Enough is enough

[Thumblewort]

Seaweed that quits is bad ass! Pass the quit and gari!

[CavMan83]

If you keep reading enough, you will find the majority of people on here start taking alot better care of themselves during the quit. Your whole outlook, or should I say most people's outlook on life changes drastically to the better! Quitting is definitely a win win no brainner! Quit on!

What old Pab said is truth. You got this. We can help. Lean on your fellow quitters in Sept '16 and elsewhere on this site. Become engaged. Learn as much as you can.... may not seem like it now, but there is FREEDOM waiting down the pike. Quit on!

[pab1964]

If you keep reading enough, you will find the majority of people on here start taking alot better care of themselves during the quit. Your whole outlook, or should I say most people's outlook on life changes drastically to the better! Quitting is definitely a win win no brainner! Quit on!

[kubiackalpha]

I will be honest. I didn't read all of the things in there entirety. For one reason they seemed repetitive. As such, it seems as though you still have some reservations. If I am wrong, then, I am wrong. I will admit to it. Your blood pressure. Have you done 100% what your doc said from the beginning? If not, then that is the reason you should be scare about a spike or a plummet in pressure. Mine has smoothed way out and there was a day that i felt like it was bottomed. Now, I am not on medications. However, doesn't take away the fact that is sucked. But, I kept on quitting. Why? Because I knew the end result was worth it. Was I extra vigilant with how I felt? Absolutely. But, I was not going to use any symptom as a reason to go back to the shite. Break weak? Me? Never. I am not going to let that 1 ounce can rule my life. Yeah. 1 oz can ruled your life daily. You had a dip in most times of the day, right? That isn't normal. LOL! So, keep the quit on. Monitor yourself and do what you are supposed to do. Don't let anything be the reason you let that little tiny can rule you anymore. Get with your doctor and talk with him. We are hardcore quitters here.


just for today, Self.

Definitely no reservations now, but I see how you could have gotten that from what I said. The reservations were all before I started posting role. Now that I'm doing that I don't have any reservations. I'm in.

To be honest I hadn't been to the doctor in a long time, so it was a real shock to find this out. The crazy part was that I was already doing most of what he suggested - good diet, exercise, etc. But not the tobacco. I didn't stop that until I got slapped in the face with the high blood pressure news. So yeah, at this point I'm doing everything the doc told me to since I'm quit.

I hear you about a 1oz can ruling my life daily. The lying, the disruptions to my day since I needed to leave work to go out and buy a can, I hated all that. And lol, yeah - that ISN'T NORMAL. I'd forgotten that while I was chewing, so thanks for the reminder.

If you ever have a question or need permission to fun(k up, get ahold of me.

[nori]

I will be honest. I didn't read all of the things in there entirety. For one reason they seemed repetitive. As such, it seems as though you still have some reservations. If I am wrong, then, I am wrong. I will admit to it. Your blood pressure. Have you done 100% what your doc said from the beginning? If not, then that is the reason you should be scare about a spike or a plummet in pressure. Mine has smoothed way out and there was a day that i felt like it was bottomed. Now, I am not on medications. However, doesn't take away the fact that is sucked. But, I kept on quitting. Why? Because I knew the end result was worth it. Was I extra vigilant with how I felt? Absolutely. But, I was not going to use any symptom as a reason to go back to the shite. Break weak? Me? Never. I am not going to let that 1 ounce can rule my life. Yeah. 1 oz can ruled your life daily. You had a dip in most times of the day, right? That isn't normal. LOL! So, keep the quit on. Monitor yourself and do what you are supposed to do. Don't let anything be the reason you let that little tiny can rule you anymore. Get with your doctor and talk with him. We are hardcore quitters here.


just for today, Self.

Definitely no reservations now, but I see how you could have gotten that from what I said. The reservations were all before I started posting role. Now that I'm doing that I don't have any reservations. I'm in.

To be honest I hadn't been to the doctor in a long time, so it was a real shock to find this out. The crazy part was that I was already doing most of what he suggested - good diet, exercise, etc. But not the tobacco. I didn't stop that until I got slapped in the face with the high blood pressure news. So yeah, at this point I'm doing everything the doc told me to since I'm quit.

I hear you about a 1oz can ruling my life daily. The lying, the disruptions to my day since I needed to leave work to go out and buy a can, I hated all that. And lol, yeah - that ISN'T NORMAL. I'd forgotten that while I was chewing, so thanks for the reminder.

