What To Expect When You Quit Dipping
So you want to quit dipping and you would like to know what to expect when you do. We’re not going to pull any punches around here, it’s tough. That’s why we’re all here. This timeline has been put together over the years with the input of THOUSANDS of quitters. It has been shown to be remarkably accurate from the time you STOP USING NICOTINE.
Days 1 through 3 – Pure hell. You will walk in the fog. Nothing will seem real. Your brain is wondering where the hell its fix is and it is going to punish you until you come up with it. 72 hours, that’s all you need to get the nicotine out of your system. This is where you start to deal with the physical withdrawal associated with quitting dip. Drink lots of water. Read, post, read and post. Don’t take your anger out on your loved ones. We always tell everyone………Make this quit about YOU. If you quit for your wife, girlfriend, boyfriend, kids, mommy or daddy, you will resent them during this period. Quit for yourself and come in here to rant. Yell at us. Bitch at us. We can take it. We’ve been there.
Days 4 through 20 – Here comes the mind games. The nicotine is out of your system now. You will still have some physical things to deal with.
- Cravings
- Irritability
- Insomnia
- Fatigue
- Inability to Concentrate
- Headache
- Sore throat
- Constipation, gas, stomach pain
- Dry mouth
- Sore tongue and/or gums
Yep, you have this to look forward to. Your brain is rewiring itself. It isn’t used to being in an oxygen rich environment. Your body is responding in kind. Everything is a mind game now. All the cravings you have are actually due to triggers. Triggers are events where you are in a situation you would normally dip in. Mowing the grass, playing poker online, playing golf, working on the car………you get the picture. Keep drinking water, use seeds, the fake stuff, whatever you need to keep the dip out of your mouth. Remember, oral fixation is part of our habit, something you will eventually need to break. For now though, use all the tools you have.
Days 20 – 50 – You’re winning. Life isn’t great, but you probably had a couple of nights where you actually got some sleep. You might notice you’re going to bed earlier than you normally do. Not staying up to get in that last dip. You may notice some sores in your mouth. You’re thinking, “great, I quit dipping and now I have cancer.” You almost certainly don’t. Your mouth is healing itself. Tiny ulcers you’ve had for a long time are healing. We recommend you visit your dentist around the 30 day mark. Don’t be a pansy, just do it. He or she will be very supportive and they can explain the sores much better than we can. Don’t let your guard down. Don’t go out drinking with the fellas or the girls. We also recommend that you don’t drink for at least the first 50 days. Drinking is a huge trigger event and it weakens your resolve.
Days 50 – 70 – Cruise control. Life is really good. You still think about it, but this is good stuff here. Some people may suffer anxiety attacks during or a little before this stage. Some doctors say we dipped to relieve anxiety anyway. Some people can push right through this, others need a little help. Talk to your doctor before you quit or immediately after you quit. They will know what to do. Some give Wellbutrin or Lexapro. Lots of people in the support community take or have taken these medicines and can help you with the affects. Don’t wait till you get to this stage of the game to talk to a doctor. You’ll cruise through this stage much easier if you know how to take care of the anxiety or at least know it’s coming.
Days 70 – 90 – Late term craves, the doldrums, the blahs, the blues. Some people end up feeling like they are right back at day 1. The fog, the haze, the craves. It can be a tough time. You need to let people in your group know this is happening. Time to circle the wagons to get through it. It usually only lasts a few days. Fight through this and make sure your order your HOF Knife or Coin. Here are a couple of articles about this time period which we refer to as “The Funk”
Days 90 – HOF – Houston, resume the countdown. Enjoy the hell out of these last 10 days. You will be celebrating with your group as you all enter the HOF. It is a great feeling and an accomplishment you should not take lightly. Do something special for yourself and your family. They put up with your sorry ass for the last 90 days and they deserve something too.
