Withdrawal sux

[Souliman]

Am I going to see you in PA next weekend?

[30yraddict]

Day 265

Strength from the Ashes

The past couple of days have been tough for May 2011 as we recover from the cave of an everyday poster...not just any everyday poster, but one who was arguably one of the most popular in our quit group...Hootie. 282 days, and then a premeditated cave. He said that he was forced to give up everything that made him happy...dip being one of them...Rookie mistake...romanticizing dip...you wouldn't think that a quitter with 282 days under his belt would fall for that..unfortunately that is the nature of addiction: our addict brain will tell us anything to get what it wants: nicotine. It is a sad thing, Hootie's cave, but the only thing we can do with it is learn from it and move on.

When I take a forensic look at Hootie's cave, and look back over the texts, the one thing that leaps out at me is that he tolerated addict thinking...he allowed himself to romanticize dip...he allowed himself to be convinced that returning to dip would be a comfort to him as he faced some of life's inevitable stresses....I have no doubt that he will realize the folly of this thinking very soon, if he doesn't already.

There is no doubt that Hootie's cave rattled a few of us back in May, but as that shock wears off, I am seeing a stronger group emerge. We are more focused, and more vigilant. I have no doubt that this group has what it takes to stay quit. But the one thing we must learn from this is to attack the lies of addiction, to not tolerate even the fleeting thought that dipping was ever good...we need to go back to our day 1's and remember what brought us here. We need to remember spitters, our fear of cancer, the time stolen from family and friends, the flashburns and receding gums, the looks of disgust we got from our significant others, the fear or embarrassment when we went to the doctor or dentist, all the times we nearly puked the dip out into the spitter, we need to remember those times...because if we don't, if we let our addict brains fill in the blanks.................I am not going down like that.



My name is Dale and I am an addict

but I am no longer defined by my addiction

because I am stronger than my addiction

265 days and counting

[LLCope]

30,

Great to here from you. I can't wait until you are able to get more involved again--your Quit is super-strong and has helped me a lot!


Thanks--Hang tough!

[30yraddict]

Day 216

Haven't had any time to be on this board the last 2 months due to a huge amount of forced overtime at work. During this time I went through a major funk, and I was not able to use my numbers, or spend time on this site, many days I was only able to post roll in May 2011. However, just knowing that at a critical point I could call, text or reach out to several quitters and knowing there were people here to hold me accountable kept my quit going strong, even when I was not able to be as committed here as I would have liked.

Tomorrow is going to be a continuation of the forced overtime...but, even though you don't see me here as much, I still am quit, and I still support each and every one of you. You can be sure that I will be back here as soon as life returns to "normal". For those of you that are new to the site: Welcome! I look forward to quitting with you. For my old friends- thanks for being there for me.

TeamK, Xzacto, and BrotherOfNoMoSko- keep up the good work- sorry I haven't been here to support.(Now yall are part of my intro- no pressure!)

Thanks to all of you, especially those that post up support of me everyday and text me encouragement...It means more to me than you know.

Proud to be quit with all of you,

Dale

[30yraddict]

I read amgdenny's intro over on whack the pack and it struck a chord with me as my mother also died from emphysema caused by smoking. She was 54 years old.

Long before the public knew the dangers of smoking, my mother's addiction began...perhaps in her early teens.   She struggled and survived a horrific childhood at the hand of an alcoholic father...became a mother of 4 boys, of which I am the youngest.  Did all she could to make sure that we had it better than she did. Throughout the years she watched what she ate, exercised, spent a great deal of time outdoors, but smoking was something that she just couldn't give up, Lord knows she tried many times...all the while big tobacco was studying their market, manipulating nicotine levels, covering up damaging evidence of health risks, making inroads with Hollywood, targeting young people. Accountants figuring profit margins, attorneys doing damage control,  and the machine continued on ...

What did that mean for my mother....It meant a slow death...as breathing became less and less efficient, her blood oxygen levels fell. Organs began to become oxygen starved, and began to slowly fail... All the while, the nicotine doing it's job...keeping my mother using cigarettes up to the point where she was no longer physically able. step 1. use oxygen, step 2 remove oxygen. step 3 smoke step 4 stop when coughing too much to smoke. 5 goto step 1. She died after 4 years of daily suffering- a mother to me. A statistic to be added to a tally for big tobacco. They lost a customer, one of hundreds of thousands...mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters. And still they meet in board rooms, studying how to introduce more to the horror of nicotine addiction.  The wake they leave behind is a trail of dead bodies, oxygen machines, cancer drugs, misery, disfiguring surgeries, amputated limbs.  It is a despicable business.

As I left the hospital the day my mother died, I swore in the memory of my mother I would never support big tobacco with my business again.  But already the nicotine withdrawal had begun...big tobacco tugging my strings as a marionette. I was their puppet for 15 more years.  I daily thought about that promise to stop supporting big tobacco.

162 days ago I did something about that promise.  The death of my mother was not enough to strengthen my resolve enough to stop using. I didn't stop using until I came here. This program of accountability across cyberspace works. And it works as written. To change it is to weaken it.  Drink the kool aid. 