[pky1520]

I will be honest. I didn't read all of the things in there entirety. For one reason they seemed repetitive. As such, it seems as though you still have some reservations. If I am wrong, then, I am wrong. I will admit to it. Your blood pressure. Have you done 100% what your doc said from the beginning? If not, then that is the reason you should be scare about a spike or a plummet in pressure. Mine has smoothed way out and there was a day that i felt like it was bottomed. Now, I am not on medications. However, doesn't take away the fact that is sucked. But, I kept on quitting. Why? Because I knew the end result was worth it. Was I extra vigilant with how I felt? Absolutely. But, I was not going to use any symptom as a reason to go back to the shite. Break weak? Me? Never. I am not going to let that 1 ounce can rule my life. Yeah. 1 oz can ruled your life daily. You had a dip in most times of the day, right? That isn't normal. LOL! So, keep the quit on. Monitor yourself and do what you are supposed to do. Don't let anything be the reason you let that little tiny can rule you anymore. Get with your doctor and talk with him. We are hardcore quitters here.


just for today, Self.

Nori, this was kind of my point. I wasn't trying to say that your blood pressure was going to be harmed by quitting dip, it's that it is irrelevant.

You're kind of talking about this as one part of a holistic health plan, rather than a life and death struggle with nicotine. It's GREAT that you're taking care of yourself in other ways, in fact doing that will absolutely help you with your struggle w/ nicotine. However, if you view quitting tobacco as a single line item in your overall health plan, you could be setting yourself up for failure. Staying quit needs to be treated with the level of urgency of a sucking chest wound, rather than that of carrying a few extra lbs.

Adding your Quit to a list of self improvements makes it something that you might be more willing to bargain with. "Well ok, I can have a chew every now and then, but I'm giving up pizza, so it evens out." That line of thinking will make you fail. I'm not saying that's where you're at, but from your posts, you can see why one might go there.

Bottom line, keep taking care of yourself, outrunning your cravings and staying positive. But don't forget that staying quit is your #1 top health priority.

**Edit - And glad you dumped your trophy cans, that was a huge move brother!

[kubiackalpha]

I will be honest. I didn't read all of the things in there entirety. For one reason they seemed repetitive. As such, it seems as though you still have some reservations. If I am wrong, then, I am wrong. I will admit to it. Your blood pressure. Have you done 100% what your doc said from the beginning? If not, then that is the reason you should be scare about a spike or a plummet in pressure. Mine has smoothed way out and there was a day that i felt like it was bottomed. Now, I am not on medications. However, doesn't take away the fact that is sucked. But, I kept on quitting. Why? Because I knew the end result was worth it. Was I extra vigilant with how I felt? Absolutely. But, I was not going to use any symptom as a reason to go back to the shite. Break weak? Me? Never. I am not going to let that 1 ounce can rule my life. Yeah. 1 oz can ruled your life daily. You had a dip in most times of the day, right? That isn't normal. LOL! So, keep the quit on. Monitor yourself and do what you are supposed to do. Don't let anything be the reason you let that little tiny can rule you anymore. Get with your doctor and talk with him. We are hardcore quitters here.


just for today, Self.

[nori]

Maybe this will help. I dipped 38 year's blood pressure steadily creeping up, had a massive heart attack, doc said totally due to nicotine! 525 days later feel better to have in year's, even before heart attack. I can promise you one thing, you will hear panic attacks, anxiety attacks and high blood pressure associated with dipping all through this site! Quit on it definitely want kill you!

Thanks! It's definitely helpful to hear from others who have had similar experiences. It makes me feel less alone on this journey.

I actually found out since last week that I've got high blood pressure in the family so that's probably the biggest culprit. But that's the one part I can't change - the things I *can* change are diet, exercise, and quitting tobacco. I know everyone's got their own way of dealing with this, but for me it doesn't make any sense to quite chewing if I'm not also fixing those other things. I won't speak for anyone else but for me they all go hand in hand. It's easier for me to change my whole lifestyle than it is to just try to keep my same lifestyle, but without the tobacco.

I've read a lot of other guys on here talking about how going to the gym has been a lifesaver for them. I think that's been one of the big reasons it hasn't felt "hard" (for the most part) to quit so far. If I'm lifting heavy things three times a week I'm getting that natural high, plus late at night when I'd normally be watching TV and wanting to chew, now I'm just too damn tired. By 10:30 I'm falling asleep now whether I want to or not.

