First I appreciate the links to "What to expect" and "Symptoms".
Just a little more background on me.
I started using Skoal when I was a freshman in High School in Kansas and I made varsity wrestling, my teammates all upperclassmen chewed, so I figured why not?. I have literally been chewing a can/day since that day in 1997.
I have been married for 11 years and my wife has never asked that I quit. I have 2 children (4 and 1 years old).
I live in NYC.
Like I mentioned in my post yesterday, a family member was checked into rehab and I have since read multiple books on addiction. Reading the book caused me to come to the conclusion that I should probably quit. 2 weeks ago I decided that I would "Cut back": 3 dips/day all for a 1/2 hour each. Honestly it didn't feel like cutting back, so last week I decided to go with 1 dip every 12 hours (9:30am and 9:30pm) for a 1/2 hour each. Over the weekend, I thought I was sick(dizziness, headaches etc.) and I decided to Google symptoms of Chewing Tobacco Withdrawal, which lead me right to this site.
I read several pages and said "why am I fucking around?" and have gone all in on this process full cold turkey.
My wife is unaware that I have decided to quit, she didn't even know I was cutting back(though she has to have an idea because I always had dip in my mouth). Matter of fact, I have told no one except you fine people here.
I had trouble sleeping last night and when I was asleep I had some crazy and vivid dreams. This morning I was definitely in a foul mood and found myself unnecessarily barking at my children. I kept reminding myself not to take it out on anyone. So far I have been sucking on starlight mints and drinking green tea - they both seem to be solid replacements(mints orally and tea chemically). I already drink tons of water(I've had kidney stones twice and no interest in going down that path again) so I'm not sure if there is anything else?
From what was presented in earlier links the next couple days are really going to suck....