently dissolve or you can help it along.
The stupidest thing I did with Commit, and this was pretty stupid, is start to sleep with a lozenge in my mouth. This was supposed to help with the morning cravings.
I recently discovered that I have small gum-line cavities and, guess what? They are exactly where I like to "park" the lozenges. Thanks, GlaxoSmithKline! That's a little something to remember you by, I guess.
Today I'm not feeling charitable about NRT. I think it's a scam. They only work, at least for me, as long as I keep taking them. Tapering is BS - I'd only suck even more... or try to suck two at once.
I think that GSK knows this, of course. I suspect that the lozenges are purposefully designed to get you hooked - to move your dependence from cigarettes to their expensive smoking alternative products. Of course, I don't know this for certain, but it seems a safe guess.
And the cost of the products... both Nicorette and Commit were very expensive -- until generics became available. And suddenly the big-name NRTs became cheaper, too.
I've spent a fortune on cigarettes, but I've spent a fortune on stuff to help me quit, too.
After all of this, and to my consternation and continued amazement, what I needed to quit (see my banner below) was a toylike mechanical cigarette simulation that lets me puff up a cloud and almost, but never really, catch a buzz.
Think that Commit lozenges are not a scam? Check out what some other users of it have to say here:
Commit Lozenges Stop Smoking Program Review - Commit Lozenges Customer Reviews
OK, that's my rant. For those of you who are using Commit lozenges, please remember to brush your teeth at least five times a day and don't leave them parked in your mouth when you sleep.
NRTs have complicated the last few decades of my life. I've been a smoker, a patch user, a gum chewer, and a lozenge sucker. Often I continued smoking, but sometimes I quit for a while - but only as long as I had the NRT - the expensive designer crutch to fall back onto.
I didn't tolerate some of them well at all. The patches gave me contact dermatitis. The dermatogolist told me to stop using them. The gum gave me yuppy disease - temporal mandibular disease - pain in my left ear and a swollen masseter muscle. That's the big muscle that contracts to move the jaw upward. I still get that swelling if I chew too much, so even normal gum is out for me now.
And, gee, that only took a couple of years, on and off, of chewing Nicorette to develop.
So I smoked and I smoked. I tried Welbutrin - smoked while doing it and nothing happened. Tried Chantix, and it made me mean. Not being a mean person, that created some psychological discomfort. It also made me very nauseated, so I quit taking it.
But ah the lozenges, the wonderful lozenges. They helped me cut down on cigarettes. I could smoke, or I could suck. Did I say suck? Yes! You can let a lozenge gently dissolve or you can help it along.
The stupidest thing I did with Commit, and this was pretty stupid, is start to sleep with a lozenge in my mouth. This was supposed to help with the morning cravings.
I recently discovered that I have small gum-line cavities and, guess what? They are exactly where I like to "park" the lozenges. Thanks, GlaxoSmithKline! That's a little something to remember you by, I guess.
Today I'm not feeling charitable about NRT. I think it's a scam. They only work, at least for me, as long as I keep taking them. Tapering is BS - I'd only suck even more... or try to suck two at once.
I think that GSK knows this, of course. I suspect that the lozenges are purposefully designed to get you hooked - to move your dependence from cigarettes to their expensive smoking alternative products. Of course, I don't know this for certain, but it seems a safe guess.
And the cost of the products... both Nicorette and Commit were very expensive -- until generics became available. And suddenly the big-name NRTs became cheaper, too.
I've spent a fortune on cigarettes, but I've spent a fortune on stuff to help me quit, too.
After all of this, and to my consternation and continued amazement, what I needed to quit (see my banner below) was a toylike mechanical cigarette simulation that lets me puff up a cloud and almost, but never really, catch a buzz.
Think that Commit lozenges are not a scam? Check out what some other users of it have to say here:
Commit Lozenges Stop Smoking Program Review - Commit Lozenges Customer Reviews
OK, that's my rant. For those of you who are using Commit lozenges, please remember to brush your teeth at least five times a day and don't leave them parked in your mouth when you sleep.
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