100+ Days – Stay vigilant. Use the tools you have, to continue beating back any cravings or urges. You will still experience dip dreams and longings, but you are fully qualified to beat them down. Continue to post roll with your group. Get into the newer groups and help somebody out. Pass it along. Live the dream.
I’m 18 and wondering what my risk are for getting cancer and I want to stop now I keep thinking I have throat and gum cancer
It was 4 mg’s. 2 mg’s per piece of gum!
I know that people frown upon using nicotine patches and would rather cold turkey this crap but…. I did some research. Each dip of Grizzly gave me 11.2 mgs of shit per dip while the two pieces of nicotine gum gave me a total of mg’s. I’d rather say I didn’t cave and buy a can of shit. http://www.rstreet.org/op-ed/nicotine-levels-in-american-smokeless-tobacco-products/
Day 7 and still here!
Well, is everyone still quit? I aint heard from a couple of ya’ll maybe you guys are too busy, but for me, it helped coming in here and venting out. Whatever ya’lls thing is, do it to it, just don’t use that shit no more.
Day 121
Day 4 of my quit. Thanks for this site, and thanks for the people who are on it. I started when I was 12. My brothers gave me my first dip. I felt I had to, 35 years later and never quit longer than 1 week here I am. The fog is so crazy. I’m past it. I’m going cold turkey. I’m beating this beast back to its cave
Day 9 here…..co-worker next to me just threw a can on my desk since I used to let him bum off me….kindly handed it back to him and said the best way to re-pay me is to keep it away. I’m on to 3 packs a gum a day, but my mouth feels better, jaw may be getting sore though
Day 2 here: rough morning kind of…….sometimes the urge is so intense I can’t hardly stand it. my routine for the mornings was, coffee, food, and dip…….now it’s like, coffee, food, and ughhh, lol……….but anytime after eating is rough. anyways, just found this site, thought it was interesting. been chewing since i was 12 or 13 i guess, so that equals out to be 31 years of the “crud” lol, i seen someone had called it. so, i thought it would be fun to post in here and see how everyone else is doing. love how everyone says, you can do this, it’s mind over matter, lol, and that’s true, i guess, to a point.
Day 2.
Im 19 years old and have been chewing for about 2 years. It all started in highschool when all the guys thought it was cool. hoping i can quit, its nice to see all the support in the comments. stay strong everyone!
Good luck Matt, i hope this time around, you stick with it. No one judging, sometimes it takes failure to strengthen your commitment…been there.
Stay strong all
-JP
Day#541 free of that shit
I posted about six months ago during my foggy stage because I just needed to get my thoughts out there to people that understood. Well I made it around 4 months and for some reason, I was on a business trip in Ohio and I bought a can. Well you guys know the story from there. Welcomed a new addition to the family last week so I am recommitting. Im 2.5 days and back to where I started. Good luck to all…reading your posts helps.
NIAS…get yourself some Smokey Mountain “fake” chew which was the best alternative to the real stuff that I found. Your “quit” is a long-term process and while the fake stuff won’t eliminate the oral fixation, it will help you through the nicotine cleansing phase. My other remedies were bacon bits and Jack Link’s shredded jerky. Within a week, you’ll be past the physical component of quitting which is a major step. After that, you’ll need to work on the psychological phase which can be just as difficult though, at that point, you’re halfway home to emancipation. Take it from me – as a dipper of some 30 years – the reward is well worth the process…just stay the course and you will prevail!
Damn! 4 cans a day? I see we got some heavy users in here. I did a can a day for 30+ years. In any case the quit is tough aint no sugar coating it. Any fool can get hooked, it takes a real tough person to quit this dreadful crud, but you gotta want it, don’t be thinking in the back of your head “I quit, but I am going back in a couple of weeks or months after all my shit is healed” Make sure you are quitting for yourself and no one else and don’t lie to yourself, its over and that’s that. That’s my 2 cents for the day.
