How I quit smoking - Update 75 days

[HeXploiT]

This is a comment on the concept of replacing smoking tobacco with smokeless(chewing) tobacco.
I am 35 and have been an 18 year smoker. LOVE my cigarettes. Feels SO good to take that smoke into my lungs. I ended up in the hospital few times because my heart was doing strange things. Had pain in my arm and very irregular heartbeat that scared the daylights out of me.
Sometimes I would get very sad thinking about my beautiful 9 year old daughter and how there is a very good chance I might die from smoking when my daughter is still very young because I cannot give up the smokes. I watched my father have many heart attacks from smoking but he kept on. "How am I ever GOING TO QUIT!!!???" I would ask myself.
Well one day a little over two weeks ago after getting out of the hospital I decided to try quitting again and this time i bought some snus(chewing tobacco).
Now the thing to realize about cigarette addiction is that it's 90% mental. yes the nicotine addiction is strong but it only lasts a week and if it were merely a matter of physical addiction we could just go a week until the nicotine had left our bodies and never think about it again. The truth is however that we are in love with our fix.
My goal was to prove this to myself. Now in the beginning I really had some strong cravings fro the smokes but I told myself that really I'm craving nicotine and forced myself to take a dip of chew even though I didn't desire it. Sure enough 10 minutes later I got the nicotine in my system and the craving for a smoke was 95% gone. Do this repeatedly. You must force yourself. It has been two weeks now and I'm hardly thinking about cigarettes at all. I cannot BELIEVE how much better I feel. My lungs have cleared a great deal and I'm already starting to run places. My heart is no longer bothering me at all. I FEEL GREAT!

Now let me address the naysayers. You will find all sorts of information on the web about how smokeless tobacco is an unsafe alternative to cigarette. Total load of BS!
Smoking related causes easily kill more Americans than ANYTHING!
Deaths from chewing tobacco are nowhere near the deaths from smoking. Not even close. Probably a 100x as many people die from smoking related heart attacks, emphysema and lung cancer than do from chewing tobacco.
I did the research and you should to.
This is in no way stating that Chewing tobacco is safe yet it is nowhere near as dangerous as cigarettes and you get your lungs and heart back. Now I don't love the chewing tobacco like I loved my cigarette. I smoked for my entire adult life.
However I am content with the chewing tobacco. Some day I would like to be tobacco free but for now I am content that I have added AT LEAST another 10 years onto my life. Some day when I feel confident enough and am far enough away from that smoker I once knew I will quite chewing. Quitting chewing will be easy compared to giving up my smokes.
I encourage anyone who has tried and failed to add this as an option. ANYTHING is better than smoking those poisonous tobacco sticks. It feels so good to run again. Don't fear the separation from cigarettes.
If any of this seems silly to you then consider yourself fortunate that you don't smoke.
Progress before perfection.
This is a post of gratitude.

Thank God!

 

[Adam8281]

awesome pose, good for you

 

[queenrobot]

:thumbsup:

Good Post!!!!

Good luck!


I am trying to quit myself, it is hard.

 

[JakwoW]

Yeah I chew too. Did the same thing as you. You didn't really quit smoking, IMHO, you just traded it for a different vice.

Not talking shit at all, but I have tried to quit chewing before and it is WAY harder than quitting smoking because it has a lot more nicotine in it. I don't know enough about snus though, so that could be different. I'm talking about copenhagen.

. . . off to research snus.

edit: I do think chew is "less unhealthy" than cigs tho. Also, in your research, did your calculations account for the fact that more people smoke than chew?

 

[Turin39789]

I just went cold turkey. I think around the 12th time was the charm, but I've been clean for about 6 months now.

 

[meltdown75]

good post, congrats for quitting the smokes.

i started up again this summer and now i'm back up to 7-8 smokes a day. :/

when it comes time to quit again, i'm definitely willing to consider your advice! :thumbsup:

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: meltdown75
good post, congrats for quitting the smokes.

i started up again this summer and now i'm back up to 7-8 smokes a day. :/

when it comes time to quit again, i'm definitely willing to consider your advice! :thumbsup:

Your wife won't like that, since chew is disgusting. You'd be better off going with the nicotine lozenges, gum, etc.

