General Discussion - 2019

[2ndTimeAround]

We’ll... here I am again. I quit in 2005 for 12 years. October 2017, I wasn’t really even craving, I was just in a store and bought a can. Then another... you know the story.

If you’re new in here, like me, don’t be discouraged about my fail. After that time, it wasn’t hard to stay quit. I was stupid. I can testify that 99.99% of the 12 years between quit and cave I didn’t even think about snuff. I just lived.

But here I am again. I’ve been trying to re-quit for about the past month. I’d get a few hours or a day and cave again. I was a part of a very similar forum back when I quit the first time, and it was awesome so I came back (if any of the old F-tards are still around, I was staringatthewalls).

I’m reading the posts, and I’m scared of the pain. I’m scared because I know that the can was how I dealt with pain, and now that’s gone. I’m gearing up for 1 second at a time. I just spit out my last dip. Day 1 is tomorrow.

I’m a Christian, a pastor as a matter of fact, so I’ve got my “higher power” in order, but I’m looking forward to getting to know you guys in the May 2019 group. I’m still having a bit of trouble figuring out how to navigate and find the board for my group, so any help is appreciated.

Thanks for being a community where I can walk through this with others. I appreciate the support, and hope to lend it as well.

[jdjones58]

Any quitters here who can comment on how quitting affected their blood pressure and what the timeline was before a change in BP occurred?

I hope somebody comes along that can tell you.  Quitting dipping helped my dickie doo stay hard, I can tell you that.  All the chemicals we put in our bodies have consequences that were very unintended.  With every day that you're nicotine free, your body heals itself a little more.

I have high blood pressure as well.  It takes at least 3 - 4 days to start seeing a drop in your readings.  Kind of like when you abstain from drinking, that will drop our BP as well.  Unless you have your own BP kit you probably are not going to see it right away, but you should start feeling a change, depending on how high your BP was to begin with.

Went to the Dr. yesterday and BP had dropped significantly systolic & diastolic. However, it is still high at 144/92 I was in the 150s/100s. Need to be 120s/80s.  So the question is, will I continue to see gains in this area over time. I'm at day 62

I know mine bounced around for a bit. high then low, high then low... don't remember the day count.... But now at 750 days, it has stayed low. If you are concerned, reach out to your doctor... If your Doc isn't concerned, then just roll with it for a bit.

I doubt you will seen any more gains from just eliminating nicotine, you may want to take a couple of days and restrict your sodium intake to under 2000mg/day.  For my I will usually see a decrease in about 2 - 3 days.  You need to have the discussion with the doctor to figure out what the best course of action will be.  If you haven't already I would invest in a BP kit for home use, that way you can get a pretty good idea how things are affecting your BP.  Also alcohol is going to affect your BP as well.  Watching your sodium/salt intake is hard, but doable.  Take a week limiting the sodium and alcohol and see what happens. 

Good luck

I’m at Day 83. I stopped taking my two blood pressure meds for a week. I found that I’m still high 160/94. I’m back on the blood pressure meds for a few days and back down to 120/80. I will try another test down the road, but for now quitting does not seem to help with high blood pressure.

I see you Ware!  Glad to see your quit is going well!  Be well!

[ware68]

Any quitters here who can comment on how quitting affected their blood pressure and what the timeline was before a change in BP occurred?

I hope somebody comes along that can tell you.  Quitting dipping helped my dickie doo stay hard, I can tell you that.  All the chemicals we put in our bodies have consequences that were very unintended.  With every day that you're nicotine free, your body heals itself a little more.

I have high blood pressure as well.  It takes at least 3 - 4 days to start seeing a drop in your readings.  Kind of like when you abstain from drinking, that will drop our BP as well.  Unless you have your own BP kit you probably are not going to see it right away, but you should start feeling a change, depending on how high your BP was to begin with.

Went to the Dr. yesterday and BP had dropped significantly systolic & diastolic. However, it is still high at 144/92 I was in the 150s/100s. Need to be 120s/80s.  So the question is, will I continue to see gains in this area over time. I'm at day 62

I know mine bounced around for a bit. high then low, high then low... don't remember the day count.... But now at 750 days, it has stayed low. If you are concerned, reach out to your doctor... If your Doc isn't concerned, then just roll with it for a bit.

I doubt you will seen any more gains from just eliminating nicotine, you may want to take a couple of days and restrict your sodium intake to under 2000mg/day.  For my I will usually see a decrease in about 2 - 3 days.  You need to have the discussion with the doctor to figure out what the best course of action will be.  If you haven't already I would invest in a BP kit for home use, that way you can get a pretty good idea how things are affecting your BP.  Also alcohol is going to affect your BP as well.  Watching your sodium/salt intake is hard, but doable.  Take a week limiting the sodium and alcohol and see what happens. 