Today was the first day that felt challenging at all. It didn't last for long but I had some hard family stuff, work stuff, and health stuff all happen in the same hour this morning. It's the first time in the last 11 days I felt at all like I wanted to chew to help "calm me down". Which is crazy, since I know that it actually has the opposite effect. But whenever I was stressed I at least told myself that it would calm me down. I guess that goes to show how powerfully evil tobacco is. You think it's making you feel better when it's actually making you feel worse. You think it's helping you when it's actually killing you. And even though you know it mentally, you refuse to believe it in how you live your life day to day.

Luckily I was at work and had 10 different things people wanted me to do right then, so it wasn't even an option to cave and run out to the store to get some. I think I've got enough tools now that I wouldn't have done that anyway, but it's probably important for me to recognize where my triggers are and what are the things that get me to think about (and want) tobacco more. That way I'll recognize those situations when they come up again so I'm watching myself more to make sure I don't cave.

It wasn't anything I couldn't handle today, I just wanna make sure nothing bigger comes up in the future that would get me to cave. And yeah, it's all head games now. Which for me is going to be the hardest part. I didn't really have a lot of physical stuff but I've been expecting mental stuff since the first day.

[nori]

No dip for 6 days means your quit regardless of whether you intended to or not. Do you want to quit? I guarantee quitting will only help your blood pressure, so why not just make this permanent? Keeping those tins around is just setting yourself up for failure. Dump those fucking things, post role, and keep quitting. Your 6 days in, the nicotine is out of your system and now it's just head games.
Dump the tins and quit for good.

Yep. Not sure if you saw my earlier messages but the reason I hadn't posted earlier than I did was because I wanted to feel like I was really doing it. But as soon as I decided to do it, I posted role and on the boards here. So yes - I'm quit now. It's definitely not going to make my blood pressure *worse* to quit.

And oh yeah, I dumped the cans. It was this weird mixture of regret and happiness. I'm sure y'all know what I'm talking about.

[pab1964]

Haven't tossed them yet, but honestly it's because it's because I hadn't really made the decision to quit until I was about 6 days in. .

No dip for 6 days means your quit regardless of whether you intended to or not. Do you want to quit? I guarantee quitting will only help your blood pressure, so why not just make this permanent? Keeping those tins around is just setting yourself up for failure. Dump those fucking things, post role, and keep quitting. Your 6 days in, the nicotine is out of your system and now it's just head games.
Dump the tins and quit for good.

Maybe this will help. I dipped 38 year's blood pressure steadily creeping up, had a massive heart attack, doc said totally due to nicotine! 525 days later feel better to have in year's, even before heart attack. I can promise you one thing, you will hear panic attacks, anxiety attacks and high blood pressure associated with dipping all through this site! Quit on it definitely want kill you!

[HorseLF]

Haven't tossed them yet, but honestly it's because it's because I hadn't really made the decision to quit until I was about 6 days in. .

No dip for 6 days means your quit regardless of whether you intended to or not. Do you want to quit? I guarantee quitting will only help your blood pressure, so why not just make this permanent? Keeping those tins around is just setting yourself up for failure. Dump those fucking things, post role, and keep quitting. Your 6 days in, the nicotine is out of your system and now it's just head games.
Dump the tins and quit for good.

[pky1520]

Nori- I was close to a can a day for 15 years. i'm 83 days quit today. blood pressure is/was an issue as well. I've had high blood pressure for the last 5 years or more, always noting in my mind that nicotine was likely the culprit- but still not quite ready to quit... maybe after the Holiday. Maybe after the Summer. But now football season is here, so.... you get it.

about 20 days in to my quit i tested my blood pressure. still high. haven't checked it since. but i will soon and report back.

It'd be great to hear from you (or others) what you've seen regarding change in blood pressure after quitting. Peace of mind and all that.

The update from yesterday is that I was having panic attacks all day before I went to the doc. I'm a raging hypocondriac. And so even though blood pressure is nothing to joke about, I was walking around all day feeling like I was gonna have a heart attack right then. Finally got to the doc in the afternoon and he was basically like, "yep. High blood pressure. Seen it 1,000 times." They put me on meds (which may or may not be permanent). Obviously he told me to stay off the chew, but he told me my diet and exercise are fine so the blood pressure is likely genetic. But we'll see. Even though I've been walking 40 minutes round-trip to work for the last two years, I just started lifting weights 3x a week about two months ago, after having stopped for about five years. I'm also trying to cut as much salt out of my diet as possible. I eat pretty damn clean, but take a look at the amount of sodium that's in a can of "healthy" chili and you'll see how hard it is in the US to live on a low-sodium diet.