 

[meltdown75]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: meltdown75
good post, congrats for quitting the smokes.

i started up again this summer and now i'm back up to 7-8 smokes a day. :/

when it comes time to quit again, i'm definitely willing to consider your advice! :thumbsup:

Your wife won't like that, since chew is disgusting. You'd be better off going with the nicotine lozenges, gum, etc.

i'm still trying to figure out what she DOES like.

well... i know one thing... :Q

 

[HeXploiT]

Originally posted by: JakwoW
Yeah I chew too. Did the same thing as you. You didn't really quit smoking, IMHO, you just traded it for a different vice.

Not talking shit at all, but I have tried to quit chewing before and it is WAY harder than quitting smoking because it has a lot more nicotine in it. I don't know enough about snus though, so that could be different. I'm talking about copenhagen.

. . . off to research snus.

Nicotine addiction is all equally difficult to quit. I smoked maybe a pack a day and now I'm chewing maybe 8-10 times a day so I'm getting about the same nicotine.
If you love chewing quitting chewing will be harder. If you love smoking quitting smoking will be more difficult.
Quitting nicotine is the easy part. It's the mental part that gets us.

Right now I really don't care that all I did was swap. I am probably not going to die of a heart attack now and I will probably get to see my daughter graduate from highschool. I win!

 

[JakwoW]

Originally posted by: Perry404

Originally posted by: JakwoW
Yeah I chew too. Did the same thing as you. You didn't really quit smoking, IMHO, you just traded it for a different vice.

Not talking shit at all, but I have tried to quit chewing before and it is WAY harder than quitting smoking because it has a lot more nicotine in it. I don't know enough about snus though, so that could be different. I'm talking about copenhagen.

. . . off to research snus.

Nicotine addiction is all equally difficult to quit. I smoked maybe a pack a day and now I'm chewing maybe 8-10 times a day so I'm getting about the same nicotine.
If you love chewing quitting chewing will be harder. If you love smoking quitting smoking will be more difficult.
Quitting nicotine is the easy part. It's the mental part that gets us.

Right now I really don't care that all I did was swap. I am probably not going to die of a heart attack now and I will probably get to see my daughter graduate from highschool. I win!

All I'm saying is give it a little time and you'll find that you love chewing the way you love(d) smoking. Just speaking from experience.

 

[HeXploiT]

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: meltdown75
good post, congrats for quitting the smokes.

i started up again this summer and now i'm back up to 7-8 smokes a day. :/

when it comes time to quit again, i'm definitely willing to consider your advice! :thumbsup:

Your wife won't like that, since chew is disgusting. You'd be better off going with the nicotine lozenges, gum, etc.

I tried the nicotine gum but was not satisfied.
My wife doesn't like the chew either but she was afraid for my life so she totally supports me and hasn't even hinted that it disgusts her. she even kisses me when I'm chewing. She's just very happy to see me off the poison sticks.

 

[HeXploiT]

Originally posted by: JakwoW

Originally posted by: Perry404

Originally posted by: JakwoW
Yeah I chew too. Did the same thing as you. You didn't really quit smoking, IMHO, you just traded it for a different vice.

Not talking shit at all, but I have tried to quit chewing before and it is WAY harder than quitting smoking because it has a lot more nicotine in it. I don't know enough about snus though, so that could be different. I'm talking about copenhagen.

. . . off to research snus.

Nicotine addiction is all equally difficult to quit. I smoked maybe a pack a day and now I'm chewing maybe 8-10 times a day so I'm getting about the same nicotine.
If you love chewing quitting chewing will be harder. If you love smoking quitting smoking will be more difficult.
Quitting nicotine is the easy part. It's the mental part that gets us.

Right now I really don't care that all I did was swap. I am probably not going to die of a heart attack now and I will probably get to see my daughter graduate from highschool. I win!

All I'm saying is give it a little time and you'll find that you love chewing the way you love(d) smoking. Just speaking from experience.

I have considered that and I agree that's very logical. I may get lip cancer in 20 years as well. Still...I personally am much better off.
I was addicted to chew as a teenager so I do remember. I chewed from the age of 13 to 17.