Day 120
May not be a great solution, but I recommend Costco brand nicotine gum, the 4mg variety. I chew two pieces at a time. It will at least get you past the first several days of chemical withdrawal, change habits, and change oral fixation, then decrease the nicotine load over time. I’ve dipped for about 15 years now and got to the point of dipping a can of pouches at work and a can of snuff driving/at home every day. I had my gum reconstructed last year and quit the same way by using the gum but relapsed due to stress from work. Optimistic about this go round. My dad quit the same way after dipping for over 40 years. I find the Costco gum better than Nicorette because it gives me fewer hiccups. And it’s about half the price. Good luck to you all. You’ll be better off without it than you are with it.
Day 5
been dipping regularly since my sophmore year in highschool but have been smoking cigs way before that, am 26 now…the army was the reason i upped my dipping and less cigs due to my horrible run time lol but the first 2 days was cake! The third day hit me hard! I thought i was going to die! Body shut down, felt super sick body was weak…after a day of that i started to regain stregnth but now my stomach is killing me and have a bad case of the runs…not hungry at all just a lot of stomach pain! Perobably cuz i am also refusing to use any fake dip or nicotine patches or nicotine gum…trying to rid my body of it all! All i use is trident gum which is ok but not at all a great alternative…discipline and mental toughness is what i am trying to prove to myself. I know im strong enough…i just need to show myself what i am capable of..just like the army has done for me…goodluck everyone! We can do this!!!
first day quitting after dipping for 7 years and i feel like my mind is set, i dont need this garbage in my life anymore. i always made up excuses about quitting and tried to push it back but i had a moment of clarity that if i dont stop theres a good chance it might kill me down the line. only been 18 hours since last dip and i feel like my gums are begging for a chew
On day 22. Been chewing since I was 15 and am now 37 and have been experiencing longer bouts of sore throats and gum bleeding. I really need to quit. I used my holiday trip to Asia to aid in quitting as I knew it was pretty much impossible to find there so I went with only a few days worth of chew. Now back in the USA and cravings seemed to have intensified since I see it now in the stores. ugh…I’m trying my best not to slip up. Even though my mouth/throat hasn’t felt this good in who knows how long, still battling the cravings. This site is great though…
Hang in there man I am on day nine of tobacco free. I too was a ball player and did FOUR cans a day and chewed for 24 years. I promise it will get easier the first three days are hell. This site gave me encouragement to know what I was going throw was normal and that I was not alone
I decided tonight to quit dipping after 10+ years. I know tomorrow is going to be tough because dipping is my “hobby” while I drive and I drive a lot for work. Any recommendations as an alternative to dip while I drive.
I can already see that I’m going to need you guys, because my family doesn’t know I have this terrible habit.
Been since midnight on New Years. I’ve dipped since I was 14 and now am 52. Have been in that fog since Friday but coming out of it. Lots of Fake Mint chew and gum. I will do this!
This is the close of the second day for me. I have been chewing on and off for 17 years but never had the will to stay quit. Truthfully though it hasn’t been too hard yet except for the cravings in the morning with a cup of coffee. Wish me luck if I don’t succeed this time who knows if I ever will
Ex-baseball player who after 23 years of chewing 2-3 cans a day I quit in the first. I fell like in in the 2nd level of hell. I’ve quit once before and madd the horrible mistake of throwing one chew in and then back to the norm. I’m am struggling beyond belief. Any suggestions? I feel like my body is tearing apart from the inside out.
Day 119
Back to Work.
Day 4……….. chewed for 18 years, can a day for maybe the first 12 and then two a day for the last 6. it’s been tough, maybe not as bad as I was expecting but I feel like I lost a buddy. I know it sounds nuts but it’s true. There through thick and thin, never judged, never gave me any hassle. Good luck to all, keep the chins up!
Husband is on day 3! We’re trucking along ,things are getting a lil crabby and irritable but I’m staying low key ,and very supportive, I know it’s just his body re wiring it’s self.
Unfortunately Joe, the nicorette gum is a cave. I realize it isn’t a Tin, but is nicotine nine the less.
