17 posts
OK. I pretty much grew up in Alexandria La, high school years plus.... and dipping skoal was the big thing then. Urban Cowboy days in redneck Lousiana, I guess. So, I got the disgusting habit there. Been doing it for 28 years. Nasty, I know. Anyway.....
I had a spot on my lower lip, freaked me out. Scared me to death, really. Found it Mon, basically didn't sleep that night..... but I did a lot of reading about it on the net, and that made it way worse. Started getting nauseated, shaky, almost had, I guess a panic attack of some kind. So, my doctor couldn't see me for a week, same with the dentist. Went to work, I travel for work a lot, stopped at a Urgent Care kinda place, the doc said it looked like a broken blood vessel in my lip, did not look like cancer at all. She got me calmed down a bit. What a relief.
So, I don't have cancer, but.... she informs me that after hearing what happened and my entire story about this deal, she thinks I may have anxiety problems and suggested counseling and medication. ;D I told her it had to be somewhat normal to freak out about this and she said no, it wasn't. ;D She said it could be cancer, or, about 500 other things. No reason to assume the worst. She said I described to her what cancer of the lip looked like at the beginning stages, my problem looked nothing like that, yet, I'm in the doctors office on the verge of a panic attack. ;D Good that I went to the doc, but damn all this other stuff. ;D
So, I'm working on quitting. I can tell you that Nicotine is bad ass. I'm playing head games with myself like it's going out of style. I think about it constantly. Can't hardly stop. Went all day today without it and just picked it up and put it in my mouth without thinking. All day and bam. Shit.
I know this is a gross habit. But I guess I see how hard it would be to stop smoking now. No wonder they have this thing against ciggs. they should. I think they should make ciggs and skoal etc $20 a pack or whatever. Can you imagine how bad it would be to smoke or dip for 25 years and find out you have cancer? So, if having cancer isn't bad enough, now you have to quit smoking on top of that. Damn. I'm gonna quit, but I'm going to have to do a lot of reading and find the best method for dealing with this. I never dreamed it would be so mental.
I hope this is the last big scare for me for a while. ;D I really can't bitch about it that much as I knew the risk up front. I don't eat right or exercise enough- that equals heart problems, I chose to dip- that equals mouth cancer. Stupid decisions I make. My Dad always told me that the things you do and don't think about when your young would haunt me when I was older. He was right I guess. (things like dipping or smoking for example, drinking etc)
Yeah, I here ya. I'm hope that your medical fears are just that. Fears.
I grew up in Virginia, a Tobacco State. I started smoking regularly by the time I was 10. I was probably 5 the first time I smoked. So, I was a heavy smoker, nearly a pack a day or more for a long, long time. I have dipped and chewed, but that just wasn't my thing.
I quit tobacco five years ago this month. Yes it is a big deal. It is difficult. I had tried many times to quit. I had gotten to where I hated it, it was a nuisance, yet I still could not quit. When I finally put them down for good, I had to change my thinking. I had to start thinking of myself as a non-smoker. The mistake I had always made in the past was that I would always give in to the compulsion to use tobacco. Once you put it down, never pick it up again. It gets easier with time. The first week is the hardest.
I wish you well, with it. It's tough, but you can do it.
Hook,
I don't want to disrespect anyone who says otherwise, but it is not that hard. It's mental. I know there are physical aspects to it, but Deano even mentioned the mental/habit aspect. I started doing it years ago because a bunch of my softball buddies did it. It went from where I did it only during games, to doing it 2-3 times a day all season, to doing it 2-3 times a day all year. That lasted for years. 3 different times, I stopped for somewhere between 6 months to a year, and would start again. I'd do a dip every day after lunch (yes, in my professional office place. LOL. Hid it pretty well). Then one on the way home from work, one before bed, ALWAYS dip after a ball game, always dip when I went fishing etc. My last stratch I went almost 5 years of doing it every single day. I stopped about 6 months ago. One day my lip got sore and I got scared. You know, same thoughts you probably had... been doing this for over 20 years... etc. plus, both my parents died of cancer and neither smoked, but I basically said ENOUGH! I wanted one every day after lunch. I threw the can away. Twice I went to the drive through to get another can and both times said NO.