 

[JakwoW]

Originally posted by: Perry404

Originally posted by: JakwoW

Originally posted by: Perry404

Originally posted by: JakwoW
Yeah I chew too. Did the same thing as you. You didn't really quit smoking, IMHO, you just traded it for a different vice.

Not talking shit at all, but I have tried to quit chewing before and it is WAY harder than quitting smoking because it has a lot more nicotine in it. I don't know enough about snus though, so that could be different. I'm talking about copenhagen.

. . . off to research snus.

Nicotine addiction is all equally difficult to quit. I smoked maybe a pack a day and now I'm chewing maybe 8-10 times a day so I'm getting about the same nicotine.
If you love chewing quitting chewing will be harder. If you love smoking quitting smoking will be more difficult.
Quitting nicotine is the easy part. It's the mental part that gets us.

Right now I really don't care that all I did was swap. I am probably not going to die of a heart attack now and I will probably get to see my daughter graduate from highschool. I win!

All I'm saying is give it a little time and you'll find that you love chewing the way you love(d) smoking. Just speaking from experience.

I have considered that and I agree that's very logical. I may get lip cancer in 20 years as well. Still...I personally am much better off.
I was addicted to chew as a teenager so I do remember. I chewed from the age of 13 to 17.

Well good on ya. I wish you luck!

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: meltdown75

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: meltdown75
good post, congrats for quitting the smokes.

i started up again this summer and now i'm back up to 7-8 smokes a day. :/

when it comes time to quit again, i'm definitely willing to consider your advice! :thumbsup:

Your wife won't like that, since chew is disgusting. You'd be better off going with the nicotine lozenges, gum, etc.

i'm still trying to figure out what she DOES like.

well... i know one thing... :Q

YOUR FACE?

 

[nakedfrog]

Originally posted by: Perry404

Originally posted by: nakedfrog

Originally posted by: meltdown75
good post, congrats for quitting the smokes.

i started up again this summer and now i'm back up to 7-8 smokes a day. :/

when it comes time to quit again, i'm definitely willing to consider your advice! :thumbsup:

Your wife won't like that, since chew is disgusting. You'd be better off going with the nicotine lozenges, gum, etc.

I tried the nicotine gum but was not satisfied.
My wife doesn't like the chew either but she was afraid for my life so she totally supports me and hasn't even hinted that it disgusts her. she even kisses me when I'm chewing. She's just very happy to see me off the poison sticks.

I think the spitting bothers my wife more than anything else (I don't chew, one of our friends does). I tried it once when I was a teenager and that was enough for me

 

[potato28]

Originally posted by: meltdown75
good post, congrats for quitting the smokes.

i started up again this summer and now i'm back up to 7-8 smokes a day. :/

when it comes time to quit again, i'm definitely willing to consider your advice! :thumbsup:

Do it cold turkey!

 

[Modelworks]

Never smoked but all my uncles and dad did. My uncles are all dead from smoking. My dad quit about 10 years ago , but he still smoked for 50 years+ . He does okay now but gets out of breath quick if he tries to do anything physical. He uses oxygen when he needs to. He will be 78 this year. He actually quit cold turkey. I was amazed. He put them down and said he was done, and he did it.

I was watching a show, I think on discovery, about nicotine. They said nicotine actually remaps the way the brains serotonin is distributed and that is why it is hard to quit. Also the reason they prescribe anti-depressants to people to help them quit.

Be careful with chewing tobacco. Mouth and throat cancer is also nasty stuff. Having to have a lip removed from cancer would suck.

I have noticed a sharp decline in tobacco . Here in NC it was every farmers main crop. I used to crop tobacco when I was growing up, nasty job. Now I barely see it planted, it is all corn and soybeans.

 

[Nik]

"It's easy to quit smoking. I've done it hundreds of times!"

 

[AstroManLuca]

Good luck, and try to replace chew with some less dangerous habit if you can!

I guess I'm just lucky. I have never smoked a thing and I doubt I'd ever even be capable of it. The one time I tried to smoke, I was 22 years old, and I couldn't do it. Sucked a little smoke into my cheeks and immediately puffed it out, about 2-3 times, before I decided it was both gross and impossible. I fundamentally don't understand how it's even possible to willfully inhale smoke, or anything else that isn't air.

