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Chewing gum for medicinal purposes - where to get?

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cattleherder
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Chewing gum for medicinal purposes - where to get?

Post by cattleherder » Tue, 27 Nov 2018 2:31 pm

I grew up in 1980s, loathing the sight of the kewl dudes chewing bubble gums. I never liked the feeling, the taste, or anything else. Also, I am a law-obedient guy who does not wish to disrupt the yin and yang in the place where I live.

However...

As I'm running a small business here with a stressful schedule, I got a "workaholic special", called GERD (acid reflux) despite eating healthy and exercising. It's not the end of the world, nor is it forever, and it's already healing, but my God it's annoying. Drinking tea, coffee, or red wine may feel similar to drinking Molotov cocktail (when it's on fire).

There are different ways of handling this, all work differently for different people (for those interested, the medicinal solutions like PPIs are cr@p). One of the recommendations is to chew chewing gum after meals; I tried chewing some Orbit (when traveling overseas), and it worked like magic. The trouble is, of course, the infamous Singaporean ban. I know, the ban was eased in early 2000s, and then you can buy it in a pharmacy after some bureaucracy (and, I suppose, a word of honour that you won't stick it on the pavement).

Or so I thought; people in both Guardian and Watson told me that they no longer sell it. There might be some stocks left from May when the supply ended, but it's very unlikely.

Anyone knows whether the chewing gum still can be purchased in Singapore anywhere? ](*,)
Last edited by cattleherder on Wed, 28 Nov 2018 2:31 pm, edited 1 time in total.

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PNGMK
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Re: Chewing gum for medicinal purposes - where to get?

Post by PNGMK » Tue, 27 Nov 2018 3:31 pm

All pharmacies stock it. Show up with ID and ask the pharmacist. Only sugar free is stocked and you'll be limited to a quantity. Edit I am out of date. Sorry go across causeway.
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cattleherder
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Re: Chewing gum for medicinal purposes - where to get?

Post by cattleherder » Tue, 27 Nov 2018 5:38 pm

PNGMK wrote:All pharmacies stock it. Show up with ID and ask the pharmacist. Only sugar free is stocked and you'll be limited to a quantity. Edit I am out of date. Sorry go across causeway.
Well yeah, that's why I'm asking. Thankfully, I go overseas once in a while, but a chewing gum trip to JB is a bit absurd.

I was hoping for a loophole. Why on earth they stopped selling it in the first place?

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Re: Chewing gum for medicinal purposes - where to get?

Post by bgd » Wed, 28 Nov 2018 11:14 am

cattleherder wrote: Thankfully, I go overseas once in a while, but a chewing gum trip to JB is a bit absurd.
Personally any excuse is enough for me to get out of Sg. Usually it's petrol, I throw in lunch and a bit of exploring and coincidentally pick up some gum for the wife.

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Re: Chewing gum for medicinal purposes - where to get?

Post by PNGMK » Wed, 28 Nov 2018 11:36 am

cattleherder wrote:
PNGMK wrote:All pharmacies stock it. Show up with ID and ask the pharmacist. Only sugar free is stocked and you'll be limited to a quantity. Edit I am out of date. Sorry go across causeway.
Well yeah, that's why I'm asking. Thankfully, I go overseas once in a while, but a chewing gum trip to JB is a bit absurd.

I was hoping for a loophole. Why on earth they stopped selling it in the first place?
Low Demand / Profit or maybe too much paper work...
I not lawyer/teacher/CPA.
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Re: Chewing gum for medicinal purposes - where to get?

Post by MikeJones » Wed, 28 Nov 2018 1:35 pm

Last time I went to JB with a mate he bought a box of chewing gum and tried to carry it through customs in a 7/11 plastic bag. Customs said sorry you can't take la, and confiscated it. I'm sure if he'd put it in his backpack he would not have had a problem.

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Re: Chewing gum for medicinal purposes - where to get?

Post by bgd » Wed, 28 Nov 2018 2:30 pm

I've never had a problem but it's never been on show and never a box.

A colleague brought quite a quantity through Changi and gave it to his wife to carry. She got stopped. Eventually she was released without penalty and without gum, but they gave her a grilling. He was on the sofa for a week.

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Re: Chewing gum for medicinal purposes - where to get?

Post by Strong Eagle » Wed, 28 Nov 2018 9:32 pm

a) I used to bring "reasonable" quantities of gum back from KL in my suitcase without issue... enough to keep the wife in gum for 3 months.

b) It used to be that dentists in Singapore sold gum. Is this no longer the case?

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Re: Chewing gum for medicinal purposes - where to get?

Post by PNGMK » Thu, 29 Nov 2018 12:27 pm

You can bring in non commercial quantities which is deliberately ambiguous. It will help if it's unsweetened chewing gum and not bubble gum with sugar.
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cattleherder
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Re: Chewing gum for medicinal purposes - where to get?

Post by cattleherder » Thu, 29 Nov 2018 8:21 pm

Strong Eagle wrote: b) It used to be that dentists in Singapore sold gum. Is this no longer the case?
I was very excited about the possibility, and asked two today. They were very surprised about the weirdo ang mo ideas.

I suspect the ancient Singaporean proverb applies here, "if you see a queue, join it". Probably one retailer stopped selling it, the others followed suit because they just do.

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Re: Chewing gum for medicinal purposes - where to get?

Post by Strong Eagle » Thu, 29 Nov 2018 10:17 pm

I may be having a brain fart, and I seem to remember gum on the counter of this dental group that I used to use.

https://smilefocus.com.sg/

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Re: Chewing gum for medicinal purposes - where to get?

Post by cattleherder » Fri, 30 Nov 2018 3:34 pm

Strong Eagle wrote:I may be having a brain fart, and I seem to remember gum on the counter of this dental group that I used to use.

https://smilefocus.com.sg/
Not a brain fart.

I left a message on their website, and, amazingly, they called me back within an hour (how is that possible - people who know to open and read emails in Singapore?).

The same answer though. "We used to sell medicinal chewing gum, but the supplier discontinued their supply." 2-3 months ago, apparently.

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