Any advice on quitting tobacco?

[Recursion]

I've been using smokeless tobacco for 10 years. Something clicked today; I threw away a half-full tin and I don't want to use it anymore.

Anybody have any advice on how to stick with this?

[gratuitous]

1. Try everything you can think of

You're battling one of the major leagues of addiction. Don't get down on yourself if you backslide or use again. Try gum, patches, carrot sticks, rubber bands on your wrist. Change your personal habits to avoid the occasions when you would use. Enlist the help of friends, loved ones, relatives, the bum on the street corner. Try hypnosis. Pray. Whatever it takes. Repeat daily affirmations to the mirror. Write yourself little post-it notes that you are now an ex-tobacco user. If you feel like you have to use, give yourself 60 seconds to consider the decision. Keep a calendar. Keep a journal. Total up what you used to spend on tobacco, and keep a running score. Treat yourself to a gift when you reach a certain level. Try everything. This is a tough one.

Good luck, and good for you. Cheat those tobacco industry bastards.

[rurallib]

2. I stopped smoking by taking @10 deep breaths when I had an urge

but I have no idea if that would work with the smokeless stuff.
Best of luck. Don't give in!

[begin_within]

3. My sister used the "patch" method and it worked for her

I think it's a series of 3 patches, with each one having a lower level of nicotine, then finally after you're done with the 3rd one your body doesn't crave nicotine nearly as much, then it's easier to get off it all together. I can only say second-hand that my sister used that method and it worked for her.

[Bennyboy]

4. Learn to JUGGLE!

every time you think of having a ciggy, play with your balls.....

[KG]

5. you've thrown away a half a tin, now don't buy anymore.

i know it's atypical, but i've been a smoker in the past, and when i've wanted to quit i've just stopped.

wish it was that easy for everybody.

[Tikki]

6. Yes...that is an excellent way to quit....and it...

isn't like you can just bum a pinch off just anybody.

Time to accept the fact...you have outgrown and are no longer just
wanting that tobacco...Happens all the time..

I quit 6 years ago...

Tikki

[Tobin S.]

7. The best advice I got regarding quitting tobacco is

If you fall off the wagon, hop right back. I quit smoking in April of '08, fell of the wagon 2 months later, but hopped right back on and I've been free of tobacco ever since. I feel so much better and I'm no longer controlled by an addiction.

[dembotoz]

8. cold turkey worked for me

and the threat from the woman who became the love of my life that she could never become serious
with a man who smoked.

[wysimdnwyg]

9. What worked for me...

I used candy, but anything that is easy to eat will work - including foods that are largely not bad for you. I found the best thing was suckers, because you not only get the oral fixation part, the stick is a reasonable facsimile of holding the cigarette. Of course, since you used smokeless tobacco, something like gum might work better. (Not nicotine gum, just regular gum.)

[VaYallaDawg]

10. Cold turkey worked for me too, after smoking 38 years.

Best friend was quitting at the same time, he got hypnotized. We found it helped a lot to have somebody else in the same boat with each of us.

[ipfilter]

11. Hang in there.

The first few weeks are tough. I used the patch for a few days to wean myself off the psychological addiction and then dealt with the physical addiction cold turkey. I have not used any tobacco for 15 years now and have no desire to ever do so again.

Nicotine is a two part addiction and must be dealt with on both fronts. I found that changing my daily routine helped. My thought processes changed as I no longer used nicotine as a stress crutch. These are subtle things but if you pay close attention to yourself you will pick up on them.

Honestly, I started smoking to get off the Copenhagen. Then it took me a couple of years to get fed up with the cigarettes. The smokeless stuff is very potent. Best of luck to you. I'm living proof it can be done.

[mattvermont]

14. same story here

Cope for 20+ years, then smoked straights for 10. Was having back surgery and decided it was a good time used the chantix for a few months and my dad died of lung cancer while I was quitting. It all came together as a perfect storm for quitting...been free for 1 year and 2 weeks.

[AngryAmish]

12. Every time you have the urge to dip just have a smoke instead

It helps to cut down on the urge to dip.

[old mark]

13. Use any means that you even THINK might work for you - my wife has had

success with the nicotine gum. Best thing is talk with your doctor.

You will be uncomfortable for a few weeks, but yu will be free for the rest of your life.

Good luck - I quit it over 20 years ago.

mark

[Sweet Freedom]

15. Whenever you get the urge...

look up some pictures of mouth cancer. Blech.

[david13]

16. I went to one smokers anonymous meeting. That was 24 years ago.

Both the guys I went with are long since dead.
dc

[astral]

17. it's hard. For some of us.

Just don't give up if you keep relapsing thinking you can't make it. It took me a looooong time, and it's probably 8 yrs ago now. There are still moments, though not too often anymore, when the thought of having a cigarette crosses my mind but I know now staying quit for me is the only answer.

Don't give up, change your routine, drink lots of pure water, start taking bunches of vitamin C. Extra b complex isn't bad for the nerves, either.

[kimi]

18. I don't know if it would work with smokeless tobacco

but a good friend had qualifiable success with Chantix. She'd been a smoker forever, and backslid once, but has stuck with it. Problem is, it's a prescription med, don't know personally if it would work with other than cigarette smoking, and it has some side effects. Whatever you do, good luck! And know that life is so much more enjoyable with your health, your stamina, and your outlook when you are tobacco-free.