I don't mean to undermine people who have a hard time because I know it's not easy, but if you really make up your mind you won't do it, you won't. Maybe part of it was scaring myself with the cancer thing, but I just said NO MORE and that means NO MORE.
You can do it. If nothing else, if you need the nicotine, I'd try to ween yourself with a patch or even with the smokeless cigs. Whatever it takes to get you off the skoal. Then, use that less and less til you get away from it completely. I quit! End of story. But if you can't do that, do it this way. One of my good friends did it this way though and it took him about 6 months of patch, nicotine gum or ecigs, but he's off all of it now.
It is mental. But I did it 28 years or so, everyday. But heck yes, its mental. I'm trying again starting now.
The biggest problem with me is, I enjoy it. That makes it real hard. I don't hate it. ;D
My first goal is to quit for a entire day. I want to make it at least till Sunday.
After reading a little, I can promise you it's more than just a mental thing though. It's a addiction. I know what your saying though. My Dad drank like a fish and smoked and one day he came home and put it all in the trash. Never touched either again. Some people are that that way. Most aren't though.
Well, it's definitely not all mental. At 11 am I got real irritable. Nauseated stomach, headache, dizzy head, I had to get a dip. I have my kids this weekend too.
So, starting over again now. If you think it's all mental, you might need to read about it. It's not. This is hell!!
I've been drinking since I was 18 and I quit that because it weakens you. No problem with that at all. I don't drink everyday though. But this damn nicotine crap is a bitch. This is gonna be very damn hard.
I tried that last year - quit for a day... then a weekend. it didn't work out for me. I made it a whole week eventually but at that point, I was ready for the asylum.
good luck though, seriously - I hope you can pull it off. I'd like to try again this year... we'll see. I had pretty good luck with the gum... but that's not really quitting nicotine. I'll probably try to abstain for a week and then go with the gum when I cave instead of tobacco... at least I'd be clear of the smoke that way. maybe if I approach it as "quitting tobacco" instead of "quitting" I'll have better luck - less freak out.
it's definitely not "all mental"... most of the effects are mental, sure, but they are driven by very real physical withdrawal - that's chemical. it's so much more powerful than "a habit"... nicotine addiction is incredibly strong -- it's not like caffeine or something. I guess heroin addicts know what it's like... heh. to say "it's mental" is implying that it should be as simple as changing your mind... willpower and all that. it's just not like that. not at all.
ironsheep — Jan 18, 2014I tried that last year - quit for a day... then a weekend. it didn't work out for me. I made it a whole week eventually but at that point, I was ready for the asylum.
Hey, once your ready for the asylum, you've got it licked. They keep threatening to let me out. ;D
Hook, You say you don't hate it, but I have a feeling you might before you're done.
Hey you can always turn the compulsion over to a Power greater than yourself. You know, like the Spaghetti Monster. That kind of thing works for a lot of people. You choose the Power. There is no requirement. Just ask. And Shaboom, Shazam, It's gone! :o
;D ;D
I read that it was equal to the addiction crack for some.
I think they should ban all the shit. It's to damn addictive and bad for you to be legal. :D I actually mean that, kinda. Of course, then comes burger king and waffle house.
I don't understand how some and walk away from it and quit, the end.
I didn't say it was all mental. I know it's not. Like I said, I wanted a dip for days.
What I did say was that a lot of it is mental. And that's the l part you control. I'm not going all commando tough guy, just saying that willpower is up to you, and so is how much of it you have. Hypnosis is one of the best ways to quit for this reason. Your brain is reconditioned from"I need this" to "this is bad for me and will hurt me!". Other than that I strongly suggest fighting the nicotine with the less harmful ways of getting it. Chances are good that Smoke and dip will kill you!
I don't know that you could prove that 51% of smokers die from it. From cancer.
I huge advantage with mouth cancer is you can visually see it and hopefully catch it way earlier than lung cancer, for example.
