Here’s How You Quit… Ball Is In Your Court Now

Before posting an introduction, your support group is expecting you to quit NOW; this instant; immediately. You are here on this site because you need help and support with your quit, so listen when I tell you: don’t procrastinate another hour or day. There really isn’t a point of you telling us that you are GOING to quit on such and such a date because no one here can help you until you jump in the pool.

This post will cover the following:

1. How to start your quit.
2. Why does this site work?
3. What do I do on the site?
4. What can I expect to go through and how do I deal?
5. Accountability. Exchanging phone numbers?? Really???
6. Write your introduction and participate!!
7. You will never be cured…..

Take your time, let this sink in. Pay attention to bold and colorful text. Chances are, your head is foggy from quitting already….

1. First things first. FLUSH your cans. Don’t just throw them in the trash. Flush the contents down the drain or toilet. If you drop them in the trash, you will be tempted to dig them out. Make sure you have rid yourself of all cans: home, work, car, etc. Also, this is a zero nicotine cessation site. NO GUM, PATCHES, LOZENGES or SNUS. We quit cold turkey. Any use of these products puts you back at day 1 and you start over.

2. Next, you need to know how and why this site works. You’ll see several links in the next paragraph. Each is important and you should take the time to read each one thoroughly. First, you need to read the Welcome Center. This covers the basics. You will join a quit group and you post roll everyday. As for where you find this quit group and how to post roll : Your quit group will be the month when you would hit the Hall of Fame, which as you read in the Welcome Center, is 100 consecutive days of being quit. Most of the time, your quit group will be the latest month that can be found at the top of the quit group section. You will likely get more support here on this site for you and your quit than you will get for anything else in your life.

You need to quit for yourself. If you aren’t quitting for yourself, chances are you will not succeed in quitting for good. Being pressured to quit by family and friends only leads to hostility. You can “stop” for other people, but you can only quit for yourself. Speaking of which, have your spouse read this.

3. POSTING ROLL is the backbone of this website and our way of quitting. It is your daily commitment to yourself, your quit group, and everyone who supports you that you will stay quit throughout the day. We quit one day at a time, all of us, from day 1 to day 10,000. We post roll early in the morning, and only worry about being quit for the rest of the day. We don’t worry about how we’ll handle the commute into work tomorrow, or the golf game with the boys this weekend, or the barbecue and family reunion on the 4th of July. Worry about the stress of those upcoming situations on the day when it happens. If you are a man or woman of your word, all you need to do is post roll that morning and keep your word until you sleep that night. Essentially, you are finding the latest roll list for the day, copying the whole thing, adding your name to it along with how many days you have quit, and posting it back for the next person. These words are 100% true: You get out of this site what you put into it. You’ll read more about how you can participate when you get to #6…..

So go on…what are you waiting for?? Go post roll in your quit group. Once you have, come back here and start reading again….

4. Great. You are now officially a member of your new quit group. You have posted roll and your number of days quit. Now what? What can I expect? Here is a timeline of what symptoms you can expect around which day. This is a rough guideline and no two people will experience the exact same withdrawal symptoms on this schedule, but know that this is pretty accurate. Your first 72 hours are going to suck. Bad. There is no way around this. However, no matter how bad you feel, IT WILL GET BETTER. You won’t feel this way forever. Here are some tips on lessening “the suck”…

Drink water. LOTS of water. I can’t claim this line but it’s very accurate: If you walk by a bathroom and don’t have to pee, you aren’t drinking enough water. Find a local health food store that sells PURE cranberry juice. This will help you detox a little faster than water alone. The stuff you buy at your local grocery store is watered down and full of sugar.

Exercise. This has a couple of benefits. If you have a bad crave, bang out as many push ups as you can. Wall squats are great, too. Go for a walk or run. The physical exertion and pain will help you detox and forget about your crave, respectively.

Stay close to this website. Read, read, read. Read the Words of Wisdom, Hall of Fame speeches, and scroll back through your quit group. This will all provide you with motivation to keep your quit going. You’ll see very quickly that you aren’t going through anything new that no one hasn’t dealt with before and come out a winner. There is also the Live Chat where you can find some folks to chat with. Many people find this key to helping pass the time, especially when you have a bad craving.

Substitute the poison for something healthier. Sunflower seeds, toothpicks, gum, candy (Atomic Fireballs are great!), and fake tobacco. This can help with the oral fixation of having to have something in your mouth. Here is a list of smokeless alternatives.

STAY SOBER!! Drinking during the first couple weeks of your quit can lead to a cave. Notice I said cave, not cRave. Caving is unacceptable under any circumstances. Beer, liquor, and weed weaken your resolve. Many a quit has been ruined under the influence.

Sleep will be tough to come by for the first couple of days. Arm yourself with a sleep aid of your choice. Be prepared for a rough couple of nights.

5. ACCOUNTABILITY is why posting roll works. When you put your name on the list, you are promising us and yourself that you will stay clean for the day. By posting roll first thing in the morning (your morning, either east coast or west), you are taking using off the table. You made that promise and now you have to keep it. Any situation or crave that pops up (and they will), you are now prepared. GET TO KNOW THE PEOPLE IN YOUR QUIT GROUP. Find someone who has quit just before you and just after you. Exchange phone numbers (yes, it sounds odd, but follow me here) with them. When you are having a bad time with craves, send a text message off to them, let them know you are suffering. Chances are, they will be having a rough day, too. Talk it out, let them know that you are there for them to chat with. If you aren’t near a computer, you can also text someone to add you to roll. There is no excuse for you to miss roll.

6. POST YOUR INTRODUCTION. Give us some background about you. Age, location, married, kids, how long and what brand did you dip, sports teams, hobbies, etc. Share some information that might start a conversation. Getting noticed is a good thing here. Participate in discussions in other folks introductions and in your quit group. Ask questions, answer questions. Your quit group is there for both general conversation as well as posting roll. Scroll back through a couple of pages and see if there is anything you can add to.

7. YOU ARE AN ADDICT. I am an addict. You need to admit it. There is no cure for addiction to nicotine. It will never go away. Every day is a battle to stay clean, but the war will never end. There is no having “just one dip” from here on out. The Law of Addiction: any nicotine use once you have cleansed your system will cause chemical relapse that will require you to repeat the nicotine detox portion of recovery all over again. You’ll feel the same way as you did on day 1 all over again. After having JUST ONE DIP. Remember this as you go along your quit journey.

“Never again, for any reason.”

NOTE: This piece written by KillTheCan.org forum member Wedge