The Fog of Quitting Dip

Hey man.. any luck? I’m having this issue…. It hasn’t improved at all. It’s damn near unbearable. I’ve been off chew for almost three months with nic pouches occasionally but the fog and weird brain feeling is rough! Did you chew again?

I’m on day 250. I chewed for 20 years. It’s been a tough road. Day 100 – 230 were piece of cake – thought I was through it all. Last 20 days have been tough. Actually looked at the garbage behind the counter at the store the other day. Was strong enough to say no way and glad I did. Yes, headaches and fog even 9 months in. It’s starting to go away again and that’s good. I expect it will hit me again some time over the next 6 months. Part of what keeps me motivated is how hard these 9 months have been. If I give in and have even one it’s like starting all over again. Your brain will open up all those nicotine pathways immediately and you’ll have to deal with it all over again. I don’t want to do that. I gained a bunch of weight but the good news is in the last month I’ve pulled 10 of it off and have a bit more to go. I like Jack Links jerky chew and gum. Keep anything around to help you.
Cody – you can do this! If you give in all your hard work was for nothing. The addicted part of your brain wants you to believe anything that will get it what it wants. Don’t believe it – accept that the pain, the anxiety and all of it is you winning. At some point it goes away, it’s different for all of us. Don’t waste those 113 days – choose to win choose to be a strong man who can do what he says he will do. Good luck to you.

Chris,
I would say yes! You do need to get down on yourself. The only person who can get you to quit, is you. You’re the one with all the power and the one that will keep you honest during those “invisible” times when no one can see you. It all has to come from within…the “want”. If you truly “want” to be free, then you have to be true to it..it isn’t easy to stop dipping…in fact, it was the probably the hardest thing I did. I abused for almost 30 years. If I can do it …anyone can.
My suggestion….get yourself some fake, non-nicotine dip. There are several good ones out there. They absolutely will NOT be the same as the real shit. However, it gives you something to pop in there and spit, when you feel the need to dip. Start pounding the water to flush yourself of nicotine. You’re going to be a moody SOB, so you might want to incorporate some exercise (I ran and lifted weights) in your quit…and beyond. I’d introduce yourself to sunflower seeds and gum,.these two things also keep the mouth busy. Some say jerky…another close friend out here used carrot sticks. I used the fake stuff, seeds and gum (still chew gum almost 6 years later).
There will definitely be some mental challenges besides moodiness, anxiety and possibly depression from no longer using might pop up. If it becomes too much to handle (I just dealt with the shit), go see a doctor. Let them know what you’re doing, they can get you something to knock off the edge. These symptoms will lift eventually. And if you get paranoid like the rest of us that you have mouth issues, go see your dentist to put it to rest.
That’s my advice. But the key is, No, More, Nicotine. This means, no cigarettes (pipes, cigars or vape). No patches. No Nicorette gum…and No fake stuff that has nicotine in it. You’re only trading Nicotine habits by using other stuff.
You can do this, life IS normal without that chemical.
Get after it today!
-JP
07-15-14 quit

Hey DDD (and everyone), I am dealing with what i presume is the fog on day 20 today. I have gone much longer than the 20 days i am at today in the past but this time is different. i think the other times i always knew that i was going to go back, and that i was not stopping for reasons that would allow me to maintain my resolve. Anyway, as a distraction to how i am feeling right now (super anxious, cannot focus on anything until now that i am typing this to everyone, feeling random pains and feelings in my body, random dizzy spells for a second or two, feeling like something is seriously wrong with me even though i just had a physical done a couple days before my quit date and it turns out everything was ok…even if that physical led me to being quit)…. anyway where was I? Ah yes as a distraction to all of that i wanted to share my quit story and why i know it is for good this time. I dont know who or how many members of this site share my religious beliefs, or are religious at all for that matter – so if this post offends anyone i apologize ahead of time i promise it is not for that reason at all… I had been praying to god at night off and on for several years to help me quit dipping. Something i knew needed to be done, but i just couldnt bring myself to stop. I started dipping right before i turned 18 and i am 33 now. Removing the times that i quit in there it was about 14 years that gradually turned into 2 sometimes 3 or even 4 cans per day depending what i was doing (or how much i was stressed as it turns out- who would have thunk it..). Those prayers led to amazing results… results of me being ultra aware of the decisions that i SHOULD have been making. I could literally tell that God was helping me, giving me everything that i had requested of him. he was doing his part and i refused to do mine. I would have thoughts about my 3 daughters or my wife having to live without me, all that jazz… it was never enough. I just apparently was not ready to quit. I wanted all the effects of quitting without actually having to go through with quitting and the impacts that come with it. Finally, as my first dr. exam physical in several years was approaching, I began to have some tyupical anxieties that dippers with consciences have. I wanted to slow down. I decided to change my prayer to God and be honest for the first time. I dont remember verbatim what i said but it was something like “God – I have been asking for your help for so long to quit chewing. And the worst part is that i have felt your help every time and i have chosen to not fulfill my end. I didnt meet you halfway. And ive come to the conclusion that i just can’t. I want to quit and i want your help but i need more than that. I need you MAKE ME STOP. I need you to take it all into your hands because i know you have that power and make me stop doing this. And i know you will. Love you – Amen.”