Thanks to all that keep this site going.  I am finally able to keep my last promise to my mom, may she be dancing on the streets of heaven.

May she be, indeed. Thanks for posting this.

Same here 30. My mom died two years ago at 62. Lung cancer from smoking. Quit finally at age 55 but made no difference. She waited to long. Died 7 years later. Not from the cancer, quit eating and drinking because the pain was too bad. Still took me two years after that to quit. Peace 30. I am quit with u. Dave

Tobacco has taken enough from me. They don't have my permission anymore. I quit with you Dave, may your mother and mine be dancing on the streets of heaven.

[rebeldog]

We already knew this, but here's further evidence, 30:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... onely.html

Sure would be nice to get some support around here, but don't dare bring it up.   'finger point'

Maybe someone should PM Loot and/or Remshot and ask about getting a forum "just in case" :unsure:

I nominate Rebeldog.

I refuse to contribute to this, as threads I am involved in get mysteriously "locked". Be kind of awkward to get locked out of your own intro, don't you think?

Loot gets it in a closet homo burly junior high gym teacher kind of way. Overly gruff on the surface but pudgy mashmallowy gooey at the core.

Remshot on the other hand comes barreling in a few days to a week late to every instance without taking time to appreciate the situation or realize it's all in good nature only to overreact, act totally hasty and act like a dick. Remshot is officially our Coach Balbricker.

Sorry to hijack your intro 30.

Somebody second that nomination.
'Popcorn'

[30yraddict]

We already knew this, but here's further evidence, 30:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... onely.html

Sure would be nice to get some support around here, but don't dare bring it up.   'finger point'

Maybe someone should PM Loot and/or Remshot and ask about getting a forum "just in case" :unsure:

I nominate Rebeldog.

I refuse to contribute to this, as threads I am involved in get mysteriously "locked". Be kind of awkward to get locked out of your own intro, don't you think?

[G]

We already knew this, but here's further evidence, 30:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... onely.html

Sure would be nice to get some support around here, but don't dare bring it up.  'finger point'

Maybe someone should PM Loot and/or Remshot and ask about getting a forum "just in case" :unsure:

I nominate Rebeldog.

[J2b]

We already knew this, but here's further evidence, 30:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... onely.html

Sure would be nice to get some support around here, but don't dare bring it up. 'finger point'

Maybe someone should PM Loot and/or Remshot and ask about getting a forum "just in case" :unsure:

[G]

We already knew this, but here's further evidence, 30:

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/ ... onely.html

Sure would be nice to get some support around here, but don't dare bring it up. 'finger point'

[30yraddict]

I read amgdenny's intro over on whack the pack and it struck a chord with me as my mother also died from emphysema caused by smoking. She was 54 years old.

Long before the public knew the dangers of smoking, my mother's addiction began...perhaps in her early teens.   She struggled and survived a horrific childhood at the hand of an alcoholic father...became a mother of 4 boys, of which I am the youngest.  Did all she could to make sure that we had it better than she did. Throughout the years she watched what she ate, exercised, spent a great deal of time outdoors, but smoking was something that she just couldn't give up, Lord knows she tried many times...all the while big tobacco was studying their market, manipulating nicotine levels, covering up damaging evidence of health risks, making inroads with Hollywood, targeting young people. Accountants figuring profit margins, attorneys doing damage control,  and the machine continued on ...

What did that mean for my mother....It meant a slow death...as breathing became less and less efficient, her blood oxygen levels fell. Organs began to become oxygen starved, and began to slowly fail... All the while, the nicotine doing it's job...keeping my mother using cigarettes up to the point where she was no longer physically able. step 1. use oxygen, step 2 remove oxygen. step 3 smoke step 4 stop when coughing too much to smoke. 5 goto step 1. She died after 4 years of daily suffering- a mother to me. A statistic to be added to a tally for big tobacco. They lost a customer, one of hundreds of thousands...mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters. And still they meet in board rooms, studying how to introduce more to the horror of nicotine addiction.  The wake they leave behind is a trail of dead bodies, oxygen machines, cancer drugs, misery, disfiguring surgeries, amputated limbs.  It is a despicable business.

As I left the hospital the day my mother died, I swore in the memory of my mother I would never support big tobacco with my business again.  But already the nicotine withdrawal had begun...big tobacco tugging my strings as a marionette. I was their puppet for 15 more years.  I daily thought about that promise to stop supporting big tobacco.

162 days ago I did something about that promise.  The death of my mother was not enough to strengthen my resolve enough to stop using. I didn't stop using until I came here. This program of accountability across cyberspace works. And it works as written. To change it is to weaken it.  Drink the kool aid. 

Thanks to all that keep this site going.  I am finally able to keep my last promise to my mom, may she be dancing on the streets of heaven.

May she be, indeed. Thanks for posting this.

Same here 30. My mom died two years ago at 62. Lung cancer from smoking. Quit finally at age 55 but made no difference. She waited to long. Died 7 years later. Not from the cancer, quit eating and drinking because the pain was too bad. Still took me two years after that to quit. Peace 30. I am quit with u. Dave

Tobacco has taken enough from me. They don't have my permission anymore. I quit with you Dave, may your mother and mine be dancing on the streets of heaven.

