Is this "the fog" quitters talk about?

[brettlees]

Hey Joe good to see you firmly on the path to success. Make all the connections you can with other quitters. Post daily, no matter what. Keep learning about the addiction you're fighting- it's terrible and evil by design. Knowing the enemy really helps.

I had a terrible fog for a long time, and others saying they had gone through it too was the only thing that helped me have hope that my brain wasn't permanently damaged by 30 years of nicotine simmering.

Keep it up, day by day, and reach out whenever you feel the need- it helps! You're on a great path now- proud to quit with you!

[Joe104]

Big Sam! How you doin brotha!? I read through your intro and you were correct... We have very similar issues. I'm here to tell you that we are going to get through this! Your hardheadedness (if that's even a word. LOL) is going to pay off. I said a prayer for you and all of our fellow KTC guys and gals yesterday at church... The man up stairs doesn't put you through anything you can't handle. I myself am still having my mood swings (day 51) but know that these guys are gonna help us get through this. It is so nice when others reassure us that this is normal and it will pass. As a side note, I went to a holistic Doctor a few weeks back and she reassured me that 90 days of side effects is not uncommon... 100 day HOF must mean something. Let's take this thing one step at a time and get to the 100 day HOF! My last comment is to look up "St. John's Wort..." It's a natural mood booster that some have claimed to help them get through the peaks and valleys of quitting.
Quit hard little turtle... Nobody here is going to let you fall!

Joe

[SamueL]

Joe, are you me? topic/11438894/1/]This is my intro.[/url] Everything you have said in your intro mirrors mine, right down to not wanting to take pills for some anxiety disorder you probably don't even have. I came here late into my quit, much like yourself. After 41 days on my own I just couldn't handle it anymore, man. The constant pounding heart of anxiety coupled with deep depressive episodes on a daily basis drove me to seek other people who could understand. Even once I found KTC I wasn't fully convinced that these people could relate to the severity of my circumstances. And then one day, something clicked, and I realized that while not everyone may understand the depth of what I have been through, some do.

I am here to tell you, Joe, that I get what you mean in all of it. Read through my intro and you'll see. I still have my bad days. Today, Christmas eve, is one of them. I didn't want to get out of bed, but at the same time, staying in bed makes me terribly anxious. I WAS NEVER LIKE THIS BEFORE MY QUIT. I have been lethargic all day and have had a low grade but untouchable headache. Some days I pop right out of bed and I feel fired up and great all day! Starting to get more and more of those lately, for which I thank God. In my first 50 days it was pretty much all doom, gloom, and panic, so I'm glad to finally feel hopeful that there's an end to this suffering. Today just sucks.

Please keep in touch, Joe, and use this intro of yours as a personal journal to catalog your experiences. You never know what manner of random Googler you might help by simply doing that. Pay it forward.

Quitting is easy. It's the recovery process that's hard.

[pab1964]

What a great feeling knowing that you guys have my back! Thanks for your kind words of encouragement... I am all in! To post roll, do I just write any sort of post each day in the "February 2016 quit group?" Or is there something specific I need to post each day?

Name and day and you like douche canoe's (inside joke)whatever you want brother,welcome aboard! Damn proud of you,now stay close to the site read and get some numbers. Gonna suck ass until it don't! I'm on 362 days free of this shit after 38 years of slavery and I've never felt better in my life, with that said no matter what you go through, its worth it all. Remember, you will always be an addict, no miracle cures and most importantly post roll as soon as you wake up! One day at a time! Odaat!

[Joe104]

What a great feeling knowing that you guys have my back! Thanks for your kind words of encouragement... I am all in! To post roll, do I just write any sort of post each day in the "February 2016 quit group?" Or is there something specific I need to post each day?

[Grievous Angel]

Joe here's the best advice you've gotten in a long time, post roll and get some support. You may never need any. The odds are much better in your favor if you post roll. We will all be waiting! Next moves yours! Quit on!

Amazing that you got this far, but you did cave. Maybe you wouldn't have if you had been on roll the first time around.

Don't do this alone. The story you're sharing? Mind racing, anxiety, fog, etc? We've all been through it.

Join us.

[pab1964]

Joe here's the best advice you've gotten in a long time, post roll and get some support. You may never need any. The odds are much better in your favor if you post roll. We will all be waiting! Next moves yours! Quit on!

[Nomore1959]

Joe, yes it is the fog. After 3 years of your brain marinating in nicotine, it must now figure out how to produce the correct neurotransmitter mix. You are an addict just like me, except you are smart enough to address the addiction after three years instead of the thirty five I poisoned myself.

46 days of quit is an excellent accomplishment. You can expect nicotine to keep whispering in your ear that everything will be fine with just one dip. However you experienced what one dip does-- it resets brain to marinate.

Drink water, exercise. These help. As you also note talking to people about your quit helps. That is where KTC comes in. Here we post roll -- a promise to ourselves and other quitters that we will not use nicotine for 24 hours. We do this first thing every morning. Then we exchange phone numbers and text or talk through rough spots in our quits. You would get to 100 days quit in February, so the February 2016 quit group is filled with quitters experiencing the same things you are. Go visit, say hi, and build a support network.

You are doing great! It will get better! Quit hard!

[Joe104]

Hey Guys! This is my first post as I just joined a few minutes ago. I started dipping about 3 years ago and within the past year and a half made it a much more regular occurrence. About 10 weeks ago I decided this was it and I was going to quit. Well unfortunately on 11/6/15 after a dozen or so beers I bummed a chew from one of my buddies. The next day, as I was sitting in my tree stand my mind started racing. The only way I can describe it is basically what I would picture a panic attack to be like. From then on as the days past, I worried about why that happened. My best guess is that by not having any chew for a good 3 weeks and then taking one, mixed with beer from the night before and coffee in the morning, my brain didn't know how to react. With that being said, that was the final straw for me. Knowing that I never wanted to feel that way again, I promised myself that I would be done for good. So now I am into my 7th week without a chew... 46 days to be exact and I am feeling like shit. My emotions seem to go from one extreme to another. One day I wake up feeling great and the next I wake up nervous... It seems to me that the root of all this is anxiety but I am not sure why... All I keep thinking is that I have something wrong with me. I am usually an up beat positive person so its uncommon for me to be down in the dumps for such an extended period of time. Occasionally bad thoughts enter my head and it is tough to get them out. I have always been a mind over matter type of person but I just cant seem to shake this... I guess the mind is the matter in this case. The good news is that I have been sleeping great and no longer experience any heart burn. Sleep is the only time when my mind seems to be able to relax. I feel best each day after I work out but I still have the thought of something being wrong with me in the back of my head. It worries me to go to a doctor because I don't want to be diagnosed with depression or some anxiety disorder. I also don't want to become dependent on some drug that could have negative side effects. I have thought I would go back to chewing if it would calm my mind and prove to me that this is what has me feeling down, but I am not somebody to give in so I am going to keep powering through. Monday I bought a vitamin called "St. Johns Wort" in the hopes of helping me feel better- I guess its supposed to help boost your mood. Any advice and or encouragement would be great as I have noticed I usually feel better after talking to somebody about what's going on. Thanks a bunch and Happy Holidays!

Joe