Nick's Quit

[Ginet]

Day 10! It's been quite the roller-coaster ride the last week and a half. I've learned a lot on this forum so far and I continue to read things that are helping me stay strong day to day.

Just a quick recap of the things that stand out the most:

- What for years I called a nasty habit is fueled by addiction. There is no way around it, my previous attempts to quit were unsuccessful because I failed to acknowledge that I was and am an ADDICT.

- Quitting happens one day at a time, don't think about how you'll feel when summer rolls around and you're without chew. Today I quit for today and tomorrow I quit for tomorrow. Anything beyond that is just pointless to think about.

- There truly is a brotherhood here and for that I am thankful. I feel much different about this quit than my unsuccessful attempts in the past. I am part of the pre-HOF May 2016 group and I'm reaching out to newer quitters in the pre-HOF June 2016 group.

I've been excessively anxious the last few days and I think last night I figured out the reason. I'm only 10 days in and I was trying to avoid using smokey mountain as much as possible. I had it in my mind that if I used it even half as much as I chewed the real stuff that I was weak and I needed to overcome both the addiction and the oral fixation all at the same time. Truth be told that mindset was and is stupid. I was overly anxious and it was starting to take a toll on my sleep, focusing at work, etc. - I have started leaning on the smokey mountain just a little harder and my anxiety level has dropped significantly. I do not plan to use the product for a long time but I will lean on it until the cravings and urges are farther and fewer between. I am not strong enough to kick every aspect this early in the game. After realizing and admitting that I feel much better.

I want to document my daily feelings and what I'm going through so that if other quitters are going through similar things they can reach out but also I want to look back and remind myself what hell I've been through and why I should never put myself back through this hell.

Keep winning!

Yes! Winner winner! It just keeps getting better. Don't worry about the smokey mountain. Use it if it works for you. I needed it. It works. Do anything that helps you NOT put that shit in your mouth. Congrats on ten days all in a row. That my friend, is simply bad ass!

[AppleJack]

Today's day 15 for me. Hard to believe it's been two whole weeks already. At this point I am having mostly good days with a few bad minutes here and there. I am realizing that nicotine was a crutch for an anxiety problem that I have struggled with for years. I was excessively anxious as a child and young teen. After I started chewing I leaned on nicotine to help me keep the anxiety at bay. I am realizing now that nicotine only masked the anxiety for all those years. I am struggling more with battling the anxiety than I am with battling the cravings at this point. I need to learn how to cope with day to day life without leaning on nicotine. I am sure it will come with time but I sure am struggling with it now.

I think you'll find that most of us practiced the same stress avoidance to one degree or another. You'll find thread after thread on anxiety here. As in all aspects of quitting... you're not alone brother. Faaaar from it! Realization is one of the keys here. You're in the know and aware of what's going on. Man, that's huge. By all means, do your best to fight and beat this by your rules but, never... Never... be ashamed of heading to the doc and getting a li'l med assist to keep you running smooth. Rock on, bro... you are on your way to a freedom that'll blow your mind!

[granger829]

Today's day 15 for me. Hard to believe it's been two whole weeks already. At this point I am having mostly good days with a few bad minutes here and there. I am realizing that nicotine was a crutch for an anxiety problem that I have struggled with for years. I was excessively anxious as a child and young teen. After I started chewing I leaned on nicotine to help me keep the anxiety at bay. I am realizing now that nicotine only masked the anxiety for all those years. I am struggling more with battling the anxiety than I am with battling the cravings at this point. I need to learn how to cope with day to day life without leaning on nicotine. I am sure it will come with time but I sure am struggling with it now.

[emc4]

Day 10! It's been quite the roller-coaster ride the last week and a half. I've learned a lot on this forum so far and I continue to read things that are helping me stay strong day to day.

Just a quick recap of the things that stand out the most:

- What for years I called a nasty habit is fueled by addiction. There is no way around it, my previous attempts to quit were unsuccessful because I failed to acknowledge that I was and am an ADDICT.

- Quitting happens one day at a time, don't think about how you'll feel when summer rolls around and you're without chew. Today I quit for today and tomorrow I quit for tomorrow. Anything beyond that is just pointless to think about.

- There truly is a brotherhood here and for that I am thankful. I feel much different about this quit than my unsuccessful attempts in the past. I am part of the pre-HOF May 2016 group and I'm reaching out to newer quitters in the pre-HOF June 2016 group.

