Only Took Me 387 Days To Fix

“Even with the best preplanning quitting is an extremely unsettling experience. It may feel as if somebody dropped a bomb on your life.” – Unknown .

I have not written my HOF because I just did not feel right. Something was wrong with my body and I was ill. We are long past day 300 of my quit, today is day 412.

The back story is 38 Years of dipping starting around age 14 with a buddy of mine. We thought it was cool (he still doing it today, has no desire to stop, well ya can’t fix stupid). Back then a can was 28 cents and the stores never asked if you were old enough. Even during high school I dipped in class and never got caught. Hardly ever spit and kept it on the side of my mouth. I was good at hiding it, I would dip in my sleep, I had a dip all the time. Started with Copenhagen and it was a bit harsh so Skoal was it for me for over half the 34 years. Then it started to give me indigestion so back to Cope I went, problem solved I thought then.
Anyway Jump to the Future September 2014 my 9 years on old asked me to quit. He said I don’t t want that worm dirt tobacco to kill you! Interestingly enough, I had never really been asked to quit that seriously. On the 23rd of September 2014, I quit Cold Turkey and it Sucked like nothing I had ever done before. On day 4 the Fog set in.

I use to be able to have a few drinks at night with no real issue, but the Fog amplified the alcohol and damn I was NOT a nice fellow:
“Note to quitters”, DO NOT DRINK ALCOHOL WHILE IN THE FOG! For many reasons, but No. 1 at least for me it can make me myself AND I am a real ASS HOLE! My Wife was ready for me to start dipping again just to stop the “ ASSHOLE”.

The Damn Fog lasted almost 40 days, but lingered on and off to almost 100 days. I had all the same issues everyone here mentions here except I had an extra one because it did not stop. I could not eat much food at all and my Guts hurt ( really hurt) and I was Nauseous all the time and constant burping and food did not want to stay down. I did not puke; but having it come back half way up is just not a friendly feeling and this was happening even after 100+ days. And the inside of my mouth “cheeks” still felt swollen.

So thinking I had Stomach cancer ( or worse ) it’s off to the Dr. He noticed my upper abdomen was tender and sent me for a sonogram, Well everything looked great, Liver, Gall bladder, pancreas, etc.

Next I am sent to a Gastroenterologist. He scheduled a Upper GI test where they ram a scope down your throat past your stomach and look around (that was not fun). He said it all looked great, my symptoms sounded like I had a Gastric Empting issue. (Stomach keeping food to long without out passing it through).

We schedule a Gastric empting study, they give you an Egg Sandwich with radioactive stuff on the egg that you eat (it’s not too bad, but it needs salt.) Then they watch it under a big scope you lay under for 1 hour, then 2 hour, then 4 hours by then it should have been moved through your gut and sure enough mine had, so that’s not the issue, we do blood test and its good also, so the Doc starts randomly picking meds some make you stomach empty faster some are anti-Nausea, and some with side effects that just make it where you can’t get it up or keep it up and that makes momma and me very unhappy. I had taken Omeprazole (antacid) for years due to acid reflux a problem that almost all us tobacco users have because of what it does to your stomach and its top valve.
Nothing the Dr. did worked and usually made it worse,
The Doctors (I have determined) were clueless. I gave up on them and started my own research.

Thought maybe it’s what I’m eating so I stopped things one at a time. Stopping soft drinks helped a little but did not eliminate the issue.
Then about day 387, my wife had a bad allergic reaction to a food she was eating and I took her to the Hospital. She was given meds and stopped the reaction and one Med was Pepcid, they said along with being an antacid, it blocks H2 Histamines in the Gut. (It Blocks WHAT?)

I wondered if my gut issues are that I am allergic to something, so I took one of her a 20mg Pepcid and I could not believe it, in 20 min, I felt like a new man all the bad symptoms were gone. Now, I wanted to know why. What was I allergic to and what was I reacting to my on Guts producing a Histamine H2?

Well here goes the quick rundown of the heavily researched answer I came up with, I’m no Doctor. But I did graduate Embalming school and understand a bit about the human body live and dead.
First question I wanted to know. Was it Nicotine caused?
The Nicotine queen had really screwed with me so what happened to me in the years of Nicotine?

I started asking questions, and got few answers but here is what I have found
I’ll try not to put you to sleep, but it gets technical.
What does Nicotine really do that would cause this type of problem (note: it does 100’s more bad things to you, so don’t think this limits its hazardous effects. This seem to be just 1 of them.)
Knowledge I already have, “I know we have nicotine receptors, they are called “Acetylcholine Receptor”, aka Cholinergic receptors”.
How does that work on those receptors?
1. Nicotine acts in the brain by first stimulating and then blocking cholinergic receptors,
Credit: https://quizlet.com/24832907/sds-final-chapter-10-flash-cards/

a. Ok, it first stimulates, what does that cause?
“Cholinergic stimulation is brought about by somatic motor neurons, postganglionic parasympathetic neurons, and all of the preganglionic autonomic neurons.
They all use acetylcholine in order to transmit their cholinergic stimulation. Preganglionic autonomic neurons and somatic motor neurons only put out and transmit excitatory impulses.
Most of the time the transmission created by the postganglionic parasympathetic neurons are excitable like in the case of Nicotine). However, there are exceptions to this.
The parasympathetic neurons which are responsible for control of the heart rate are able to send out cholinergic transmission that slow the heart rather than excite it.”

b. Next we know Nicotine blocks the cholinergic receptors,
What does that do?

Well Just the opposite it blocks H2 and the many processes above so in a way Nicotine is H2 inhibitor

Question what does a normal Histamine receptor do?
Histamine receptor H2 receptor is primarily involved in vasodilation and stimulation of gastric acid secretion. Modulates gastrointestinal function.

Why I have an excess of Histamine H2 in my Gut, (I do not know but will find out) what I now know is that I was using a H2 blocker (Snuff, aka the Nic Bitch) for 38 years and when I stopped, it showed up like a long lost ass hole you do not want to see.
Just like facial pimples and oily skin, I never had ever, until I quit, My wife tells me, “Welcome to the part of puberty you missed”, due to Nicotine affecting your pores and oil glands, she is right they started the week after I quit.
I hope this helps another Brother or Sister quitter that is having the same issue, The Pepcid worked for my issue and made me a new man, I can eat now and no regurgitation not near as much gas and my mouth feels much better. And all in 387 Days NEVER GIVE UP!!!, IT ALWAYS GETS BETTER!!!, “TODAY IS THE FIRST DAY OF THE REST OF YOYR LIFE”, THANKS TO YOU ALL! I’m here for ya!

Extroitive

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