I QUIT

Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
MesquiteMan

MesquiteMan

Retired Head Moderator
Joined
Oct 18, 2005
Messages
5,678
Location
San Marcos, TX, USA.
I quit
























Now some of you don't get too excited, I am not quitting as the moderator!

I have been dipping Skoal smokeless tobacco for the last number of years. I finally got sick and tired of it so today, I officially kicked the can! It is not easy and I am "cheating" a little buy using the nicotine patch but I am confident that I will make it. Any words of encouragement over the next month or so would be appreciated!

I know this is completely irrelevant to pen making in any way, shape, or form but IAP is part of my extended family. They say one of the keys to quitting is telling all your friends and family so that you will have someone to be accountable to.

Anyway, I will try to not be extra grumpy over the next few days!
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
Good for you. I quit smoking 23 yrs ago. But I still chew toothpicks or wood slivers. I just tell everyone "its a good source of fiber" I even carry a toothpick holder with me so I don't run out. Its much better than chew. Stay with it, U can do without the dip
 
Congratulations! If I may make a suggestion? Being a quitter is a negative thought, I was proud to call myself a non-smoker...14 years ago. I bragged about it and I felt much more positive about it.
You are on the right track. keep up the good work, we wont let you stop til you are a non pincher.
 
I made the same statement, in 1993.

Haven't had an alcoholic drink since.

But, it was the third try--any "habit" can become "addictive" they say. I wish you determination. Luck has nothing to do with it.

Make the choice and stay with it, Curtis. Your health is worth the "pain". Can't live without it for the rest of your life?? How about for the next ten minutes??? Then, the next ten minutes??? ETC, That's how you win.

Good determination!!!
 
Good for you.

I gave up smoking 10 years ago. Did it cold turkey. Take it one day at a time, I knew if I made it one day that I could make it another day that was over 10 years ago. I could not believe how much more work I got done with out stopping for a smoke.

I know you can do it. One day at a time.
 
Good for you Curtis! I agree with Ed...it's not luck. Make up your mind, tell others, ask somebody significant to you to hold you accountable, ask for divine help, and stay the course. You absolutely can do it!
 
Curtis, I smoked 2 1/2 to 3 packs a day, and smoked from the age of 16, 2 1/2 years ago after 50 years of inhaling, coughing, smelling like a skid row tramp I quit with the help of Chantix. I still at times out of the clear blue find myself wanting a cigarette but just the smell now repels me. Go for it, it will be the best thing you do for your family.
 
Curtis,
This method of success is FOOLPROOF......
I used to smoke. My mother in law blurted out in front of the whole world that I didn't have the willpower to quit. That was all it took. I dumped the cigarettes that day - and the mother-in-law shortly thereafter. They were a package deal.
Strength comes from strange places !
Good luck..
Bob
 
Congrats Curtis! I was thinking you weren't going to make cactus blanks anymore. I was thinking I only have a couple left and better load up.
 
Good for you Curtis. I quit smoking over 20 years ago. It was tough, but well worth it. I don't know what your habit cost you, but set the money you would have spent on it aside and after being, "chew free" for a year buy something you want just as a reward to yourself!!
 
Good for you Curtis. I was driving to the hospital 22 years ago because my mother had a heart attack. I tossed my pipe and cigarettes out of the window just north of Ft. Worth and it was the best thing I've done. Each day got easier and now I don't even think about smoking anymore.... Seems that I've read 21 days to form a new habit. Not using tobacco is a good habit to form. ...20 days left! I wish you success, my friend.
Do a good turn daily!
Don
 
I smoked a terribly long time but as of Dec. 17 2003 I am a non-smoker.......................................................................Now I drive my habit:biggrin:with the money saved.

If I can do it you sure can.
 
Curtis, I have no experience with quitting smoking, as I've never smoked a cigarrette ever. But about 4 years ago I was being evaluated for a tranplant. My dad was with me, who at the time had smoked for 40 years. They basically told my dad to quit smoking or I couldn't be around him after the transplant. He threw the cigarrettes away then and hasn't had a puff since. He literally can't stand to be around smoke now. I know everyone has the willpower, it's just putting your mind to it. Good Luck!!
 
You are a smart man.

Take the money you would normally spend and save it to buy something really nice at the end of the first twenty one day period. Think of how romantic your wife will find you now that your mouth is clean - you are married aren't you. If you aren't, you will start to attract women.
 
Way to go. You CAN do it. I did the same thing with loosing some weight three months ago; now I am 35 pounds lighter. It won't be easy at first, but will be worth the effort. Like others have said, make up your mind and do it
 
Stay with it. As a psychotherapist who uses hypnosis to help people who want to kick nicotine, let me offer a suggestion -- breathe deeply three times, focusing on the exhale, not the inhale, lift your eyes up to the ceiling (your eyes, not your head) and KEEP THEM OPEN UNTIL THEY BURN. Then, lower your eyelids slowly. It stimulates your parasympathetic nervous system and should help relieve any physical craving.

Not telling you what to do, just a condensed $95 therapy session for free. Take it or leave it.

Good luck!
Doug
 
Curtis, hooray for you. It is a step that you are a leader in taking. There are a bunch of us that really support you is this. Glad you could "just do it".
I suppose this means an extra tobacco will show up as a pen blank or something!!!
Good luck,
Gordon Kincheloe.
 
I am new here, but I just wanted to say WAY TO GO!! It is always far better to kick the can than to kick the bucket.
 
Thats Great Curtis! Good for you. I have no doubts you will be successful. Someone who puts out the work and blanks you do can do anything they put their minds to.
 