Hit the reset button, and refrain from the nicotine. I know stress is a definitely a time the body was the chemical, but you beat the crave!
Good luck!
I never caved in and bought a can but I did throw a piece of nicotine gum in my mouth that I’ve had in hand for the last year! Popped that sucker in about two hours ago when my wife decided to crawl up my ass and wanna try my fucking patience!
Well, the weekend came to an end, I hope all you new quitters did not cave in. Laters.
Well here we go, not my first time quitting (atleast attempting) but definitely my last time. Iv been dipping since i was 14, but using nicotine since i was probably 12. started with me taking cigerettes from my mom, then stealing pinches of my dads dip when he wasent looking. then during my dads first deployment my mom kept giving my cans to do chores, and iv been a can a day dipper ever since, and heck if its a stressful enough day i might do a can in a half but never much more then that. Iv always really looked up to my dad, and still really do hes a big reason i think this is going to work, he took me to a tobacco sensation class when he found out i was still chewing at 16 and he quit for good but i only made it to about 2-3 months, hahaha still makes me laugh that it took me starting to get him to quit. but now here i am at 22 and married ready to start my own family, but i dont want this addiction to be a part of me or my family any more so here it goes guys, my last time quitting.
Just hit the begining of day three but the real test is beating this week
Day 1-5…. wow, I’m miserable!
Day 7. Had my wisdom teeth out last week and used it as an excuse to quit. Really helped me through the first three days as I was sleeping for most of it. I don’t feel the fog too bad anymore but my mind is telling me that I have no other reasons to quit. No wife or kids. Just mind games but it’s tough. My resolve is still strong.
Way to go Joe, keep it up. One more day and all the nicotine in its entirety will be gone from you, get ready for the mind games. Use the timeline at the top of this thread so you know what to expect. Keep posting as well, Good Luck.!
Day two is coming to a close..
All of you new dudes are doing great, keep it up. It is a brand new year and all that nasty shit is behind us all. Do not make those tobacco companies any richer, kick the can for good. For Bridgett, arm yourself with lots of patience and turn him in to this site, it has helped a lot of people, even the most hardcore nicotine addicted people. Stay cool.
Day 117
So my husband decided to stop dipping about a week ago. I find it really hard to deal with him right now, but I want to be supportive. Does anyone have any suggestions on what I can do or say to him?
Hi Bridgett – check out the Spousal Support section for some helpful info: https://www.killthecan.org/community/spousal-support/
Bottom line… just be there for him. It’ll be rough and whether he admits it nor not, he’s scared.
Day 26. Feelings of hatred, self loathing, irritability, stress, depression and tension are slowly dissipating. I still haven’t had a good nights sleep since day 1. I chewed Cope LC, and or Cope So.Blend 1.5-2 cans per day. Dipped/chewed/and or smoked for 17 years.
Ok….well I’m 39. I started chewing a can a week when I was 18. I then started smoking a pack a week. I went into the Marine Corps where tobacco was the norm. I smoked when I could and dipped when we couldn’t smoke. I eventually gave up chew for a few years but still smoked. During the next 20 years I tried to quit probably two dozen times and didn’t last too long. I finally gave up smoking almost 6 years ago (right before my second child was born). I was nicotine free for about 5 months but that all changed when I bummed a chew during a softball game. My wife had been on my case because it turned into an almost 1 can a day habit! I know it is disgusting but to me, it was my thing and it helped me just relax. I’ve never liked to set a date to quit in the past because it never worked. When I did quit smoking I did it with 3 cigarettes left. When I knew it was time I had to have a conversation with the remaining smokes. I ended up having a break up just like in real life. I told them that my family hates you, your expensive, smell like shit and I can’t continue….. I put them in the door of my truck and left them there. 3 weeks later I was cleaning out my truck and found them. I told them that I thought it was clear that we were done. I crumpled them up and tossed them in the garbage….never had one since. But like I said, the chew came back..over the last week I told myself I would quit on New Years Eve…I finished my last dip at 11:55 pm and haven’t had one since! It’s been just less than 24 hours and the only 24 hours that I haven’t bought a can in the last 5 1/2 years! It has been a rough day but I know I can get through it. I need to…sorry if this is a long post.
