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Ive been dipping since I was 15, up to a can a day now almost 14yrs later and really want to quit. What is the best way so I don't go back? My gums are starting to recede and this habit is nasty but so addicting. I quit cold turkey a few years back and made it a week and it was hell on earth, anyone here quit successfully and have and advise?

I quit smoking when I was 22. I did not smoke long compared to some. A few hrs after I laid them down I knew I was as addicted to nicotene as any smoker that had been on them for YEARS.
How did I quit.
Kept telling myself I would rather hurt this way than -------> that way--------> 40yrs in the future. Life is precious & health life worth living. In the ministry for 41 yrs now, I have watched many take 10-15yrs of treatments, sick, weak, cant do anything, no way to live before they finally die. I decided I wanted to LIVE til I die.
I will confess that on occassion I still have a hunger. I will not go back.

My son, like you, from mid teens & he is 43 now. He quit about a yr ago. How??? Three yrs ago he married his HighSchool sweetheart. I did the cerimony. My prayer was that God would give them a 50th aniversary. (Both of them had a ROUGH UGLY 1st marriage.) That will put them both right @ 90. Not out of reach today.
A yr ago he told his wife, cancer is on both sides of his blood.
Told her he loved her & wanted the 50yrs w/ her that Dad prayed for.

How precious is life & health to you????
How precious is someone to you. Wife, kids, ....
Know from the start it may not ever really go away completely.
For some it does but for some it does not.
I pray Lord help him to really want to quit @ then grant him grace to DO IT. In Jesus name AMEN

nightmare69 wrote:Ive been dipping since I was 15, up to a can a day now almost 14yrs later and really want to quit. What is the best way so I don't go back? My gums are starting to recede and this habit is nasty but so addicting. I quit cold turkey a few years back and made it a week and it was heck on earth, anyone here quit successfully and have and advise?

From the time I was 13 or so, 1959, to 1983, I dipped, chewed and smoked. If it was tobacco I used it, cigars, cigarettes, pipe, Red Man, any of a number of brands of dip, and even snuff (up the nose!!!) I have never tried any form of illegal drug except one experience with pot. I had my own tobacco blend at the tobacconist, and he hand rolled cigars for me besides providing pipe tobacco and cigarette cut and dried blend.

My late wife started to get worried that chewing was going to give me oral cancer and went on a campaign for me to quit, and she herself smoked four packs a day. I never smoked more than a pack a day of cigarettes, but also was never without a pouch or tin.

On August 7th 1983 my late wife and I made a pact that neither of us would ever smoke again, and at 7:10pm we threw out our tobacco products. Except of an occasional cigar, every couple of years I have not used tobacco since. My late wife passed away February 7th 1993 due to cancer.

While I was dating after her death I went out with two different women that smoked, and stopped going out with both due to the smoking. And at risk of seeming to brag, one of them was a 23 year old looker that seemed to like this (at the time) 46 year old guy, she even wrote me a few times after I stopped seeing her because she smelled of tobacco.

When my late wife was sick I even considered going back to smoking myself, but kept remembering that pact, and I still keep it, except for those rare cigars, today.

I don't know any other way to do it except to buckle down, knuckle down, and do it.

My wife told me that if she ever caught me dipping she'd stop shaving her legs. A dip is a good way to stay awake on night patrol. I chose coffee...

Thanks guys, I know its going to be rough but hopefully after a few weeks it gets better. I want to keep all my teeth and at the rate of my gums receding I won't have them in the next 10yrs if I don't quit. After eating a meal is the worst for the cravings and playing xbox. I know im addicted but alot of it is just habit of getting a dip after a meal. Its also gotten so expensive, a can of cope is around $5.50. When I started it was about $3.

I have 2 cans left and going to use those to cut down then after that its over, Im quiting. A few guys at work who used to dip said cutting down makes it easier than quitting cold turkey. I have a feeling Ill be spending alot of time on my knees praying to God for strength, ask you all to keep my in your prayers that I can quit this horrible habit.

I quit smoking in 1982..... pack and a half of Marlboros a day for about 10 years. Here is how I quit, and it actually worked pretty well for me.

I only quit whenever I was having a nicotine attack. Those only last for 5-10 minutes. So I broke quitting up into 5-10 minute chunks, which I could easily manage, and I only quit during those chunks of time when I was jonesin'. I didn't worry about an hour from now, tomorrow, or next week, or next month. Kind of like AA with the "one day at a time" thing, except I did it 5-10 minutes at a time.

