Ditching the Dip

[406dn]

Both of my parents smoked. That was enough for me to know I wanted no part of a nicotine addiction. I got enough second hand smoke, hopefully not too much.

Good luck to all trying to kick the addiction. Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances there is.

 

[pre6422hornet]

I quit back in 1995. My 17 year old brother was just diagnosed for the second time with cancer ( first time colon as a 12 year old, second time in the lungs).

My mom called me at college and asked me to quit the day after his diagnosis. I was only 21 and had been chewing skoal and redman for the better part of 6 years. I was playing college baseball and I admit I loved chewing. Coming back from class with a USA today I would sit on my couch, put a wad of redman in, and read the paper. I miss it today but I am glad I stopped. I threw out or gave away all I had 5 minutes after we hung up the phone and haven't touched it since.

My brother passed away 6 weeks later from the second diagnosis at 18 years old.

 

[Sytes]

'12 quit chew from most my life. Garrett and Cope.
While a quadriplegic, work buddy came to see me. He popped his lid of cope for a dip and I begged him to man up and put a pinch in my lip.
He did so and not more than a minute passed I was crying like a school kid! Haha!
Called for my nurse, told her what I did, and how my body reacted... nerves firing like mad hell.
She replied, Well if the don't teach you... and walked out. Haha! Buddy pulled it from my lip.
I have a can to this day marked something to the effect, Good through Dec '12. Sits in my work drawer. Picked it up one day, took a tiny pinch, and that's that. I keep it as a life moment for many reasons.

No desire. Well... I dig the smell of a Cope can lifting and yammer how it would be good though far from trying again.

 

[BackofBeyond]

Here in CO we have a state-run Quit Line, paid for by tobacco tax so all services are FREE for the asking. They provide counseling, gum, lozenges, patches, 24-7 counseling. Your Dr. will happily prescribe medicine to reduce nicotine cravings if you ask. Quitting nicotine is challenging for most people. Research says every additional tool you add from the list above doubles your chance of succeeding in kicking this habit. Which is beyond bad, it is often fatal.

I dipped for about 5 years in my early 20s, quit cold turkey. That was the 1st of my bad habits to go . 40 years later I still dream of taking a dip, then trying to figure out how to get rid of it for the rest of the dream. But I haven't relapsed (never say never).

Good tip. Just checked to see if ID has something similar, and they do. Just signed up for it. We'll see how that goes.

 

[Salmonchaser]

Hardest thing I’ve ever done was quit, for those trying, keep at it. For those who’ve made it, stay at it. I still pat my pockets as if looking for the can after dinner. As often as not I get a Kiss on the cheek. That’s even better than the #1 “Kudu” I’m picking up when I’m home from Alaska!

 

[recon6036]

I chewed for about 30 years. Saw my brother doing it as a teenager and thought it was cool. I can still remember the day I quit cold turkey - Sept 2011. I use to keep my can in the fridge. I woke up, walked to the fridge, and threw my can of chew in the garbage. Haven't chewed since. Weird thing is, up until that moment, I wasn’t even thinking about quitting. Don’t miss it at all.

 

[Fj605]

Quit cold turkey two years ago after 20 yrs of dipping. I didn't want my kids to see me do it so I would only do it at work. One day my can was empty and I didn't have time to run to the store. Figured it was as good a time as ever to give it the boot.

 

[JDH]

The little lozenges worked for me. They're still minty and you can still put one in your lip. As you need less you can break them in half to further reduce your dosage.

 

[shootbrownelk]

I thought dip was cool in high school, I had a few. Then at the gas station one day I bumped into this old local guy who always wore a bandana around his face. The bandana blew up a little in the wind while I was picking up something I'd dropped on the ground and I could see up under there, he was missing half of his lower jaw. My dad told me it was removed because he had cancer from dipping. I don't know if it was true or not, but it cured me cold turkey right there!

One of my friends from high school chewed tobacco for 25+ years, he developed lip cancer inside his lower lip. Had to go for treatments for the cancer (I think they burned it off with a laser) and was all healed up and the cancer gone. I saw him about a year later and he was back to chewing again. I quit cigarettes back in the 80's. I sure don't miss it. I used to smoke 3 packs of Camel straights a day since I was a teen. I saw a pack of Camel straights at WallyWorld the other day...$9.11 a pack! WOW!

 

[deer_shooter]

I quit in March 2003. I started smoking in high school and went back and forth between Marlboro reds and Copenhagen before going mostly just the dip. I was up to a can and a half a day and I remember stopping in the store to get can and it had gone up to $3.50. I paid for it and told my wife that was the last can I'd ever buy. I finished it and haven't had any since. Cold turkey was difficult but took about a week of chewing gum like crazy for the worst of the cravings faded.