Good luck

I’m at Day 83. I stopped taking my two blood pressure meds for a week. I found that I’m still high 160/94. I’m back on the blood pressure meds for a few days and back down to 120/80. I will try another test down the road, but for now quitting does not seem to help with high blood pressure.

[chewie]

Lance From SD and Theo3wood randomly ran into one another at the Columbus airport! Theo had this to say, “The strangest things happen when you quit dipping. In the summer of 2008, this guy and I both found KTC, promised not to dip for a day, and here we are…running into each other in Columbus, Ohio; 7,553 days of quit between us….Theo3wood & LancefromSD. Yup.”

https://www.killthecan.org/lance-from-sd-and-theo3wood-in-cbus/

[chewie]

69franx and CopeQuits got together in Daytona Beach.

https://www.killthecan.org/69franx-and-copequits-in-daytona-beach/

[OilnGas]

Doctor didn't seem too concerned for now. Obviously the goal is to get the numbers down. Still have some weapons in the arsenal. Exercise, abstaining from alcohol, halting caffeine consumption, watching salt intake....etc. I like exercise but I've felt like shit since quitting Copenhagen. I like alcohol. I like coffee. I like salt.

I'll figure it out. I may have a sensitivity to caffeine. Some say caffeine effects on BP are acute, short lived , transitory except if the body metabolizes it very slowly. We'll see. Gonna quit coffee first. I'm gonna be a real joy to live with

[arrakisdq]

Any quitters here who can comment on how quitting affected their blood pressure and what the timeline was before a change in BP occurred?

I hope somebody comes along that can tell you.  Quitting dipping helped my dickie doo stay hard, I can tell you that.  All the chemicals we put in our bodies have consequences that were very unintended.  With every day that you're nicotine free, your body heals itself a little more.

I have high blood pressure as well.  It takes at least 3 - 4 days to start seeing a drop in your readings.  Kind of like when you abstain from drinking, that will drop our BP as well.  Unless you have your own BP kit you probably are not going to see it right away, but you should start feeling a change, depending on how high your BP was to begin with.

Went to the Dr. yesterday and BP had dropped significantly systolic & diastolic. However, it is still high at 144/92 I was in the 150s/100s. Need to be 120s/80s.  So the question is, will I continue to see gains in this area over time. I'm at day 62

I know mine bounced around for a bit. high then low, high then low... don't remember the day count.... But now at 750 days, it has stayed low. If you are concerned, reach out to your doctor... If your Doc isn't concerned, then just roll with it for a bit.

I doubt you will seen any more gains from just eliminating nicotine, you may want to take a couple of days and restrict your sodium intake to under 2000mg/day.  For my I will usually see a decrease in about 2 - 3 days.  You need to have the discussion with the doctor to figure out what the best course of action will be.  If you haven't already I would invest in a BP kit for home use, that way you can get a pretty good idea how things are affecting your BP.  Also alcohol is going to affect your BP as well.  Watching your sodium/salt intake is hard, but doable.  Take a week limiting the sodium and alcohol and see what happens. 

Good luck

[Batdad]

Any quitters here who can comment on how quitting affected their blood pressure and what the timeline was before a change in BP occurred?

I hope somebody comes along that can tell you.  Quitting dipping helped my dickie doo stay hard, I can tell you that.  All the chemicals we put in our bodies have consequences that were very unintended.  With every day that you're nicotine free, your body heals itself a little more.

I have high blood pressure as well.  It takes at least 3 - 4 days to start seeing a drop in your readings.  Kind of like when you abstain from drinking, that will drop our BP as well.  Unless you have your own BP kit you probably are not going to see it right away, but you should start feeling a change, depending on how high your BP was to begin with.

Went to the Dr. yesterday and BP had dropped significantly systolic & diastolic. However, it is still high at 144/92 I was in the 150s/100s. Need to be 120s/80s.  So the question is, will I continue to see gains in this area over time. I'm at day 62

I know mine bounced around for a bit. high then low, high then low... don't remember the day count.... But now at 750 days, it has stayed low. If you are concerned, reach out to your doctor... If your Doc isn't concerned, then just roll with it for a bit.

[OilnGas]

Any quitters here who can comment on how quitting affected their blood pressure and what the timeline was before a change in BP occurred?

I hope somebody comes along that can tell you.  Quitting dipping helped my dickie doo stay hard, I can tell you that.  All the chemicals we put in our bodies have consequences that were very unintended.  With every day that you're nicotine free, your body heals itself a little more.