I've been excessively anxious the last few days and I think last night I figured out the reason. I'm only 10 days in and I was trying to avoid using smokey mountain as much as possible. I had it in my mind that if I used it even half as much as I chewed the real stuff that I was weak and I needed to overcome both the addiction and the oral fixation all at the same time. Truth be told that mindset was and is stupid. I was overly anxious and it was starting to take a toll on my sleep, focusing at work, etc. - I have started leaning on the smokey mountain just a little harder and my anxiety level has dropped significantly. I do not plan to use the product for a long time but I will lean on it until the cravings and urges are farther and fewer between. I am not strong enough to kick every aspect this early in the game. After realizing and admitting that I feel much better.

I want to document my daily feelings and what I'm going through so that if other quitters are going through similar things they can reach out but also I want to look back and remind myself what hell I've been through and why I should never put myself back through this hell.

Keep winning!

[granger829]

Day 10! It's been quite the roller-coaster ride the last week and a half. I've learned a lot on this forum so far and I continue to read things that are helping me stay strong day to day.

Just a quick recap of the things that stand out the most:

- What for years I called a nasty habit is fueled by addiction. There is no way around it, my previous attempts to quit were unsuccessful because I failed to acknowledge that I was and am an ADDICT.

- Quitting happens one day at a time, don't think about how you'll feel when summer rolls around and you're without chew. Today I quit for today and tomorrow I quit for tomorrow. Anything beyond that is just pointless to think about.

- There truly is a brotherhood here and for that I am thankful. I feel much different about this quit than my unsuccessful attempts in the past. I am part of the pre-HOF May 2016 group and I'm reaching out to newer quitters in the pre-HOF June 2016 group.

I've been excessively anxious the last few days and I think last night I figured out the reason. I'm only 10 days in and I was trying to avoid using smokey mountain as much as possible. I had it in my mind that if I used it even half as much as I chewed the real stuff that I was weak and I needed to overcome both the addiction and the oral fixation all at the same time. Truth be told that mindset was and is stupid. I was overly anxious and it was starting to take a toll on my sleep, focusing at work, etc. - I have started leaning on the smokey mountain just a little harder and my anxiety level has dropped significantly. I do not plan to use the product for a long time but I will lean on it until the cravings and urges are farther and fewer between. I am not strong enough to kick every aspect this early in the game. After realizing and admitting that I feel much better.

I want to document my daily feelings and what I'm going through so that if other quitters are going through similar things they can reach out but also I want to look back and remind myself what hell I've been through and why I should never put myself back through this hell.

[granger829]

Today is day 9. I had been sleeping pretty well but I laid awake, tossing and turning most of last night. Hoping it was a fluke and nothing to get riled up over.

My anxiety has been through the roof since Sunday afternoon (probably the reason for my sleepless night). I cannot determine the cause of the anxiety. I have always been an anxious person by nature but I can usually always determine the root of the anxiety and relieve it in one way or another. I have never taken meds for anxiety. I have an appointment with a new neurosurgeon coming up in a couple of weeks and I think that's partly to blame and just the associated anxiousness that comes with being early in my quit.

Hoping these next couple of days are better than the last 3.

[Ginet]

Well it's the morning of day 8. I was feeling great last Thursday and Friday, but this weekend really kicked my ass. We had some unseasonably warm weather and I had craving after craving after craving... I am assuming that this is because I had much more idle time than I do on weekdays. I hope weekends get easier sooner than later.

I feel ok today mainly because I have to get up early and get to work so a lot of my time is eaten up and I don't have so much time to think and dwell.

Day 8 is kick ass! Way to go. You made it through the weekend, no matter how hard it was. That is a win! Hell yes! It does get better. I promise. You just have to trust that.

Hey - guess what! Keep your word today and you NEVER HAVE TO DO THESE DAYS OVER. You never will relive that first weekend of hell. See - silver lining baby!

[granger829]

Well it's the morning of day 8. I was feeling great last Thursday and Friday, but this weekend really kicked my ass. We had some unseasonably warm weather and I had craving after craving after craving... I am assuming that this is because I had much more idle time than I do on weekdays. I hope weekends get easier sooner than later.

I feel ok today mainly because I have to get up early and get to work so a lot of my time is eaten up and I don't have so much time to think and dwell.

[Pinched]

Good morning day 5! I am feeling good today, trying to soak in the positive vibes while they are here. I know that there will be harder days to come but I want to take in every single second that I feel good so that on those not so good days I can remind myself that good will make a comeback.

I am trying to use smokey mountain as minimally as possible because I feel good and I don't want to keep feeding the oral fixation - I'd like to break that sooner than later.

