Hey everyone,
I'm not sure I'm in the right place, but here's my introduction:
Today is day 4 for me. I have been dipping over a can a day for 16 years (since I was 15). I have made attempts to quit in the past:
Took Chantix when I was 22 and quit for about 6 months. Then one day I told myself I'll just have one dip to get that buzz...within a few days it was back to over a can per day.
Tried Nicorette a few times in my early 20's but never could make it 1 day.
about 4 years ago my wife's grandmother died from lung cancer and COPD caused by a lifetime of smoking. I tried to quit but never could give up that 1 dip per day.
2 years ago I tried another round of Chantix and after 6 months on the medicine I was still dipping, so I gave up on Chantix.
Last year I tried cold turkey, and my brain felt like it was going to explode and I didn't last 1 day.
I failed and failed and failed and thought I would never quit. I finally got the motivation to kick the habit for a purely selfish reason. This is embarrassing to admit, but there is a computer game I want to play and the system requirements are so high that I would have to buy a $1400 computer to be able to play it without it looking like garbage. So my wife and I made a deal that if I can quit, then in 30 days I can buy the computer. We made the deal at the beginning of September, and she was ok with using Nicorette and still calling it "quit" since I'm not using tobacco. I struggled all of September with bouncing back and forth between Nicorette for a day or 2, and then back on the dip. The more I read this website, the more convinced I became that the Nicorette was holding me back...I'd spent a whole month chewing Nicorette, and was still dipping tobacco almost every day. So on Thursday October 3rd at 9:00, I spit out my last dip and have not dipped or chewed Nicorette since.
The next day at work, Friday October 4th, I literally spaced out at my computer the entire afternoon. It was like my brain just refused to work. The hardest dip for me not to take is the morning dip for that morning poo. And when I wake up my brain is super foggy and I'm a little confused about what I should do, but after i drink a cup of coffee my brain eventually turns back on. Friday was a tough day, Saturday was better, it was mainly just trying to keep myself busy, but I can't really remember what exactly we did. Sunday afternoon was the hardest time so far since Friday, just kind of the doldrums and I was bored and didn't know what to do with my time...since previously I could sit on the couch and dip as my activity.
Anyway I'm on day 4, and I still smell it, and talking about it makes my mouth water. We're building a house and living with my parents right now, and my dad dips which makes it harder because at any time I could walk to the drawer he keeps his dip in and take one out, but I've held off so far. I woke up at 3AM this morning in a daze and almost raided the drawer to get a dip and stay up for an hour thinking about how great it tastes, but I managed to hold off and fell back asleep.
Not sure where to go from here as far as posting in groups, or even if I'm in the right place, but it feels good to say all this.
Byoo