I have high blood pressure as well.  It takes at least 3 - 4 days to start seeing a drop in your readings.  Kind of like when you abstain from drinking, that will drop our BP as well.  Unless you have your own BP kit you probably are not going to see it right away, but you should start feeling a change, depending on how high your BP was to begin with.

Went to the Dr. yesterday and BP had dropped significantly systolic & diastolic. However, it is still high at 144/92 I was in the 150s/100s. Need to be 120s/80s.  So the question is, will I continue to see gains in this area over time. I'm at day 62

[chewie]

Croakenhagen, BrianG, Koba, Broccoli-saurus, Athan, cbird on Christmas Eve Day at Hard Eight BBQ in The Colony. This right here is what 4,587 days of quit looks like – Merry Quitmas!

https://www.killthecan.org/christmas-eve-quit-at-hard-eight/

[chewie]

Fishflorida and 69franx (apparently at a gas station) in Fort Lauderdale.

https://www.killthecan.org/fishflorida-and-69franx-in-fort-lauderdale/

[arrakisdq]

Any quitters here who can comment on how quitting affected their blood pressure and what the timeline was before a change in BP occurred?

I hope somebody comes along that can tell you.  Quitting dipping helped my dickie doo stay hard, I can tell you that.  All the chemicals we put in our bodies have consequences that were very unintended.  With every day that you're nicotine free, your body heals itself a little more.

I have high blood pressure as well.  It takes at least 3 - 4 days to start seeing a drop in your readings.  Kind of like when you abstain from drinking, that will drop our BP as well.  Unless you have your own BP kit you probably are not going to see it right away, but you should start feeling a change, depending on how high your BP was to begin with.

[chewie]

I dipped Skoal Fine Cut Wintergreen for 35 years. It was nothing to go through a can a day for me. Today I posted 730 days quit. First I just want to say everyone should quit right now. Cold turkey, never again for any reason. If everyone would quit, that would be great. Saying that, I am writing this so the older guys will read it. The guy who has been dipping for 20+ years. The guy who really doesn't enjoy it as much, but still does it because quitting is tough.

I am sure you are like I was when I would buy a can(s) of dip. I need to quit this stuff, I am tired of it. What a waste of money. Maybe after these cans are gone, then I will quit. You know that as soon as those can(s) were gone, you were back at the store buying more and making those same promises to yourself. I am here to tell you that it is time. Time to do what we all know is the right thing.

If you have dipped this long, then I know you have had that scare multiple times, you know the one. The one where your heart skips a beat because you think you just discovered you have mouth cancer. A new bump in your lip, white patches on your tongue. Some tickle in your throat that seems to not be getting better. These things used to worry me sick. Am I the only one that would grab the flashlight and head to the bathroom mirror and start looking for cancer? Since I have been quit, I do not think that way anymore. Will my 35 years of abusing myself with tobacco cause me issues in the future? I pray not, but I know that I did the right thing in quitting now. No regrets.

If you had the power to see the future and you knew the next dip was the one that would cause the cancer to start growing, would you take that dip? I think most of us would fight like hell and do whatever it took to keep tobacco out of our mouths. Of course we do not have that power, but we do know that at some point, enough is enough. Us 20+ year guys cant be dancing with the devil and not expect something bad to happen. You can read stories of guys with less time than that developing mouth cancer. When I was dipping, no way could I look at pictures of mouth cancer or even read about it. Since quitting, I have allowed myself to view some of these pictures and read about people going through the treatments. Let me tell you, I ain't going out that way...Hell NO. It is just gruesome to read about. You think it will be easier to quit while you are going through chemo treatments? This is real.

You are on a site that helps people quit using nicotine and reading this, so you must agree that you have had enough. Now you are trying to figure out how to do it. First thing is to know that you do not have to do it alone. Knowing that there were guys and gals here going through the exact same thing I was made this doable. I tried on my own and failed. I came here and went all in. I wanted to quit bad. You have to get yourself to that point and then do what it takes. If a vet tells you to post roll everyday, then you post roll everyday with no questions asked. If a vet says you post early in the morning, then you post early in the morning. This site has worked for many people. It will also let you down if you are not committed to being quit. No magic pills here. You have to quit for you and you have to determine that failing is not an option. When you get to that point and you leave the ego at the door, you too can quit this addiction. You can learn what it feels like to truly be free from nicotine. I have had 477 days of my adult life nicotine free and I wish I was smart enough to quit a long time ago. The freedom is so worth it.