Day 7
Yep, the best thing to do is go see the dentist, that will give you peace of mind. There a lot of new folks in this thread, it is good to see. Keep it up and post yalls quit in here, several of us did and we are still hanging around past the 100 day mark. Have a great New Years Eve.
Day 115
Day 6, throat is sore, I still have swelling around my ‘Inferior Labial Frenulum’ which can’t really be seen when looking, only I can feel it. Fog is still pretty strong, slight nausea when I eat sometimes, a bit panicky not knowing what this swelling is in my lip but seeing a dentist for an X-ray on the 6th.
Thanks JP, day 21 and going strong!!!
WEPDOC…couldn’t say it better, well put!
Glad to see you still slugging away too!!
-JP
Happy new year quitters.
And to those that are about to start, fuck yeah; you can do it. Don’t be a wuss and type it in here. It takes a bigger man to quit, anyone can follow course and die of their addictions, we all want to, but the toughest part is to actually do without it. Are we man enough to do it?
Yes the mind will punish you, nicotine produces dopamine in your brain, which is what gives that euphoric feeling, the brain craves that chemical and will do anything to get it. Dopamine can be produced by other safer routes as it is a natural chemical in your brain, exercise being one of them!!! Don’t give in water does help and exercise, double pay off, get rid of the crap habit and get buff all at once, win win
20 hours nicotine free and my fucking throat hurts. It feels like there’s nothing that’s gonna make it better. I’m gonna do this though. I’m gonna make it!
Hang in there Jacob!
GooseFoose, definitely…sleep pattern is askew at the early stages of the quit. Totally normal, good news, it will pass, hang in there.
Austin..ahhh yes, the mind games. I spent a lot of time on the site, reading as much I could from others doing the same thing. Even reached out to people, most are receptive. That kept my mind away from my normal habit…excersise helps too.
Up Top Down Low, I remember a lot of those symptoms you outlined. Excess shaking, Fog, the occasional shits….all part of the cleaning out of nicotine. Your body and mind wants to punish you for not giving it that drug…This Too, Shall Pass.
The dead molar, sores in the mouth…I would pop into the dentist and let them have a peak, just to set “that part of the quit”, aside. I went in and seen mine within a few weeks into my quit. It helped my worries.
You guys hang in there, all this stuff you’re dealing with is short lived…so long you stay the course and continue your quit(s). As it says above, give yourself the 100 Day challege. I promise you, you make it to 100, you WILL be free.
Also, I am a big believer in using the fake chews in the beginning, if you absolutely feel the need to have a dip. Trust me, it makes things easier in the beginning…just be sure there is NO Nicotine in it….got to be done with that bullshit!
You guys keep fighting!!
-JP
Day #534/Free of that shit
Day three nicotine free for me. Dipped for twenty years up to four tins a day. Saying lots of prayers God is helping me through this. Definitely one of the most difficult things to go through. But Praise The Lord I am getting through
Day 5 here.
2 rather large sores down in the front of my lip/gum ( this is normal? ) and the fog/dizzy , slight sickness when I eat and the diarrhea. Bit shaky too but no craving really. I decided to quit when I noticed I had a dead molar turning black, and realized I didn’t want to lose my teeth. Sleeping much earlier and brushing 2-3 times daily.
22 years old and been dipping since 17/18 to quit smoking.
Hello everyone names Austin im 18 and I’m on my third day from going cold turkey after 2 years of dipping. I’m busting my self cause of the mind games that plays them self out while quiting but I have told myself I’m done so enough was a enough for me.
Beginning of Day 4. Anyone else’s sleep pattern all fucked up?