My current struggle is cravings. Every so often throughout the day I think about dip and just going through the motions... packing the can, filling my lip - and then I catch myself and try to think about something different or go for a walk with my dog.

All in all I truly feel much different about this quit than any of my other attempts to quit. I don't know if it's the brotherhood that KTC has provided me with or if I just truly want this quit where in the past I didn't want it as much. I am thankful for all of you and the words you have shared with me.

One question I do have though for some of you HOF-ers out there - do the cravings start to come less often as time passes? I am sure that they do but I want to hear it from someone who's lived it.

They absolutely do fade, man. There will come a day in the not so distant future where, at the end of the day, you'll realize you didn't think about it. Not once.

It's coming... I promise.

Do exactly what you're doing right now... re-training your brain to move onto something else. Every time. That'll eventually become the new norm.

The cravings do in fact fade, they never go away (or at least they haven't yet). The frequency of them fades, they are still strong.

Do what you need to in order to get through a rough day. While it is good to eliminate a crutch, keep in mind that an emergency crutch might be a good idea. I kept a tin of Hooch spitfire with me for over a year after I decided I did not need it anymore. I did that because I was afraid that if an opportunity presented itself I would rather use the fake than cave and stop at the gas station for a quick fix. I did not trust myself then. Now I have no crutch and life still happens but when it does I deal with it another way.

Keep adding the days and the journey gets not only easier but more clear.

[AppleJack]

Good morning day 5! I am feeling good today, trying to soak in the positive vibes while they are here. I know that there will be harder days to come but I want to take in every single second that I feel good so that on those not so good days I can remind myself that good will make a comeback.

I am trying to use smokey mountain as minimally as possible because I feel good and I don't want to keep feeding the oral fixation - I'd like to break that sooner than later.

My current struggle is cravings. Every so often throughout the day I think about dip and just going through the motions... packing the can, filling my lip - and then I catch myself and try to think about something different or go for a walk with my dog.

All in all I truly feel much different about this quit than any of my other attempts to quit. I don't know if it's the brotherhood that KTC has provided me with or if I just truly want this quit where in the past I didn't want it as much. I am thankful for all of you and the words you have shared with me.

One question I do have though for some of you HOF-ers out there - do the cravings start to come less often as time passes? I am sure that they do but I want to hear it from someone who's lived it.

They absolutely do fade, man. There will come a day in the not so distant future where, at the end of the day, you'll realize you didn't think about it. Not once.

It's coming... I promise.

Do exactly what you're doing right now... re-training your brain to move onto something else. Every time. That'll eventually become the new norm.

[granger829]

Good morning day 5! I am feeling good today, trying to soak in the positive vibes while they are here. I know that there will be harder days to come but I want to take in every single second that I feel good so that on those not so good days I can remind myself that good will make a comeback.

I am trying to use smokey mountain as minimally as possible because I feel good and I don't want to keep feeding the oral fixation - I'd like to break that sooner than later.

My current struggle is cravings. Every so often throughout the day I think about dip and just going through the motions... packing the can, filling my lip - and then I catch myself and try to think about something different or go for a walk with my dog.

All in all I truly feel much different about this quit than any of my other attempts to quit. I don't know if it's the brotherhood that KTC has provided me with or if I just truly want this quit where in the past I didn't want it as much. I am thankful for all of you and the words you have shared with me.

One question I do have though for some of you HOF-ers out there - do the cravings start to come less often as time passes? I am sure that they do but I want to hear it from someone who's lived it.

[granger829]

I'm gonna add to brudda Pinch just a bit... as weird as it may feel, create accountability to an epic degree with anyone/everyone on this site. Your group... vets whose intros/advice strikes a chord... whatever, man. It took me a long time to turn that page cuz, well, it's the internet. It's weird. But... dammit, it works here.

Thanks for the advice AppleJack.

[AppleJack]

Working on day 4 today. I think I finally posted roll the right way. Last night was my first night at home by myself since my quit began. My wife works in a hospital so her shifts differ from day to day. I was expecting it to be more difficult than it was. I worked on some projects I had been putting off and kept my mind busy.

I think I've made it through the nicotine withdrawl phase and now it's a battle of mind games. There are times I catch my mind thinking "man I could go for a chew right now" - but I just grab a piece of gum or slug some water. I am finding that almost everything I do is a trigger because I used to do almost everything with a chew in. One of the most difficult times for me is my drive home from work. I have been using smokey mountain while driving home. It helps but the stress of traffic can make it difficult at times.

As good as I feel now (as compared to earlier this week) I have told myself it would be incredibly stupid to cave because I'd have to go through the hell that were days 1,2, and 3 all over again.