Take it from someone who lost his father to lung cancer, I am happy that you are on you way of kicking the habit. I just can't stand the smell of tobacco smoke. We'll be encouraging you all the way. Congratulations!
 
Curtis,

That's great news. I know the difficult part will be sticking with it but you seem to be a guy who can do anything that you make up your mind to do!

John
 
Good luck!!! I quit several years ago for 10 months and started back because my family kept teling to start back because I was hard to live with!!! LOL
I also used the patch and it did help.
Hang in there My Freind!
JIM
 
OK, after looking for some nitro pills to get the ticker going, I read he rest of the post. Hang toug Curtis, you will never regret this decision. We are all pulling for you.
 
Chris best of luck on quiting! I smoke for 42 yrs 1.5 pack per day I decided to quit on my birthday nov 10th 2009 yes I went on chantix also for 8 weeks then stop the drug . Listen you can do it just keep your mind from it first 2 weeks will be the toughest.What i did was find other things to do , I figure I wasted about 2 hrs. of my life daily sitting there and just smoking not accounting for the money save, So far $ 1,500.00 and all that money bought me my tools/lathe/drill press etc. Not counting how i feel today breathing better, i can really hold my breathe for a long long time,your skin will look much better, "just keep telling yourself that tobacco is not my friend" and every day it gets easier, so best of luck !!!!! Louie
 
Last edited by a moderator:
I certainly hope you're successful! I have considered stopping myself but haven't taken the "dip" plunge. And now that you've kicked the can, don't go looking out in the weeds for it!
 
Curtis,
By getting a little help from a nicotene os not a crime, I used the patch
when I quit cigarettes back in 94. The key to quitting is having the want
to or no matter what you use if the will not there, won't happen, those
are the words from my Dr. not me. Wish you the best of luck.
Al
 
Hey Curtis, stick to it no matter how hard it is or will get. Just think of the money you will be saving plus better health. Your kids and grandchildren will help you through the hard times.
 
Good for you!!!! I chewed any and every type of tobacco I could get my hands on for over 20 years. Never smoked and don't do booze, but I definitely had an extreme chewing habit....2 cans a day.

One day a co-worker walked up to me, said: "here Rick, take a look what chewing has done for me," and pulled down his bottom lip. I could see the roots of his teeth. His gums were completely eaten up with cancer, and he died a year later. That was almost the last chew I ever took.

Basically, I quit that day, but I never quit carrying a fresh can with me which was a bit obsessive, but it was my security blanket. I went for 9 months without a chew, then I got called on night in February for a 24,000,000 pound grain train...I'm a locomotive engineer or was then. About halfway between my starting point and my destination, my stress levels were at the extreme edge because of the problems to my train brake system due to extreme cold temperatures. Also my dynamic brakes weren't working.

I grabbed my can of copenhagen out of my grip, put in a huge lip full and hoped I would calm down. Instead, according to the conductor, I literally turned green, doubled over and lost my lunch several times on the floor of the locomotive. The conductor had to take over running the train, and he wasn't a trained engineer, but we made it.

I have never had another craving for a chew since that night, and that was over 30 years ago.

I hope you don't go through the same thing I did while quitting that nasty stuff. Just get a visual of my friend lying in a bed, with no bottom teeth, no gooms and weighing less than 90 lbs because of the cancer that literally ate him alive because of some silly but deadly chewing tobacco.

Good Luck and find a friend to help you get through the tough stuff.

Rick (mtgrizzly52)
 
I quit in 1981. Was doing 2 packs a day for 16 years. Told some people I was having lunch with that today was a significant day and sometime I would tell them why as I finished my last Marlboro and extinguished it in the ashtray. Have never touched one since.

I realized then that I am a cigarette/nicotine JUNKIE. I am addicted to this substance. Even as I type decades later my finger tips tingle. I feel the cigarette between my index and middle fingers with my arm hanging out the car window. I feel it just as if it were happening right now. I will not physically touch a tobacco product under any circumstances.

You see when I stopped I made a deal with myself. I knew that I was killing myself smoking cigarettes. My morning cough was sending me a strong message... you are committing slow suicide. The prospect of trying quit and failing, trying to quit and failing etc. was horrible to me. So I made this pact... I will never ever smoke a cigarette again and if I ever do, I will smoke until I am dead.

So far I have stayed the course and stayed clean from this curse for almost 30 years. But I know that the struggle is NOT over. It is much easier today than it was... but I can fall anytime. So I am always careful and wary of tobacco.

That's my story.

Curtis, you are very strong and you have my highest admiration for many reasons. I wish you the very best of luck and if you ever feel like you are going to fall off the path... ping me and I will help you stay the course.

Cigarette smokers... you might try what I did... I went to the University of Chicago Medical School and looked at lungs in jars... a smokers lung... black and a non smokers lung... pink. It is visually stunning. You will never forget what you see. And know that within 5 years your black lung will become pink. You will never recover the air sacs that you destroyed but you can save most of the ones you haven't killed. It takes 5 years.
:cool::cool::cool:
 
Signed-In Members Don't See This Ad
Congrats Buddy,
Glad you kicked the can. If you need anything Im about 30 min away.

I really dont know how bad the cravings for tabacco can get but I do understand how a trip rounding up cactus or Mesquite may get it off your mind. My Grandfather Died of throat Cancer brought on by smoking. He was a great craftsman and the world cant afford to lose another one, and a good guy.

Just give me a call if you need anything......
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top Bottom