Quit 4 days ago. Dipped Mint Skoal pretty much exclusivley for 20 years with the last 4 years at about 1/2-1 can per day. It's going surprisingly well and i even watched to NFL opener NE vs Pittsburgh nicotine free! Actually, tonight was the hardest night. A couple of things i have noticed physically so far from quitting. One is that i have a bad taste in my mouth and a sore throat and the other is that my blood pressure and heart rate have plummeted. I have basically lived half of my life artificially inflating those important vital signs by injesting a constant stream of a stimulant into my system. This is what i am really keying in on from a health standpoint to keep me motivated. The cancer stuff never really motivated me to stop because the odds are ridiculously low as there are only about 40,000 case of oral/esophageal in the U.S. each year with the vast majority of those cases coming from smoking/drinking/HPV virus. With over 8 million smokeless tobacco users, I did the math. No, for me my heart is where it's at. I workout, cardio and weight lifting, 5 days a week yet i have always had blood pressure that was slightly high, usually around 130/90. I always kind of thought the nicotine may be to blame because it's the only thing that made any sense. Sure enough, I have taken my BP that last 2 days and it was 102/69 both times. Never has it been anywhere near that low in my life. It has to be a result of quitting dip. All those years i have been putting undue strain on my entire circulatory system and making it work harder than it needed to is very frustrating but at the same time I will be using those numbers(and my better performances running) to keep my motivated. I hope.
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The taste stuff along with sore mouth and throat is part of the change. The chemistry and ecosystem of your mouth is going through a pretty significant change right now. I was a ninja dipper, so most the time I gut my spit. I think that contributed to my throat being a bit sore when I quit. If it doesn't go away in a bit, go see a doctor though. Or go see one now. Depsite my username, I'm not an M.D., not even a PhD.
As to the BP and pulse, despite the "calming effect" of nicotine, it actually stimulates your cardiovasular system resulting in elevated BP and pulse rate. I believe that's part of why tobacco use (and really nicotine) leads to increased incidence of heart disease.
I used to crossfit a fair bit. I went from a little dip after a good workout to seeing just how much I could have in my lip while I beat the crap out of my body. I didn't realize it at the time, but my performance went way down. I was short of breath and never seemed to have the gas.
Anyways, welcome aboard! Whatever the reason, quit for you. Make your promise and post roll every day, one day at a time. Wake up, piss and post for best results.
