Odd addiction
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Odd addiction
| Fri, 02-10-2006 - 4:59pm |
Please listen.. For me this is extremely embarrassing..
I am a 2 year recovering anorexic, and already going through all the food anxieties, emotional breakdowns and self discovery, i truely know that i would not be me without gaining my strength through this scary time.. but here is my thing.
I am no longer depressed, scared of food, but i have severe anxiety, and have developed an addiction to gum chewing.
I chew up to 20 packs a day, and I know i am addicted. Why do i do this? it makes me so embarrassed! I feel like it runs my life, and I have given all of my gum to my mom so that she can have control over it, but when she is gone, i just go and buy more.
What do you think this could be? I am so ready to change because it is really taking me over.. The odd thing is, is that i just chew it for 2 min and then spit it out, and eat more of it, and then spit it out! Has anyone experienced this? I am really scared that this will scare people away..
I am a 2 year recovering anorexic, and already going through all the food anxieties, emotional breakdowns and self discovery, i truely know that i would not be me without gaining my strength through this scary time.. but here is my thing.
I am no longer depressed, scared of food, but i have severe anxiety, and have developed an addiction to gum chewing.
I chew up to 20 packs a day, and I know i am addicted. Why do i do this? it makes me so embarrassed! I feel like it runs my life, and I have given all of my gum to my mom so that she can have control over it, but when she is gone, i just go and buy more.
What do you think this could be? I am so ready to change because it is really taking me over.. The odd thing is, is that i just chew it for 2 min and then spit it out, and eat more of it, and then spit it out! Has anyone experienced this? I am really scared that this will scare people away..

I understand this is a troubling habit for you.
~Diana~
Hi There,
I am glad you found this site and decided to open up. What I want to tell you is that it is nothing to be embarressed about, but I know it doesn't work that way.
It sounds to me like you are trading one addiction for another. I have never done it with gum, but when ever I had times when my food stuff seemed ok, I would tend to drink more, or get myself into a relationship too fast, etc. In AA you often find people smoking and or drinking coffee and some say it's a way of replacing what they lost.
I wonder how you were able to overcome the anorexia and fear of food? Did you go through any kind of recovery or did it just sort of happen? If there was no recovery then maybe you need to try and figure out what feelings you are really trying to hide. You may want to meet with a counselor to see what is really going on.
Love & hugs, Kristina
“It helps to resign as the controller of your fate. All that energy we expend to keep things running right is not what keeps things running right.” ANNE LAMOTT
The opinions I have expressed here are from my own experience and are not intended as medical advice or to take the place of your own physician's advice.
Love & hugs, Kristina
Hey Kristina,
I am so glad you replied to my post. Yes, I have been going to a christian counselor who is amazing, and that is how i got out of anorexia.
I came to realize the "trading addictions" and It has switched from gum, to coffee, to patterned eating rituals.
The confusing thing to me is, that i am not depressed, I am a very happy person and love to experience life.. but when i do homework, am stuck at home, and worry about highschool stress, that is when i crave the gum...
Hey Diana,
Thanks for your reply. I have tried to come up with things to do when i crave gum.. and i LOVE artwork, i even sell it from time to time. But I think since i am in highschool, stressed about homework, and struggles with making myself be more social and get out of the house, is when the cravings come on.
Thank you so much for responding.. I am just not sure what to do.. I am looking for support groups for eating disorders, and there is one at my counselors office, but its 70 dollars a session!
I got out of anorexia with help from my wonderful counselor, and i tell her about my addiction, and we were doing so well with going from 20 to 5 packs a day.. then i just went bck up when i got stressed again.. It is so hard to just deal with my feelings without running to a sedative for my like gum.. and the odd thing is, is that i am not depressed about anything.. its just life that stresses me out in general.. :-/
Darn!
~Diana~
Hi loolayloolay,
Love your screen name --
I'm wondering how you are doing about now --
~Diana~
hey Diana!
Thank you so much for asking how I am doing, i rarely tell anyone about my gum chewing, my family, and my counselor are about the only ones who know, so it makes me feel so good to hear someone else how its going.
I went to talk to Kori (counselor) and i told her all about how my chewing gum is becoming a "numbing" compulsive action i take whenever i get stressed. She completely understood, telling me that with all the emotion i feel in those moments, i try to forget them, and just think that the chewing will get my mind off of them or make them go away. I now have this sheet of paper that has a huge list of emotions, and whenever i have an urge, i am going to try to look at the sheet and address what i am feeling. Than, i made a list of things that I can do to counteract the chewing, art, calling a friend, writing, poetry, or my favorite running! I am really looking forward to attempting this whenever i feel the uncontrolable urge to chew.
Thanks for caring:-)
Great!
~Diana~