FU FOG, by Wesski1
Want to stay active on the site. None of my dipping friends are quitting with me, so I have this site and one former co-worker who quit years ago to vent to.
Day 4 for me; Day 7 without dip.
Made the decision to quit last Thursday while my wife was on a roadtrip. Should have started Wed, but I was weak. Last dip Thursday morning and tossed all remaining Kodiak. Plan was the wife would be gone for the first couple of brutal days so I wouldn't snap at her...well, she decided to come back on Friday. D'oh! It hurt so bad I took tylenol PM and went to bed at like 8:15, just so I didn't turn into the Kodiak Hulk for no legitimate reason.
First f'up: I was offered a Cuban cigar at Easter with my father-in-law and company - we always smoked them in Mexico on family vacations....didn't really dawn on me that it would f'up my quit, and I didn't have an excuse ready to refuse (they don't know I dip)...well, it's not dip, but it is nicotine. Monday = day 1 all over agin, and the Day 1-3 bullshit was back. Never again. Part of writing this is the mental exercise of reminding myself how much Days 1-3 suck, and to remind those as dumb as I am that cigars count, too, no matter how infrequent you use them.
I decided to stop for all the known reasons (bathroom dipping from the wife, going to the office on the weekends just to dip, etc), but the motivating factor was I noticed my gum line one 1 tooth just disappeared in about a week (or so it seemed). Tooth was already a little crooked, so that sped up the wear/tear. I have no dental insurance, and this was becoming too real.
I feel good about my decision. I embraced the pain/shit/suck as the quits say on this site - good advice. I'm actually afraid of Kodiak now. I expected the pain, but the insomnia is particularly f'd up. What other product is there that if removed, you can no longer sleep?!
So far I'm coping with the cravings, using the fake dip when needed. The Fog is f'n brutal, though. I'm a patent guy in Boston, and reading/writing and being focused is how I make my living. Luckily I'm not too busy right now, but does anyone have any advice for helping with the fog? Should I double my caffeine intake? I was thinking of trying 5-hour energy or something like that - but am wondering if that will just make me foggy and jittery, and then add even further to the insomnia?
Anyway, thanks to the guys who make this website. Dippers are not smokers, and the triggers/experiences are very different. I came across your "top 100 reasons for quitting" and laughed my ass off because it was all so true! "56. No more looking for the dead mouse in the wall only to discover it's a nasty ass toon growing fungus behind the computer monitor." My wife made me replace our "awful" smelling garbage disposal, only for me to notice once I cleaned out under the sink that I had a water bottle 'toon about 9 months old hidden in the back corner after a 2 AM dip.
Signed up that day, Day 2. And I'm not going to dip today. See you tomorrow, dudes.
-Wesski1