Hi - sent my first roll call today.
I quit back on 06/27. I found this site and thought it'd be a good way to keep me accountable.
Five years ago I was a smoker and I put that down after getting pneumonia twice in 3 months.
I had a good quit going for about 8 months.
But I was out fishing one day and took a pinch of my brothers Copenhagen.
I was on my way.
So - for the last 3 to 4 years I've been dipping about a can a day of Skoal Mint pouches.
When I started it was an occasional deal - I took snuff breaks thru out the day. But in the end I pretty much kept a pouch in my cheek all day, every day.
I didn't get anything out of it any more except bad breath that kept me from looking people in the eye when i talked to them (i hate that)
I'm in a stressful job but it let up just enough that I had a good opening - I took it and I'm on day 18.
I've quit before and, in one sense, I already know all the logic my brain kicks out when it wants to give in and have a dip.
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It's like this:
days 1 thru 5 - my brain says, "you didn't really want to do this..." or "you can't do this right now, you have too much going on..."
Days 5 thru 10 - "you've got thru the worst of this - it wasn't so bad, you can pick back up now and quit later....'
Day 10 thru 15 - At this point my gums start looking better, my breath is better, I feel better. I feel like tobacco isn't gonna kill me. It seems like the danger is over because my gums no longer ache. I tell myself I can start back up again and quit another time - because really, quitting for three weeks was pretty easy and my health wasn't as bad as I thought.
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I know all the tactics my brain will tell me to get me back on the tobacco wagon.
I've had vain attempts at quitting in the last 4 years.
For me, quitting because 'it's bad for me...' or '...because I need to quit...' never worked. I had to get sick of this crap and say, 'this sh*t doesn't do anything for me any more... it's an expensive and embarrasing habit...' - only then do I usually commit to a real quit.
No nicotine replacement for me - cold turkey.
The cravings are up and down - last week I thought i was thru the worst of it - but I've been having craves in the afternoon the last couple of days. The worst WD symptom has been the insomnia. I get about 2 to 3 hours of sleep a night unless I use some kind of medication to sleep (which I don't like to do often)
Gotta stand strong. I know if I give in and dip I won't put it back down for a LOOONG time.
I'm an addict, if I relapse I won't give in 'for a day or two' or a 'week' and then restart my quit. If I give in it might be years before I try to quit again.
When I embrace my tobacco, I love the stuff.