EDIT: Another interesting anecdote. When one of my friend's sisters decided to cut back on her smoking, she started by giving up normal cigarettes and switching to always rolling her own. That at least increased the amount of time and effort she had to put in to smoke. She couldn't just instinctively reach for a pack and immediately light up that way.

No idea if she was successful in quitting though. I haven't seen her or her brother in years.

 

[yhelothar]

Originally posted by: Perry404
This is a comment on the concept of replacing smoking tobacco with smokeless(chewing) tobacco.
I am 35 and have been an 18 year smoker. LOVE my cigarettes. Feels SO good to take that smoke into my lungs. I ended up in the hospital few times because my heart was doing strange things. Had pain in my arm and very irregular heartbeat that scared the daylights out of me.
Sometimes I would get very sad thinking about my beautiful 9 year old daughter and how there is a very good chance I might die from smoking when my daughter is still very young because I cannot give up the smokes. I watched my father have many heart attacks from smoking but he kept on. "How am I ever GOING TO QUIT!!!???" I would ask myself.
Well one day a little over two weeks ago after getting out of the hospital I decided to try quitting again and this time i bought some snus(chewing tobacco).
Now the thing to realize about cigarette addiction is that it's 90% mental. yes the nicotine addiction is strong but it only lasts a week and if it were merely a matter of physical addiction we could just go a week until the nicotine had left our bodies and never think about it again. The truth is however that we are in love with our fix.
My goal was to prove this to myself. Now in the beginning I really had some strong cravings fro the smokes but I told myself that really I'm craving nicotine and forced myself to take a dip of chew even though I didn't desire it. Sure enough 10 minutes later I got the nicotine in my system and the craving for a smoke was 95% gone. Do this repeatedly. You must force yourself. It has been two weeks now and I'm hardly thinking about cigarettes at all. I cannot BELIEVE how much better I feel. My lungs have cleared a great deal and I'm already starting to run places. My heart is no longer bothering me at all. I FEEL GREAT!

Now let me address the naysayers. You will find all sorts of information on the web about how smokeless tobacco is an unsafe alternative to cigarette. Total load of BS!
Smoking related causes easily kill more Americans than ANYTHING!
Deaths from chewing tobacco are nowhere near the deaths from smoking. Not even close. Probably a 100x as many people die from smoking related heart attacks, emphysema and lung cancer than do from chewing tobacco.
I did the research and you should to.
This is in no way stating that Chewing tobacco is safe yet it is nowhere near as dangerous as cigarettes and you get your lungs and heart back. Now I don't love the chewing tobacco like I loved my cigarette. I smoked for my entire adult life.
However I am content with the chewing tobacco. Some day I would like to be tobacco free but for now I am content that I have added AT LEAST another 10 years onto my life. Some day when I feel confident enough and am far enough away from that smoker I once knew I will quite chewing. Quitting chewing will be easy compared to giving up my smokes.
I encourage anyone who has tried and failed to add this as an option. ANYTHING is better than smoking those poisonous tobacco sticks. It feels so good to run again. Don't fear the separation from cigarettes.
If any of this seems silly to you then consider yourself fortunate that you don't smoke.
Progress before perfection.
This is a post of gratitude.

Thank God!

Try hypnotherapy to get over the addiction.

And about cigs having a 100x higher mortality, is this factor occurance or rate? The former would mean very little as there are thousands times more smokers than snuffers.
What is important is to look at the rate. ex: % of smokers who get cancer, or how many per 1000 users.

 

[HeXploiT]

