P-Q4 – My Hall of Fame Speech

“There is no easy way to break free from nicotine.  KTC offers a way to join others in the fight.  It works.” –WildIrish317 (over 1,238 days quit)

For the last 15 years I was addicted to Levi Garret loose leaf chewing tobacco and Skoal straight long cut snuff.  I started because my dad dipped for most of his life.  We did it together nearly every day, and would often buy tobacco for each other.

My dad died a few years ago, and I decided to quit smokeless tobacco.  I feel like it’s a filthy, embarrassing, and expensive habit.  I grew tired of always having chew in my mouth and having to find some place to spit.  Many times I would end up swallowing it.

I found two books on quitting.  One was titled “How to Quit Chewing Tobacco for Good;” by Donald Fosio.  It was 30 pages long.  The other was titled “No More Chew!;”  by David J. Fama. It was 54 pages long.  I read both books in one sitting.  After reading them I tried quitting several times.  I would quit from 3 to 12 days, and then go back to dipping.  I tried using nicotine patches. They didn’t help.

I searched the Internet for information on quitting.  I found the KillTheCan.org (“KTC”) website, and it changed my life.  The site has a lot more information than I found in the two books.  I read several articles at:  https://www.killthecan.org.  Then I signed up with KTC.  I went into the live chat room where I met other quitters.  I was told that cold turkey was the way to go, so I threw the nicotine patches away and started my quit day one.  Several long-time quitters gave me their phone numbers in case I needed to talk to someone.

I asked other quitters which days were the hardest.  Many people, like MikeK (over 1,100 quit days), consider the first three days to be the hardest.  When asked about the first three days Log (seven days quit) said: “Pretty rough. Damn near constant cravings.”   But other people, like QuitDipping (over 3,000 days quit), said: “Days 1-3 were easy. New quit, all proud of myself.  I’ve done that a million times, but keeping it going was tough.”  Speaking about the first three days, Nomore1959 (over 1,500 days quit), said “Those were a challenge for sure.  But I had the fresh quit excitement going.”  He added  “The toughest days were the first two weeks.”  I agree with Nomore1959, the first two weeks were the hardest quit days for me.

The KTC way of quitting is cold turkey–no nicotine patches or gum, and no slowly winding down.  I got through my first few weeks by drinking a lot of water and taking long walks daily.  I would leave my wallet and money at home so I wouldn’t be tempted to buy any chew or snuff.  I ate hard candy and unsalted sunflower seeds.   When you have cravings, consider using fake snuff (such as Smokey Mountain herbal snuff).

Although fake dip isn’t for everyone, many long-time quitters swear by it.  If you want to try it, make sure the dip doesn’t have tobacco or nicotine.  You can learn about different brands at:  https://www.killthecan.org/your-quit/smokeless-alternatives.  There you will find reviews and discounts.
While writing this Hall of Fame speech, I’m on quit day 234.  On day one I didn’t believe I would reach over 100 days, because the longest I was able to quit before was 12 days.  But the KTC principle is simple—just focus on staying nicotine free today.   Don’t worry about tomorrow or next week.  Three popular acronyms that are used a lot on this site are: ODAAT (one day at a time), NAFAR (never again for any reason), and NNT (no nicotine today).

An important thing to do each day is to post roll.  That means you sign on to your quit group page and promise not to use nicotine that day (that includes cigars and cigarettes).  It takes less than a minute to post roll.  All you have to do after posting is keep your word for 24 hours. The next day you again promise not to use nicotine that day. It’s one day at a time; and sometimes one hour at a time.  Before you know it, you’ll hit the hall of fame mark of 100 days quit.  And soon after that you’ll make it to the second floor—which is 200 days quit.  Other milestones include one year, 365 days quit; and the comma club, 1,000 days quit.

Another important thing to do is get the phone numbers of other quitters.  Call them when you feel like caving or when you’re going through something you don’t understand.  You can meet quitters in the KTC live chat room.  To get there go to the KTC home page at https://www.killthecan.org. Then click on “Community,” and from the drop down menu choose “Live Quit Chat Room.”  You can also meet quitters in person at KTC meetings, which are held throughout the year all over the country.  Those phone and in-person contacts make the KTC site better than just reading a book.  Also, on the site you’ll find hundreds of helpful articles (they’re written by quitters and are free).

No matter how many times you tried to quit and failed, you can quit by following the KTC way.  All you need to do is the following: flush any dip you have; get rid of any nicotine patches, gum and other nicotine you have; join a KTC quit group; post roll each day promising to be nicotine free that day; spend some time each day reading Hall of Fame speeches or other articles on the KTC site; visit the KTC live chat room whenever you can; and get phone numbers of other quitters.  (When someone gives you their number, it’s polite to give them yours.)  When you have questions, or are having strong cravings for nicotine, use the phone numbers to call for help.

To join a quit group, and get the most from the site, you’ll need to register with KTC at https://ktcforum.org/index.php?action=register.  Or you can go to the KTC home page and click the “Forum Registration—Click Here” icon at the upper right of the page.  If you have trouble joining a quit group or registering with KTC, just go to the live chat room and ask for help.

By  P-Q4

NOTE: This piece written by KillTheCan.org forum member P-Q4