Nicotine fits come and go. They aren't ALWAYS on. So you only have to resolve to quit long enough to get through that fit. It actually worked real well for me.

Smoked 3 packs of Camels a days for more years than I care to remember , stick with your plan . Prayer has started .

Thanks, its funny seeing everyone saying they quit in the early 80s, I wasn't born till 1984.

Thanks all for the prayers.

Quit Copenhagen cold turkey in 1999.

Started using snuff money to buy ammo and reloading components. Became a much better shooter and greatly reduced the chance of my jaw falling off .

You can do it. I dipped from age 9 to age 26. If I can do it, anybody can.

Just my .02,
LeonCarr

I smoked from high school until age 37, when I quit to start training for triathlons.

I quit a million times, for as long as a few weeks. Once I was on a flight to Navy OCS and when they served the meal, a free 5 pack was on the tray, along with free drinks. You could smoke in airplanes back then and didn't have to go through a metal detector either, 1966 or so. I lit up all 5 of them on that flight. When the plane landed, I went straight to the cigarette machine and smoked almost the whole pack straight-away.

In 1969 I had a collapsed lung, had the surgery, and when I was released, went straight to the hospital exchange for a carton of Camels!

So when I was feeling lousy, like I was in my 70's, at age 37, my SEAL bro-in-law, one of the founders of triathloning, got me started running, then lent me his back up bike and finally, the first Monday of the new year, I took the $25 I had been spending on cigarettes each month and paid dues at the YMCA where I could swim every morning, as much as I liked, or could stand.

The secret was finding something I would rather do than smoke. I also did not drink alcohol for more than 6 months, not that I am a heavy drinker anyway, but avoided any obvious relaxation of discipline, will power etc. That was that. It's been more than 30 years.

Starting smoking was among the really stupid mistakes of my life, maybe even more so than giving up Scouting a few Merit Badges short of Eagle, an unforced error I lament to this day, more than 50 years later.

When I quit smoking (I was smoking 2 cartons a week), one of the things that helped me was to not be around other smokers. I know that is a tall order when they are your friends, but you might want to tell your friends that you are trying to quit and ask for their support. This may mean asking them not to dip around you, and it may mean that you need to take a small break from being around them if they are unwilling to oblige. Also, when you first try to quit dipping, stop doing the other stuff you do while dipping (habits). Obviously, you still have to drive, work, etc., but seriously consider quitting some of the other things, such as fishing, for a temporary time period. I'm only talking for a month or so, not forever. Then, slowly work these things back into your life without dipping.

These were some of the strategies that I learned - and I tried to quit smoking probably 10 or so times before I actually "quit" smoking. It took some other major life changes, but changing your surroundings and habits will be a big help. I haven't smoked a cigarette in over 15 years now, and honestly don't miss them.

If you are a spiritual man, I can also recommend getting a small support group, such as a small group Bible study - one that can encourage, speak truth out of love, and pray for you. That was probably the best thing I gained out of my attempts to quit smoking.

Good luck - and let us know if you need some encouragement or have questions.

The Annoyed Man wrote:I quit smoking in 1982..... pack and a half of Marlboros a day for about 10 years. Here is how I quit, and it actually worked pretty well for me.

I only quit whenever I was having a nicotine attack. Those only last for 5-10 minutes. So I broke quitting up into 5-10 minute chunks, which I could easily manage, and I only quit during those chunks of time when I was jonesin'. I didn't worry about an hour from now, tomorrow, or next week, or next month. Kind of like AA with the "one day at a time" thing, except I did it 5-10 minutes at a time.

Nicotine fits come and go. They aren't ALWAYS on. So you only have to resolve to quit long enough to get through that fit. It actually worked real well for me.

Excellent advice. Just get through those periods of intense craving to when your more rational thought can prevail, even if it means telling yourself that you'll give in if the cravings are still that bad in just twenty minutes. Make that window small enough that you don't get through one bad stretch and into another, however!

I quit after 15 years of smoking. Was doing 2 - 3 packs a day. First few days I was going on short term goals: no cigarette until after breakfast, no cigarette for next 30 minutes, etc. After a while I lengthened the goal until I was working a day at a time. Third best decision of my life after accepting Jesus and marrying my wife. Also, the biggest battle I ever fought!

It is tough to quit , about a year and a half ago my son and me started using electronic cigarettes , not the perfect solution but much better than the real thing .I would recommend them to someone that just cant quit but not to pick up as a new bad habit .

find something to do instead during those rough times....take the dog for a walk, take the wife for a walk, talk instead of dip, just a couple of ideas.