"I don't want to disrespect anyone who says otherwise, but it is not that hard. It's mental."
This is your opening statement. I would disagree that you didn't say it was mental, and mean it was mental. Thats a pretty definitive statement to make regardless of what comes after that. Maybe what you meant was not what you typed, Stratman. ;D ;D What we have here is a failure to communicate. I would hate for you to leave here and no one understand what you really meant to say, damn it. We can read what you type. Do you realize that? ;D ;D ;D
I can prove that 100% of smokers die.
always humorous to see that something "will kill you"... as though there's an alternative. ;)
Well, I'm fully aware now that I'm addicted to nicotine. I have a battle on my hands. I can see now first hand, how hard it is to break an addiction of some kind. I think I think I'll lose my previous stance that if you want to quit something you can. That simple. I understand failures to quit, starting again, and trying to quit again. Keep battling. I don't see now that quiting for good the first try is a failure. If you try again, your still in the battle. ;)
yep. there was season of survivor where some dude was going to quit smoking by being on the show. he freaked out after awhile... at the time I thought he was being ridiculous. now I totally understand... heh.
pisses me off that I'm so addicted to something that does nothing beneficial... at least other addicts get high! I just get a cough. :( ;)
A quick re-read of my posts on this topic would suggest that I'm trying to be encouraging and offering a "you can do this" tone. Sorry, I'm not going to nancy boy this and reinforce with you how hard it is and how tough it is to quit and all that. I like both of you so I'm giving you "friend advice." Don't mess around with this, and use your brain in your favor. Maybe it's a little to "jock psychology" for you, but it is what it is, and it's meant to help. Without getting into a deep psychological discussion, and also FULLY aware that it is an addictive drug, I was trying to reinforce the mental aspect and remind you that IF YOU MAKE UP YOUR MIND, YOU CAN DO THIS!
Get an accountability partner. Heck, call Matt. He went through this and he hasn't quit, but at least he's using ecigs instead of smoking. In fact, he LOVES them. We all know the nicotine isn't good for you either but AT LEAST find a less harmful way to get it, THEN see if you can ween yourself altogether.
Here is your challenge. Roy, you have my number. Mr. Sheep, I'll give it too you. I'll be your accountability partner. You have to call me BEFORE you light a cigarette. I'll give you a speech right out of Full Metal Jacket, and then assign a punishment if you go ahead and smoke or dip. I've thought of a few punishments already, and let's just say Kev is involved!
All joking aside though, look into hypnosis. Very effective!
It's a fucking bitch. I tried the patch, the gum. I smoked with the patch on. I smoked chewing nicotine gum. Nothing replaced the jolt of real Tobacco Nicotine. I used to tell myself all sorts of bullshit. I'll quit after this pack. I'll work myself up to quitting.
I fucking loved it. That's probably how I came to hate it. It had a fucking grip on me that I could not beat.
Something changed in me and I put them down. And I know not to get near one. I can still love the smell of them. A fresh lit cigarette has this attractive smell TO ME. That's fucked up.
I went fishing New Years Day. Hadn't been in a while. So, I'm out there on the Skyway pier. Throw a line in and think about lighting up. Mind you, I haven't smoked in Five Years. It's a POWERFUL fucking substance. I fully understand.
Put tobacco down, somehow. Never pick it up.
Sheep, I quit one time for a week. I decided I would have just one. It took me years to get to the point of quiting again. That's when I new that IF I ever put them down to never, no matter what, pick them up again.
Hook, while your trying to quit, start telling yourself that you don't dip anymore. Even if you are. Just keep doing it until it's true.
I wish you well. I mean that.
Thanks DM.
This time I'm gonna try the no pressure tactic in an effort to take the pressure off. ;D If I want a dip, I'll just tell myself you can have one right now, and have a can with me. I'm gonna try to keep track of how many times I don't get a dip when I want one. Have a personal little contest day to day. If my mind is gonna fuck with me, I'm gonna fuck back. ;D ;D
Good luck Hook. Cancer is scary so a little panic attack is warranted. You can quit tobacco. best wishes for your efforts in quitting.