smokeless tobacco

[regrad]

Does anyone have any personal experience quitting chew?

I have been using tobacco for about 11 years...I am also an addict and decided I would quit the nicotine after I was settled in recovery...
11 months later and I'm trying to quit, or even cut back...but honestly this is more difficult than quitting meth...? go figure.

Any help would do...thanks

j.

[Ngokpa]

I'm an ex-smoker. Quit smoking when I quit drinking, but I was desperate. Drove people a bit nuts for a while, but I was neurotic, and that came with the territory. Just went to a lot of meetings and became willing to go to any lengths. These days I would try Nicotine Anonymous.

It's a big blow to the ego to feel nuts, but you just walk through it one day at a time, learn about it, learn new behaviors. You've been sober for a while, you know the drill. Doesn't mean it's any easier, but you can do it--with the -proviso that sobriety comes first.

Good luck!

[historyteach]

I have no personal experience with chew. But, I know nicotine, no matter how it's delivered, is difficult to quit. Here's some information I've found right now, and I'll try to find more.

Smokeless Tobacco/Chew

Smokeless tobacco is NOT a safe alternative to smoking cigarettes.
Smokeless tobacco includes BOTH chewing tobacco and snuff.
The use of smokeless tobacco is considered to be a directly related cause of oral cancer and gum disease.
Smokeless tobacco use CAN lead to dependence on nicotine.
Smokeless tobacco users have displayed blood nicotine levels equivalent to those of cigarette smokers.
If you dip, 2.0 mg. - 3.5 mg of nicotine per dip enters your bloodstream twice the dose delivered by a standard 1 mg cigarette.
Users who consume 8 to 10 dips or chews per day (one-third-1/2 of a can of snuff or 1.3 - 1.2 of a pouch per day) receive a NICOTINE DOSE equal to that taken by a heavy cigarette smoker (30-40 cigarettes daily).
A recent report indicates that users who went through two cans of snuff per week had a saliva nicotine level equal that of people smoking two packs of cigarettes per day.
Nicotine and other harmful chemicals found in tobacco are NOT removed by spitting; they mix with saliva which, after contact with tissues of the mouth and throat, is absorbed through the oral mucous into the bloodstream.
Smokeless tobacco users have a substantially increased risk of oral health disorders.
Just a few months of dipping or chewing is often enough to cause development of white or red leathery patches (leukoplakia) on the gum or cheek where the tobacco is held.
Leukoplakia is the first step down a path to dental problems, followed by severe gum inflammation and receding gums. This condition can be reversed and corrected, however, if you quit using smokeless tobacco and follow up with good dental care.
Risk of cancer of the mouth increases, especially in parts of the mouth where the tobacco is placed.
Health risk for oral cancers decreases once you discontinue use of smokeless tobacco products.

This information was taken from www. trytostop. com

Shalom!

[aasharon90]

My spouse 19 then was a smoker when i met him 27 yrs ago. He came down with phnemonia and lost a lot of weight...pretty scarry....upon helping him to recover, his mom and I decided to put tootsie pops in his hands instead of cigarettes. It worked...He quite smoking when we got married 24 yrs ago and hasnt picked up again.

Tootsie pops.....was what worked.....

[jlo34]

Great job. Awareness is the first step. Desire is the second. Just as AA, "if you want what we have you will go to any lengths..". I've done a whole lot of step 3. I only dipped when smoking was not an option. Not exactly my favorite.

With stoping smoking...I have used IceBreaker sours, wellbutrin, my HP, positive talk, the steps, and grabbing onto someone in AA who has been quit smoking longer than I as a "sponsor". It's working so far...

Jen - Free and Healing for Five Months, Seven Days, 8 Hours and 13 Minutes (160 days), while extending my life expectancy 16 Days and 16 Hours, by avoiding the use of 4810 nicotine delivery devices that would have cost me $857.05.

Just make your mind up to do it and ask your HP for help. Stick with your decision. When a craving comes up..play the tape and use your AA toolbox for helping you get through. Step 3 has been a life saver for me. The worst is the first 2 weeks. I still think about it, but it's much easier for me now!!! I'd rather be hooked on Sours than on smoking today.

Blessings,
Jen

[regrad]

thank you for your comments...i really appreciate them...

i'll check out trytostop.com

Jen- I like the stats, very funny (and sobering)

j.

[iuchewie]

Originally Posted by regrad

Does anyone have any personal experience quitting chew?

I have been using tobacco for about 11 years...I am also an addict and decided I would quit the nicotine after I was settled in recovery...
11 months later and I'm trying to quit, or even cut back...but honestly this is more difficult than quitting meth...? go figure.

Any help would do...thanks

j.

i've got plenty of experience... after 16+ years of chewing a can/day of kodiak, i'm now 317 days clear of chew. it's not an easy thing to do, but like anything else if you put your mind to it it can be done.

i quit using the support at KillTheCan.org - killthecan.org - there's a ton of information there about quitting, and they have a support forum (very similar to this) located at forum.killthecan.org - totally free and totally anon.

Let me know if you've got any questions.

chewie - day 317 free of chew!