My name is Jason and I started dipping around 1999. Over the years, it got to a point where I had a dip in every minute of the day, except for when I was sleeping or eating. On January 27, 2016, I got a random text from my 12 year old son. The text simply said "You should throw away your tobacco". I asked him what made him say that and he replied "It's not healthy and I worry about you". This was a huge wake up call for me. I knew for years that I had to quit, but never really made an effort to try. I decided right then and there that I would quit. I recalled hearing that it's a good idea to pick a quit date in the future and mentally prepare yourself, so I chose February 1, 2016. On the night before the 1st, I opened up my last can of dip and threw it over the fence. About an hour later, I found myself with a flashlight, hunting for where I threw it...it was mixed in with some mud, so I carefully got a pinch and popped it in my mouth. A few minutes later, I thought to myself "what the hell are you doing?" and then spit it out and covered the dip pile up with some dirt.
February 1st came and I was actually feeling pretty excited. I enjoy things that are challenging and knew that this would be very difficult, but would be well worth it. I didn't experience any physical/psychological effects until around day 5. I had a super hard time falling asleep and staying asleep. I also became very agitated at the smallest things and was pretty anxious. One night, I was lying in bed, tossing and turning, trying to fall asleep, when I decided to go online and see if insomnia/moodiness were signs of quitting. Sure enough, the first result was this site and I must have spent a good 2 hours educating myself and reading other members experiences.
As of right now, I am 10 days in and am so very thankful for that text from my son...it might have saved my life.
Jason
