My name is Tim, I am 30, and I have been a heavy dipper for well over 15 years. I quit dipping on Nov. 21, 2007. Like most, I have quit a few times, for maybe 6 months at the most, but never permanently. This time will be different, I owe it to myself, my wife, and my son to be around for a long time.
My story also sounds identical to so many on this site. Started off as the cool thing to do during wrestling and baseball seasons. Then became a year round habit. I started dating my wife in 9th grade, around the same time I started dipping. She knew I did it, but was definately not receptive to it. She has given my ultimatum's I don't know how many times. The last 5 years or so I have been hiding it from her. This has probably been one of the hardest things about being a dipper. It is not fun to lie to your spouse, but I felt like she gave me no option. She did not see it as an addiction, she just felt like I was weak, which I guess she was right. I have done it all to sneak dips. I even used to go take a 10 minute dip while she fed our son, without her knowing, really pathetic.
This is where my story differs from most. I was diagnosed with Hodgkin's Disease when I was 19. Hodgkin's Disease is a cancer of the Lymph Node System. The Hodgkin's was in no way related to dipping, but it was still cancer, and I still had radiation and chemo. So one would think I might be smarter than the rest of you, but nope, the dip was stronger. My wife went through the cancer treatment with me as my girlfriend back then, so I understand why she despises it so.
Ultimately, I have been a quitter for 8 days now, and yes it has been tough, but I feel more connected with my family now. We have a 19 month old, and I don't find myself trying to get away to sneak a dip. I love not feeling the jittery feeling of wanting a dip around 9:00 pm.
Good Luck to everyone else out there. Let's beat this crap together.
Tim