Fast forward to the results of my regular blood count showing abnormalities. My doctor had called me here at work with the results telling me about several things that need to be improved but the mother of them all was that there were abnormal indices in my blood. My dumb @ ss decided to google the things he said to me before telling me he was referring me to an oncologist/ hematologist. The normal range on these things they found in my blood are only in your blood if you have 1 of a few things including 2 words i dont like to say that both start with L… i think you can probably figure them out. My immediate reaction was to throw in a dip, which i did. Roughly about 2 minutes later i was like what are you doing, that causes the C word too… youre an idiot. Took it out. 2 minutes after that – oh snap this is so stressful i cannot believe he just told me that… put another one in….

That would be the last one i ever will do. I took it out and threw it across the parking lot of my employer where i work as i walked to my car to try and process everything i was just told, and i knew dip wasnt the answer to this. The particles separated in mid air like dust in the wind and settled upon the blacktop, knowing they had been defeated. The next 2 weeks had several nights of anxiety as you can imagine, night sweats, worrying, almost preparing for what could be a drastically shortened life for me. Crying at random times, feeling depressed, searching for answers. About 3 days after the follow up blood test with the oncologist, It hit me. I had stopped dipping, which i knew that i had, but it became oh so clear. Holy Sh!t. This is going to be negative. It will be tech error. I dont have either of those things, i feel fine – im going to be ok. God literally had to take me down this road to make me quit, to make me stay quit. I knew what i had to do. I swore to God in that moment that i would never put it in my mouth again and if I did he could strike me down and everything i hold dear, and that i knew if i did that the results would be favorable. roughly about 1 minute after this declaration, i signed into the hospital’s portal where all of a sudden my results to the additional testing and re-testing were available. As you can probably tell by this post… everything was clear. I met with the doctor to clear up the final 1% of my anxiety around it, since i am not a DR. and not trained to interpret results and she told me the same thing, it was clear and she felt confident it was an anomoly that they were there in the first place or a tech error. I know exactly why they were there. And i promised that i would share this story with everyone who needs to hear it and spread god’s work with everyone. I have zero doubt that God put me through that anxiety and that pain, and that mental suffering to bring me out better on the other side. To make me dip free on the other side. And while i am still struggling 20 days in now, and ive eaten more than i should at times, and im putting decaffienated tea bags from the break room area between my lip and gum as a simulation to help me through, i know i will never do it again. I know i am quit, and i am here on this forum to hopefully change one or several peoples opinions and for them to know they arent alone. They have this forum and all of us who are doing it, have done it,and they also have the almighty when they fail themselves. God can get us through everything and does everything for a reason, and i believe that so much more today than i did in the past. And i know that the fog is for that same reason. The fog is to remind us that our work is not done, and that our body is fixing itself from all the wrong we’ve done to it. To remind us to not replace the addiction with another addiction. Our body that god gave us is our vessel to spread his word and to go forther and prosper, and it is a wonderful feedback machine. It’s natural state is healthy, and we have to go out of our way to make that not the case. If youre like me, i went out of my way doing so for several years, and its only natural that it is providing me feedback as it corrects back to it’s natural state. I hope that someone out there reads this to the very end, and that all of the anguish and pain and anxiety i dealt with, and am still dealing with within the fog, was not only for my own good and improvement, but can inspire someone else out there as well. Thank you for reading, for all of the support that you provide to me and others without even realizing it, and for giving me a platform to share this story on. God bless you. – Craig Z.