I've taken the accountability thing a step further and I shared my quit with my mother who was never very happy about my addiction. She was under the impression that I had quit some time ago and was disappointed that I had lied to her but she is supportive in my quit. I also discussed my quit with my 19 year old brother who has always thought it was nasty and promised he'd never try it. I am quitting one day at a time for myself but I want to stay quit to make my family proud.

I also spoke with someone else who has a quit date chosen and we are going to help each other stay accountable over phone calls and text messages because he does not use a computer.

This is awesome, and I will admit I still have those days where a thought pops in my head "just one more" or "no one is watching"; When those come I punish myself physically because there is no way in hell I am going to let my addict brain fuck up the quit I have established thus far.

That is good to know that your wife is supportive and understands where you are coming from. I recommend that you let her read the following Spousal Support write up that very well identifies to her what you will go through, what she may notice and also guide her on how to deal with the delicate flower or the raging asshole you may/will become at times.

Keep this up, post the good and bad days in your intro because one day you will need to come back here and read through these to help you remember the quit journey.

I'm gonna add to brudda Pinch just a bit... as weird as it may feel, create accountability to an epic degree with anyone/everyone on this site. Your group... vets whose intros/advice strikes a chord... whatever, man. It took me a long time to turn that page cuz, well, it's the internet. It's weird. But... dammit, it works here.

[Pinched]

Working on day 4 today. I think I finally posted roll the right way. Last night was my first night at home by myself since my quit began. My wife works in a hospital so her shifts differ from day to day. I was expecting it to be more difficult than it was. I worked on some projects I had been putting off and kept my mind busy.

I think I've made it through the nicotine withdrawl phase and now it's a battle of mind games. There are times I catch my mind thinking "man I could go for a chew right now" - but I just grab a piece of gum or slug some water. I am finding that almost everything I do is a trigger because I used to do almost everything with a chew in. One of the most difficult times for me is my drive home from work. I have been using smokey mountain while driving home. It helps but the stress of traffic can make it difficult at times.

As good as I feel now (as compared to earlier this week) I have told myself it would be incredibly stupid to cave because I'd have to go through the hell that were days 1,2, and 3 all over again.

I've taken the accountability thing a step further and I shared my quit with my mother who was never very happy about my addiction. She was under the impression that I had quit some time ago and was disappointed that I had lied to her but she is supportive in my quit. I also discussed my quit with my 19 year old brother who has always thought it was nasty and promised he'd never try it. I am quitting one day at a time for myself but I want to stay quit to make my family proud.

I also spoke with someone else who has a quit date chosen and we are going to help each other stay accountable over phone calls and text messages because he does not use a computer.

This is awesome, and I will admit I still have those days where a thought pops in my head "just one more" or "no one is watching"; When those come I punish myself physically because there is no way in hell I am going to let my addict brain fuck up the quit I have established thus far.

That is good to know that your wife is supportive and understands where you are coming from. I recommend that you let her read the following Spousal Support write up that very well identifies to her what you will go through, what she may notice and also guide her on how to deal with the delicate flower or the raging asshole you may/will become at times.

Keep this up, post the good and bad days in your intro because one day you will need to come back here and read through these to help you remember the quit journey.

[granger829]

Working on day 4 today. I think I finally posted roll the right way. Last night was my first night at home by myself since my quit began. My wife works in a hospital so her shifts differ from day to day. I was expecting it to be more difficult than it was. I worked on some projects I had been putting off and kept my mind busy.

I think I've made it through the nicotine withdrawl phase and now it's a battle of mind games. There are times I catch my mind thinking "man I could go for a chew right now" - but I just grab a piece of gum or slug some water. I am finding that almost everything I do is a trigger because I used to do almost everything with a chew in. One of the most difficult times for me is my drive home from work. I have been using smokey mountain while driving home. It helps but the stress of traffic can make it difficult at times.

As good as I feel now (as compared to earlier this week) I have told myself it would be incredibly stupid to cave because I'd have to go through the hell that were days 1,2, and 3 all over again.

I've taken the accountability thing a step further and I shared my quit with my mother who was never very happy about my addiction. She was under the impression that I had quit some time ago and was disappointed that I had lied to her but she is supportive in my quit. I also discussed my quit with my 19 year old brother who has always thought it was nasty and promised he'd never try it. I am quitting one day at a time for myself but I want to stay quit to make my family proud.

I also spoke with someone else who has a quit date chosen and we are going to help each other stay accountable over phone calls and text messages because he does not use a computer.