[30yraddict]

Links to use:


Here's one possible destiny.

Can you imagine how a simple task like going to a C-store would change with this fate.

[davidc67]

I read amgdenny's intro over on whack the pack and it struck a chord with me as my mother also died from emphysema caused by smoking. She was 54 years old.

Long before the public knew the dangers of smoking, my mother's addiction began...perhaps in her early teens.  She struggled and survived a horrific childhood at the hand of an alcoholic father...became a mother of 4 boys, of which I am the youngest.  Did all she could to make sure that we had it better than she did. Throughout the years she watched what she ate, exercised, spent a great deal of time outdoors, but smoking was something that she just couldn't give up, Lord knows she tried many times...all the while big tobacco was studying their market, manipulating nicotine levels, covering up damaging evidence of health risks, making inroads with Hollywood, targeting young people. Accountants figuring profit margins, attorneys doing damage control,  and the machine continued on ...

What did that mean for my mother....It meant a slow death...as breathing became less and less efficient, her blood oxygen levels fell. Organs began to become oxygen starved, and began to slowly fail... All the while, the nicotine doing it's job...keeping my mother using cigarettes up to the point where she was no longer physically able. step 1. use oxygen, step 2 remove oxygen. step 3 smoke step 4 stop when coughing too much to smoke. 5 goto step 1. She died after 4 years of daily suffering- a mother to me. A statistic to be added to a tally for big tobacco. They lost a customer, one of hundreds of thousands...mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters. And still they meet in board rooms, studying how to introduce more to the horror of nicotine addiction.  The wake they leave behind is a trail of dead bodies, oxygen machines, cancer drugs, misery, disfiguring surgeries, amputated limbs.  It is a despicable business.

As I left the hospital the day my mother died, I swore in the memory of my mother I would never support big tobacco with my business again.  But already the nicotine withdrawal had begun...big tobacco tugging my strings as a marionette. I was their puppet for 15 more years.  I daily thought about that promise to stop supporting big tobacco.

162 days ago I did something about that promise.  The death of my mother was not enough to strengthen my resolve enough to stop using. I didn't stop using until I came here. This program of accountability across cyberspace works. And it works as written. To change it is to weaken it.  Drink the kool aid. 

Thanks to all that keep this site going.  I am finally able to keep my last promise to my mom, may she be dancing on the streets of heaven.

May she be, indeed. Thanks for posting this.

Same here 30. My mom died two years ago at 62. Lung cancer from smoking. Quit finally at age 55 but made no difference. She waited to long. Died 7 years later. Not from the cancer, quit eating and drinking because the pain was too bad. Still took me two years after that to quit. Peace 30. I am quit with u. Dave

[Souliman]

Your mother would be so dang proud that you are saving people from experiencing the pain she did.

Glad you are here 30.

[G]

I read amgdenny's intro over on whack the pack and it struck a chord with me as my mother also died from emphysema caused by smoking. She was 54 years old.

Long before the public knew the dangers of smoking, my mother's addiction began...perhaps in her early teens. She struggled and survived a horrific childhood at the hand of an alcoholic father...became a mother of 4 boys, of which I am the youngest. Did all she could to make sure that we had it better than she did. Throughout the years she watched what she ate, exercised, spent a great deal of time outdoors, but smoking was something that she just couldn't give up, Lord knows she tried many times...all the while big tobacco was studying their market, manipulating nicotine levels, covering up damaging evidence of health risks, making inroads with Hollywood, targeting young people. Accountants figuring profit margins, attorneys doing damage control, and the machine continued on ...

What did that mean for my mother....It meant a slow death...as breathing became less and less efficient, her blood oxygen levels fell. Organs began to become oxygen starved, and began to slowly fail... All the while, the nicotine doing it's job...keeping my mother using cigarettes up to the point where she was no longer physically able. step 1. use oxygen, step 2 remove oxygen. step 3 smoke step 4 stop when coughing too much to smoke. 5 goto step 1. She died after 4 years of daily suffering- a mother to me. A statistic to be added to a tally for big tobacco. They lost a customer, one of hundreds of thousands...mothers, fathers, sons, and daughters. And still they meet in board rooms, studying how to introduce more to the horror of nicotine addiction. The wake they leave behind is a trail of dead bodies, oxygen machines, cancer drugs, misery, disfiguring surgeries, amputated limbs. It is a despicable business.

As I left the hospital the day my mother died, I swore in the memory of my mother I would never support big tobacco with my business again. But already the nicotine withdrawal had begun...big tobacco tugging my strings as a marionette. I was their puppet for 15 more years. I daily thought about that promise to stop supporting big tobacco.

162 days ago I did something about that promise. The death of my mother was not enough to strengthen my resolve enough to stop using. I didn't stop using until I came here. This program of accountability across cyberspace works. And it works as written. To change it is to weaken it. Drink the kool aid.

Thanks to all that keep this site going. I am finally able to keep my last promise to my mom, may she be dancing on the streets of heaven.

May she be, indeed. Thanks for posting this.