So long story short, any time I have even the remotest thought of chewing, all I have to do is think "yeah, I could do that. And then maybe my heart could explode too." So no thanks to that deal.

At least that's how I'm feeling now - I know things change over time, so who knows, maybe for me it'll be like day 90 or 120 or who knows when that will feel hard.

Dude, dump your cans! Forget your sodium content and blood pressure readings! This isn't general health. Tobacco is poison. It is an addictive poison.

Too much Salt in your diet might contribute to your death at some point. At some point in your journey to a healthier you, that is something that should be addressed. However, HERE you need to stop fucking chewing tobacco! I don't care if you shove a McRib Sandwich stuffed with broken glass and a recycled Justin Beiber CD in your face, just don't use tobacco or any other nicotine product!

Get on board, get posting and get involved. We can help if you want to quit.

[nori]

Nori- I was close to a can a day for 15 years. i'm 83 days quit today. blood pressure is/was an issue as well. I've had high blood pressure for the last 5 years or more, always noting in my mind that nicotine was likely the culprit- but still not quite ready to quit... maybe after the Holiday. Maybe after the Summer. But now football season is here, so.... you get it.

about 20 days in to my quit i tested my blood pressure. still high. haven't checked it since. but i will soon and report back.

It'd be great to hear from you (or others) what you've seen regarding change in blood pressure after quitting. Peace of mind and all that.

The update from yesterday is that I was having panic attacks all day before I went to the doc. I'm a raging hypocondriac. And so even though blood pressure is nothing to joke about, I was walking around all day feeling like I was gonna have a heart attack right then. Finally got to the doc in the afternoon and he was basically like, "yep. High blood pressure. Seen it 1,000 times." They put me on meds (which may or may not be permanent). Obviously he told me to stay off the chew, but he told me my diet and exercise are fine so the blood pressure is likely genetic. But we'll see. Even though I've been walking 40 minutes round-trip to work for the last two years, I just started lifting weights 3x a week about two months ago, after having stopped for about five years. I'm also trying to cut as much salt out of my diet as possible. I eat pretty damn clean, but take a look at the amount of sodium that's in a can of "healthy" chili and you'll see how hard it is in the US to live on a low-sodium diet.

So long story short, any time I have even the remotest thought of chewing, all I have to do is think "yeah, I could do that. And then maybe my heart could explode too." So no thanks to that deal.

At least that's how I'm feeling now - I know things change over time, so who knows, maybe for me it'll be like day 90 or 120 or who knows when that will feel hard.

[nori]

Couldn't tell from your note if you still have the tins stashed. Do you? If you're serious about quitting you should dump those damn things immediately, otherwise it's just another temptation. Hold a funeral if you have to, but get them out of the house and out of your life. My two cents.

Haven't tossed them yet, but honestly it's because it's because I hadn't really made the decision to quit until I was about 6 days in. Then yesterday I was at the doc all day, and that was the first time I posted roll. I didn't want to do it until I felt like I was really ready to do it. But yeah, I hear you - no need to have the temptation around. I'll dump them when I get home tonight.

Strangely, I haven't really had the temptation to fish them out and use them. Maybe it's because it's only been a week, or maybe it's because this blood pressure thing put the fear of God into me. Every once in a while I'm sitting at my desk at work and want to pop some in - I think for me that's going to be the hardest part to have the discipline not to do. At home, it's been pretty easy. No more ninja dipping equals more quality time with my family (and more sleep), so I don't really feel tempted there.

Just to keep things real, though, I'll post back here to y'all once I dump them tonight.

[jswiss11]

Nori- I was close to a can a day for 15 years. i'm 83 days quit today. blood pressure is/was an issue as well. I've had high blood pressure for the last 5 years or more, always noting in my mind that nicotine was likely the culprit- but still not quite ready to quit... maybe after the Holiday. Maybe after the Summer. But now football season is here, so.... you get it.

I also had horrible blood circulation. I would lose feeling in my feet and my toes would be ghost white. that has completely gone away.

about 20 days in to my quit i tested my blood pressure. still high. haven't checked it since. but i will soon and report back.

i will tell you that one thing I've learned through reading and reflecting is that there is no safe amount to use. your brain will continue to push the envelope and your dosage will increase with time. stay quit bro.