 

[mottlet]

Dipped pretty heavy for the ten year stretch between 20 and 30. Was still dipping when I got engaged and she knew better than to try and force a change, but I knew I needed to do something about quitting. Then one Saturday night, I was alone in our apartment in DC and ran outta Skoal and didn't feel like trying to track down a can fresher than a year and a half old in the varying stages of 7-11 decay in that part of the city. I also had the good fortune to be drunk, so I couldn't drive. Figured it was as good a time as any to quit. Haven't touched it since.

Like a bunch of the replies, I still dream about it on occasion. And I always said that once the doc tells me I'm terminal, first thing I'm doing on the way home is getting a log of Skoal straight. Maybe that's true, but I don't put the same conviction into that line as I used to.

 

[Corn king 60]

I started at 14, quit three years ago at 62. Every month I put 150.00 in a jar, saving for another rifle. For me it was all about motivation, and I like #1s

Might be good motivation for me as well. I find passing up a really nice #1 just as hard as trying to quit dipping

 

[Beignet]

I smoked from the age of about 15 to the age of 33 when I started getting serious about the outdoors again. Switched to dip so I could breathe in the hills and did a lot of it for years (griz long cut was my jam).

I switched to ZYN full time for about six months then allowed myself a vice during the initial pandemic lockdowns and started back on the dip (drinking alone and being sad to Patsy Cline or whatever didn’t sound like fun). Quit the chaw again around January this year and am just super addicted to ZYN now! At least dip started hurting your lip a bit at some point when you kept it in all day. I should probably go down to the 3’s and wean myself off of these sometime here soon.

I still buy an occasional can of “vacation dip” from time to time, but find I actually prefer the ZYN anymore.

Long story short, ZYN works well for a lot of folks I know, be they quitting smoke or chew.

 

[wyflyguy]

I've never touched either smokes or chew and am glad for that. I just dropped in to send good vibes and wish you the best of luck. Sounds like you've got lots of support here and good reasons for kicking the habit. Good on you for taking positive steps to improve your health! I'm pulling for you!

 

[jt13]

I smoked from the age of about 15 to the age of 33 when I started getting serious about the outdoors again. Switched to dip so I could breathe in the hills and did a lot of it for years (griz long cut was my jam).

I switched to ZYN full time for about six months then allowed myself a vice during the initial pandemic lockdowns and started back on the dip (drinking alone and being sad to Patsy Cline or whatever didn’t sound like fun). Quit the chaw again around January this year and am just super addicted to ZYN now! At least dip started hurting your lip a bit at some point when you kept it in all day. I should probably go down to the 3’s and wean myself off of these sometime here soon.

I still buy an occasional can of “vacation dip” from time to time, but find I actually prefer the ZYN anymore.

Long story short, ZYN works well for a lot of folks I know, be they quitting smoke or chew.

I have more than one friend who are wayyyy more addicted to ZYN then they were to chew.

 

[Beignet]

I have more than one friend who are wayyyy more addicted to ZYN then they were to chew.

It’s kind of embarrassing how much of this ZYN I go through. I’m guessing my actual nicotine intake was probably far less back when I smoked Reds. But hey, I can walk up a mountain without heaving over and my teeth are rotting at a slightly slower pace from the artificial sweetener in ZYN than from the long cut! To say nothing of the nicotine stressing the old ticker though.

Not to mention that one woman I know said “Oh, so that’s like the vaping equivalent to quitting dip.”

 

[Bowildee]

Some stuff called BacOff and a bad stomach bug worked for me. I had A bad stomach bug for 3 days last year that hit me so hard I couldnt have dipped if I wanted to. After those 3 days I said Hell might as well make it 3 more and so on and so on after that. This first week is the hardest but after that it gets better. It’s mainly just self discipline and dealing with that anxiety for a week or so. Another thing that helped me which was super counter Iintuitive was keeping a can on me. It kept me from being anxious about getting caught without a dip. Not for everyone but it worked for me.

 

[Schaaf]

I buy a bag of red man about 6 times per year to keep me awake at work, but never had cravings for it. I’ve just found that swallowing a mouth full of loose leaf spit wakes me up in a hurry.

Every time I’ve tried Copenhagen it humbled me bad.

 

[TheJason]

I buy a bag of red man about 6 times per year to keep me awake at work, but never had cravings for it.

Yeah, I’ve never felt there was much danger of me getting hooked on Redman. We used to buy about a half a dozen bags of it for trips through the Bob Marshall.

 

[mdhunter]

There are guys that “dip” and guys that “DIP”. My habit, although rather prolonged at this point, is about a can a week. I should just give it up altogether but haven’t got there yet.