After using smokeless tobacco for years, having attempted to quit a few times, I now turn to the brotherhood for suggestions. Anyone who has quit please tell me how you did it, so hopefully I can find something that will work for me.
go to a nursing home and spend some time (A LOT OF TIME) with patients that have to breath through a stoma
spend some time talking to a few people who can only breath through a giant hole cut into their throat (neck)
ask them questions... then imagine you in that situation...
find people who have throat cancer or oral cancer - and spend some time talking to them
this approach hit me in a psychological way that no other way could influence me
Good Luck - You can do it !!!
hmmm.. another good medicine - Wellbutrin - it is used in smoking cessation, so ask your doctor if you can try that medicine for this issue and maybe it will help your physiological connection to it
btw - WHY do YOU want to quit? Can you explain your reasonings?
Permalink Reply by lang on August 22, 2011 at 11:48pm
Lots of gum and stuff like that! Also try re-learning how to do things like each day start doing stuff you would normal do with a chew in with out the chew in if that makes sense to ya! They also have mint chew no nicotine or any of the bad stuff in it gives you that feeling of having a chew in! If you get past the first couple of days then its all mental nicotine is out of your system in 72 hours. If worst comes to worst go cold turkey!
There are lots of ways to cause bodily harm to your body. Chewing tobacco causes oral cancer. Having the knowledge that you are causing deleterious (negative) effects on yourself needs to be a self awareness thing to actually modify your behavior and habits, you know the drill, it's your call, but... at least put a mental image in your head of what the outcome could very well be.
The above photo shows what happened to a patient who detected the oral cancer and had parts of his face removed. If you don't have the resources to deal with the oral cancer, then you will look like this guy.
I took the I'm a cheap bastard approach. When I started as a stupid 19y/o in the AF a can cost $.79. After a tax increase and that cost went up to over $4 that was it for me. Cold turkey with money in my pocket. Haven't dipped since 2000.
my grandfather had throat cancer for the last stages of his lfe... and those pictures depict perfectly how horrible his life became just trying to breath... and he lost all ability to speak and eat
and is exactly the pictures I was reflecting would highlight what one would see in a nursing care facility
Hey Sean, I have been a smoker for over 20 years and while Im sure I will be crusified for admitting this I managed to quit for part of only one of my pregnacies. I have tried more than one option over the years. A few weeks ago out of nowhere it seems I have started to quit again. However the one thing I am doing VERY different this time is Im NOT trying to quit. I AM in a transition. I found that I seemed to put a lot of pressure on my self when I "quit" and the end result was i ALWAYS started to smoke again. Also how many of us know that person that quits every 4 months. I cant stand to hear it. While I admit that I havent been perfent I also have only had 3 in the last month. Im not sure where this transition will eventually take me but the lack of pressure Im putting on myself helps make this phase not so bad.
The only thing that ever helped this forty-something year smoker to quit was the patch. I bought a box of Wal Mart's brand of 21 mg patches. A whole one made me feel sick, as though I'd smoked one too many. I then cut one in half and it was perfect. I left it on to see how many days I could go without wanting to smoke. After three days, I went a day without anything, but I was around smokers and started to feel like I wanted a ciggy, so I cut another in half and wore it for a couple of days, then it was all mental after that.
The key is you have to want to quit.
Sean, I haven't had a chew in a little over 5 years. I have to agree with joemac that patches were the thing for me. Don't buy the cheap ones though. I tried quitting several times before I was Finally successful.If you are serious about quitting, pony up the dough and get the good ones. Before I quit, I tried the Sam's club patches, the Wal-Mart patches, The Walgreens patches and everything else I could think of. I chewed all day long, only taking a dip out to eat. I also agree with lang that you should do something else when you normally dip. It takes 21 times to re-form a habit they say, but it will take longer to re-form your addiction to nicotine.I still crave a dip now and then, but I have some fake chew called Smokey Mountain Chew which has no tobacco and no nicotine in it.Once the nicotine is out of your system, it's all mental. You might be tempted to take a chew a couple of months after you quit, thinking, "Just one won't hurt." If you do, I would bet my next paycheck that you would be chewing again in no time. If you quit, quit forever. Good luck brother, I know how hard it is to lay off the stuff!