Originally posted by: astroidea

Originally posted by: Perry404
This is a comment on the concept of replacing smoking tobacco with smokeless(chewing) tobacco.
I am 35 and have been an 18 year smoker. LOVE my cigarettes. Feels SO good to take that smoke into my lungs. I ended up in the hospital few times because my heart was doing strange things. Had pain in my arm and very irregular heartbeat that scared the daylights out of me.
Sometimes I would get very sad thinking about my beautiful 9 year old daughter and how there is a very good chance I might die from smoking when my daughter is still very young because I cannot give up the smokes. I watched my father have many heart attacks from smoking but he kept on. "How am I ever GOING TO QUIT!!!???" I would ask myself.
Well one day a little over two weeks ago after getting out of the hospital I decided to try quitting again and this time i bought some snus(chewing tobacco).
Now the thing to realize about cigarette addiction is that it's 90% mental. yes the nicotine addiction is strong but it only lasts a week and if it were merely a matter of physical addiction we could just go a week until the nicotine had left our bodies and never think about it again. The truth is however that we are in love with our fix.
My goal was to prove this to myself. Now in the beginning I really had some strong cravings fro the smokes but I told myself that really I'm craving nicotine and forced myself to take a dip of chew even though I didn't desire it. Sure enough 10 minutes later I got the nicotine in my system and the craving for a smoke was 95% gone. Do this repeatedly. You must force yourself. It has been two weeks now and I'm hardly thinking about cigarettes at all. I cannot BELIEVE how much better I feel. My lungs have cleared a great deal and I'm already starting to run places. My heart is no longer bothering me at all. I FEEL GREAT!

Now let me address the naysayers. You will find all sorts of information on the web about how smokeless tobacco is an unsafe alternative to cigarette. Total load of BS!
Smoking related causes easily kill more Americans than ANYTHING!
Deaths from chewing tobacco are nowhere near the deaths from smoking. Not even close. Probably a 100x as many people die from smoking related heart attacks, emphysema and lung cancer than do from chewing tobacco.
I did the research and you should to.
This is in no way stating that Chewing tobacco is safe yet it is nowhere near as dangerous as cigarettes and you get your lungs and heart back. Now I don't love the chewing tobacco like I loved my cigarette. I smoked for my entire adult life.
However I am content with the chewing tobacco. Some day I would like to be tobacco free but for now I am content that I have added AT LEAST another 10 years onto my life. Some day when I feel confident enough and am far enough away from that smoker I once knew I will quite chewing. Quitting chewing will be easy compared to giving up my smokes.
I encourage anyone who has tried and failed to add this as an option. ANYTHING is better than smoking those poisonous tobacco sticks. It feels so good to run again. Don't fear the separation from cigarettes.
If any of this seems silly to you then consider yourself fortunate that you don't smoke.
Progress before perfection.
This is a post of gratitude.

Thank God!

Try hypnotherapy to get over the addiction.

And about cigs having a 100x higher mortality, is this factor occurance or rate? The former would mean very little as there are thousands times more smokers than snuffers.
What is important is to look at the rate. ex: % of smokers who get cancer, or how many per 1000 users.

True. Oral cancer is one of the more severe things that chewing tobacco causes. All oral cancer deaths combined including tobacco and non tobacco users will amount to about 8,000 this year.
compare that to the 750,000-1,000,000 people that will die from smoking. Even if half of those that died from mouth cancer were from tobacco and there are 10x smokers for every smokeless tobacco user(I think this is much closer than 100x) that's still almost a 20-1 factor.
and...at least one can breath and have a healthy heart throughout their life.

 

[Modelworks]

Originally posted by: Perry404

True. Oral cancer is one of the more severe things that chewing tobacco causes. All oral cancer deaths combined including tobacco and non tobacco users will amount to about 8,000 this year.
compare that to the 750,000-1,000,000 people that will die from smoking. Even if half of those that died from mouth cancer were from tobacco and there are 10x smokers for every smokeless tobacco user(I think this is much closer than 100x) that's still almost a 20-1 factor.
and...at least one can breath and have a healthy heart throughout their life.

Another thing good about your stopping smoking is your daughter will not be exposed to second hand smoke.

 

[moshquerade]

Originally posted by: Perry404
This is a comment on the concept of replacing smoking tobacco with smokeless(chewing) tobacco.
I am 35 and have been an 18 year smoker. LOVE my cigarettes. Feels SO good to take that smoke into my lungs. I ended up in the hospital few times because my heart was doing strange things. Had pain in my arm and very irregular heartbeat that scared the daylights out of me.
Sometimes I would get very sad thinking about my beautiful 9 year old daughter and how there is a very good chance I might die from smoking when my daughter is still very young because I cannot give up the smokes. I watched my father have many heart attacks from smoking but he kept on. "How am I ever GOING TO QUIT!!!???" I would ask myself.
Well one day a little over two weeks ago after getting out of the hospital I decided to try quitting again and this time i bought some snus(chewing tobacco).
Now the thing to realize about cigarette addiction is that it's 90% mental. yes the nicotine addiction is strong but it only lasts a week and if it were merely a matter of physical addiction we could just go a week until the nicotine had left our bodies and never think about it again. The truth is however that we are in love with our fix.
My goal was to prove this to myself. Now in the beginning I really had some strong cravings fro the smokes but I told myself that really I'm craving nicotine and forced myself to take a dip of chew even though I didn't desire it. Sure enough 10 minutes later I got the nicotine in my system and the craving for a smoke was 95% gone. Do this repeatedly. You must force yourself. It has been two weeks now and I'm hardly thinking about cigarettes at all. I cannot BELIEVE how much better I feel. My lungs have cleared a great deal and I'm already starting to run places. My heart is no longer bothering me at all. I FEEL GREAT!