Read everything you can on this site. Get your game plan together. Determine that no matter how bad I feel while quitting, tobacco will never be an option again. I can promise you 2 things if you decide to quit. Promise 1, this will be hard. There will be times that you will question yourself. I say this to you, nobody has ever died from quitting tobacco. You can do it! Promise 2, You will not regret quitting. It took me about 225 days or so to really feel good and not think of tobacco. It may be shorter for you or maybe longer, but when you do reach that point, you will never look back with regret. Hopefully you will reach out like I am doing here and try to help the next guy who is trying to figure out how to quit.

Let today be day 1 of your quit...

--BrianG

Congrats on 730 days of freedom my friend - this is pure poetry.

Proud to be quit with you today!

Chewie

[BrianG]

I dipped Skoal Fine Cut Wintergreen for 35 years. It was nothing to go through a can a day for me. Today I posted 730 days quit. First I just want to say everyone should quit right now. Cold turkey, never again for any reason. If everyone would quit, that would be great. Saying that, I am writing this so the older guys will read it. The guy who has been dipping for 20+ years. The guy who really doesn't enjoy it as much, but still does it because quitting is tough.

I am sure you are like I was when I would buy a can(s) of dip. I need to quit this stuff, I am tired of it. What a waste of money. Maybe after these cans are gone, then I will quit. You know that as soon as those can(s) were gone, you were back at the store buying more and making those same promises to yourself. I am here to tell you that it is time. Time to do what we all know is the right thing.

If you have dipped this long, then I know you have had that scare multiple times, you know the one. The one where your heart skips a beat because you think you just discovered you have mouth cancer. A new bump in your lip, white patches on your tongue. Some tickle in your throat that seems to not be getting better. These things used to worry me sick. Am I the only one that would grab the flashlight and head to the bathroom mirror and start looking for cancer? Since I have been quit, I do not think that way anymore. Will my 35 years of abusing myself with tobacco cause me issues in the future? I pray not, but I know that I did the right thing in quitting now. No regrets.

If you had the power to see the future and you knew the next dip was the one that would cause the cancer to start growing, would you take that dip? I think most of us would fight like hell and do whatever it took to keep tobacco out of our mouths. Of course we do not have that power, but we do know that at some point, enough is enough. Us 20+ year guys cant be dancing with the devil and not expect something bad to happen. You can read stories of guys with less time than that developing mouth cancer. When I was dipping, no way could I look at pictures of mouth cancer or even read about it. Since quitting, I have allowed myself to view some of these pictures and read about people going through the treatments. Let me tell you, I ain't going out that way...Hell NO. It is just gruesome to read about. You think it will be easier to quit while you are going through chemo treatments? This is real.

You are on a site that helps people quit using nicotine and reading this, so you must agree that you have had enough. Now you are trying to figure out how to do it. First thing is to know that you do not have to do it alone. Knowing that there were guys and gals here going through the exact same thing I was made this doable. I tried on my own and failed. I came here and went all in. I wanted to quit bad. You have to get yourself to that point and then do what it takes. If a vet tells you to post roll everyday, then you post roll everyday with no questions asked. If a vet says you post early in the morning, then you post early in the morning. This site has worked for many people. It will also let you down if you are not committed to being quit. No magic pills here. You have to quit for you and you have to determine that failing is not an option. When you get to that point and you leave the ego at the door, you too can quit this addiction. You can learn what it feels like to truly be free from nicotine. I have had 477 days of my adult life nicotine free and I wish I was smart enough to quit a long time ago. The freedom is so worth it.

Read everything you can on this site. Get your game plan together. Determine that no matter how bad I feel while quitting, tobacco will never be an option again. I can promise you 2 things if you decide to quit. Promise 1, this will be hard. There will be times that you will question yourself. I say this to you, nobody has ever died from quitting tobacco. You can do it! Promise 2, You will not regret quitting. It took me about 225 days or so to really feel good and not think of tobacco. It may be shorter for you or maybe longer, but when you do reach that point, you will never look back with regret. Hopefully you will reach out like I am doing here and try to help the next guy who is trying to figure out how to quit.

Let today be day 1 of your quit...

--BrianG

[TallJoe]

Thanks for addressing this Chewie, haha.

I acknowledge it's kinda silly and I'm not worrying about it, but I'm fascinated by minutiae.

If over the course of a day I consumed 5 lbs of eggplant (conceivable), that'd be the rough equivalent of smoking a quarter of a cigarette.

 

Is there an official KTC stance on the consumption of nicotine containing vegetables/fruits such as tomatoes and eggplants?

 

Nothing 'official' for sure.

The topic has come up over the years. My personal opinion is it would be ridiculous to worry about eating tomatos / eggplants () but I spose others may feel differently.