Well, I tried to wake up today and go through the day with no dip. Epic fail. 2 hours later, I was at the gas station buying a can of Cope. I turn into a monster! I have anger and rage, which is completely the opposite of my personality. I snap at everyone, and feel borderline homicidal! My girlfriend cannot stand it, and says that she can't deal with me while I'm weening off of dip.
I have quit a few times in the past, but obviously wasn't completely serious, because I started up again one way or another. The first time I sucessfully quit for 8 months using Chantix. It worked like a charm. It was actually pretty easy. The next time, I tried Chantix again, and it was much harder. The next time, I quit cold turkey and it lasted about 6 weeks. During that time, I quit with a friend who was quitting smoking, so we spent tons of time together, which helped that we could be angry and irritable around each other and not take it personally.
This time, I am having the worst time ever!
I could use some words of encouragement and/or some suggestions on getting through the irritability and short temper that comes with quitting cold turkey. I have tried the patch, the gum, the lozenges, Chantix...just about everything this time besides cold turkey and none of them have worked. I truly want to quit this time, but I want to be able to control myself enough that I don't end up pissing everyone off around me. This time, I have a new motivation: I have a child on the way. I don't want to end up with mouth cancer ten years down the road while trying to spend time with my son/daughter. Also, my girlfriend (soon-to-be wife) HATES it, which is also a positive motivator (because if mamma ain't happy, nobody's happy).
I feel like cold turkey is the only way to go, because the other nicotine replacement methods just avoid the inevitable. You have to eventually go through a cold turkey phase anyways when you ween off of the gum, patch, or lozenges at the end. So, shouldn't I just go cold turkey now anyways? I must admit, the lozenges are my preferred go-to aside from dip, but I have trouble following the guidelines of using only 1 per hour or 5 in 6 hours. I can pop 'em like candy if I wanted to.
What do you guys think? Try again with cold turkey or try the lozenges again to ween down the nicotine in my system and actually stick to the plan this time?
I am going to attempt again on 9/15/15, but could use some advice on how to approach this.
Also, I start a new job on 9/21/15, and would like to be rid of nicotine by then if possible. Please help!
Thanks!
-Sean K.