Now let me address the naysayers. You will find all sorts of information on the web about how smokeless tobacco is an unsafe alternative to cigarette. Total load of BS!
Smoking related causes easily kill more Americans than ANYTHING!
Deaths from chewing tobacco are nowhere near the deaths from smoking. Not even close. Probably a 100x as many people die from smoking related heart attacks, emphysema and lung cancer than do from chewing tobacco.
I did the research and you should to.
This is in no way stating that Chewing tobacco is safe yet it is nowhere near as dangerous as cigarettes and you get your lungs and heart back. Now I don't love the chewing tobacco like I loved my cigarette. I smoked for my entire adult life.
However I am content with the chewing tobacco. Some day I would like to be tobacco free but for now I am content that I have added AT LEAST another 10 years onto my life. Some day when I feel confident enough and am far enough away from that smoker I once knew I will quite chewing. Quitting chewing will be easy compared to giving up my smokes.
I encourage anyone who has tried and failed to add this as an option. ANYTHING is better than smoking those poisonous tobacco sticks. It feels so good to run again. Don't fear the separation from cigarettes.
If any of this seems silly to you then consider yourself fortunate that you don't smoke.
Progress before perfection.
This is a post of gratitude.

Thank God!

well, i won't condone smokeless tobacco no matter how much anyone tries to sell me on it.

congrats on kicking one habit.

please frequently do an inspection of your oral tissue, especially where you hold your tobacco. if you notice the tissue developing a white look to it that is at the least a pre-cancerous sign. at least try to move the tobacco around so you aren't holding it in one spot all the time.

know that smokeless tobacco users are more likely to develop throat, voice box, esophagus, tongue, and stomach cancer as compared to non-users.

also, you are at increased risk for heart attacks, strokes, and high blood pressure.

dental diseases like tooth decay, receding gums, gum diseases, black hairy tongue, bad breath, and stained teeth are in your future.

stomach problems like stomachaches, ulcers, and increased bowel movements are other things you may see.

you may also experience a loss of taste and smell.

smokeless tobacco harms all users in some of these ways. some more than others. ultimately you won't escape any side effects.

as you can read, i'm not sugar coating it one bit. i see smokeless tobacco mouths all the time. this is not something i've "read on the internet". you should really quit while the quitting is good.

 

[Chiropteran]

Originally posted by: Modelworks
I was watching a show, I think on discovery, about nicotine. They said nicotine actually remaps the way the brains serotonin is distributed and that is why it is hard to quit.

World of Warcraft does the same thing.

 

[HeXploiT]

Originally posted by: Modelworks

Originally posted by: Perry404

True. Oral cancer is one of the more severe things that chewing tobacco causes. All oral cancer deaths combined including tobacco and non tobacco users will amount to about 8,000 this year.
compare that to the 750,000-1,000,000 people that will die from smoking. Even if half of those that died from mouth cancer were from tobacco and there are 10x smokers for every smokeless tobacco user(I think this is much closer than 100x) that's still almost a 20-1 factor.
and...at least one can breath and have a healthy heart throughout their life.

Another thing good about your stopping smoking is your daughter will not be exposed to second hand smoke.

I always smoked outside anyway.
Still...will be much less likely that she'll smoke if I'm not smoking.


Also I just want to take the time to thank everyone in this thread. I am reading everything intently, laughing and taking all things into consideration. I really do appreciate everyones response even though I may not reply directly.
Just too many good responses to reply to them all.