For the new people… the ones that aren’t registered. The ones that stumbled into this site after googling “quitting dip symptoms” or “nicotine withdrawal timeline” or whatever. You are lurking in this forum now, reading peoples stories, trying to figure out how the site works, and deciding whether you are going to stop dipping… I have some bad news for you.
You are fucked.
If you landed here, chances are you area already having a lot of trouble quitting, have used nicotine for a long time, and are experiencing various symptoms.
This means you are addicted. Bad. Your life will literally never be the same again. There will probably never be a time in your future where you can go a week without thinking about nicotine one way or the other.
If you are anything like me, you landed on the
https://www.killthecan.org/your-quit/what-to-expect-when-you-quit-dipping/ several times. You may have even made it through a couple of the first phases before caving. You use it as your bible, and your lifeline. Every time you start back up again, you tell yourself… well worst-case scenario, its only 100 days till I’m free of it again.
Your addict brain looks at that timeline and says “well, it looks like the worst of it is over in 20 days, so if I can make it 20, I can make it 100, and if I can make it to 100, its freedom after that”.
I made it to day 20-30 probably 30+ times then started back up.
I don’t think that timeline is particularly accurate. The whole journey has sucked… I had and am still having physical symptoms the whole way. A lot of facial tightness/weirdness in the beginning along with that bad fog. Lightheadedness/dizziness the whole way through. Jaw aches, headaches, and lip/gum twitches and tingles from the beginning till now.
Now that I have made it to day 100, I really realize how fucked I was. I am still not better. I still get lightheaded, there’s just kind of an “empty” feeling in my head all the time, my mouth has been going through cycles of getting rough spots for about two weeks now. I think its just rebuilding and healing.
Mentally, I STILL can’t commit to forever. I still think somewhere deep down that there may come a time where I can hook up with the nic bitch again. Even with all that hell I’ve gone through the thought of stopping and buying a can STILL passes through my head at least once per day, usually more.
So yeah, you are fucked. Maybe you’ll have it easier when you quit, maybe it will be harder, but either way, the chances are high that you are in so deep that you will have to claw your way out for months to just get to the beginning. (I understand now that day 100 is really just the start).
But here’s the thing. YOU ARE WORTH IT. Even if you disregard the fact that it will probably kill and/or disfigure you eventually, quitting is worthwhile. The way it affects your mind is probably the worst part. It robs you of your ability to feel joy without it, it makes you a slave.
This site is a path to freedom. Its awkward, it might even be cringey at times. But the people here want to help and have gone through all this shit as well. Commit to committing one day at a time and kick this bitch to the curb.