I’m just posting because I’ve gone through this and I’m just a unlucky case I’d say. I quit smoking and although smoking isn’t the same as chewing the real culprit is nicotine. All the side symptoms of smoking and chewing are just kicking the habit but nicotine is what we’re all really trying to break free from. I had the fog for about a year and a half. It was hard but I worked through it. I was scared to drive. I was scared of everything or to do anything… but life doesn’t stop and bills don’t pay themselves. I pulled what energy I could to going back to driving ( because I made my girlfriend drive me everywhere ) and going back to work. It was hard concentrating. I was worried about people thinking I was crazy or acting weird smelling weed or anything made me feel like I was gonna stay stuck in fog or whatever. Funny enough you notice after a while you’re the only one that thinks that. It’s all in your head. Once I came to that realization and came to terms with it. The fog started to dissipate. What I also realized that anxiety feeds the fog the most. Nicotine made us feel good because it masked everything in our lives. When we felt bad, did we process it? Did we take our time and actually handle the stressful or hurtful or whatever kind of situation? No.. we smoked or dipped. It’s no different than going to a bottle of alcohol. Sure it drowns everything out but the problem is still there. So quitting nicotine in general kind of brings all of things to light. You might have been anxious and just self medicating with nicotine, or depressed. Either way none of these things are anything to worry about because. As hard as it can be you can fight and overcome anxiety, and depression and whatever else, IF YOU FEEL you fit that category. Because I’ve done everything a lot of people on here have done. Gone to a doctor and done blood test after blood test. Neurologists. EKG, MRI. Etc. it all came out perfect. But one doctor gave me an important piece of information. Just because my body is fine. Doesn’t mean my cells are happy. In other words, you can’t measure anxiety and depression and what’s your cells are doing in your body… and a lot of times from what I’ve experienced.. the fog gets worse… when I’m more anxious. When I stop thinking about it and just go about my life.. It’s not there.. all you can do is relax. Do what you can and let your body heal itself. If you feel overly anxious or depressed see a therapist and don’t be afraid to. They’re here to help you cope with these feelings of not feeling real and wanting things to go back to normal. It’ll take time but it’ll be worth it. I’m 2 years and some change quit now.
I don’t feel any of the fog like I used to.. because it was never the fog it was anxiety for me. Some it goes away sooner some it goes away later. I do feel confused and emotionally overwhelmed from everyday stresses because I used to smoke them away. I also get irritated very fast and can’t really handle things the way I used to.. I make up scenarios and say negative things to myself like ” oh I’m always gonna be like this, I just want to be normal, blah blah blah ” guess what.. nothing is wrong with me.. Sounds bad sure, but it makes sense considering that i used to self medicate with nicotine. Nicotine does what? Elevate your mood, enhances your concentration and focus, creates new connections in your brain so it can further take control. So when you quit no wonder all of this happens. Treated nicotine as if it were part of your body for everyday life.

AS A Conclusion… I wrote all this because when I was in the fog I was terrified and constantly looking up what’s wrong with me etc. That only made things worse believe me and no not worse than what you’re feeling right now but it just prolonged this temporary ” brain fog “.
Just as hard as it may be. Relax, do what you’re afraid of. Do it slowly. Can’t drive? Drive around the block at night. It will feel weird but it’s ok. I kept driving and I was always a good driver so I was stubborn. Funny enough i messed up my right front bumper and crashed my girls car but I live in one of the worst places to drive Los Angeles.. hence why.. drive at night..
Once you learn to accept it and jsut go along with your life and realize. This is gonna go away. All of this is going to go away. You’ll feel better. The sooner you do that the better you’ll feel. And if you’re feeling anxious I really just recommend seeing a therapist if it’s affordable. If not. There’s many good sources online on how to manage and cope with anxiety.. because it can be hard but even that can be overcome. So be strong, you got this, nothing is wrong with you. Good luck

Ps: I only SMOKED for 8 years. I say only because some have dipped and smoked way more than me and recovered faster. I don’t think it was their bodies. It’s their attitude. Keep that in mind.

Anxiety sucks, I went through the same steps you did. I finally got all checked by Doc, nothing wrong. It’s all in the head, once you realize you are not sick, you can stop all the nonsense. WHen a little bout of anxiety comes in tell yourself, “there isn’t anything wrong with me” Start counting the seconds on your watch and breathe deeply, very simple, but it works.

Jamie,
you are not alone. i am at my 97th day. i am having same issues, not severe as yours but i have frequent days where i wake up with anxiety and feel foggy entire day. I found lite to moderate exercise helps.

At 190 days and feel alot better. Still get minimal dizziness and fogginess at times but isn’t near as bad. Hang in there everyone it will pass with time.

Paul i dipped for 34 years and after my quit of now 122 days, i still get the fog. I gutted that shit for years. I have been to multiple Drs and none really know what is happening or why. I get the fog with dizziness, and tingling all over. I think it’s my body ridding of all the toxic crap. But I am getting an MRI soon just for piece of mind. Kinda of like going to the dentist for the first time.