Thread: This is it. Giving up the Copenhagen

Something came over me yesterday. I was talking to an old friend who had told me he quit smoking. He was a 3 pack a day smoker. He has been smoke free now for 3 months. During our conversation I just said "Yeah I am giving up the Cope on the 1st".

I didnt even know where it came from, it just came out. My wife and daughter looked at me and i finished my conversation. That was it, nothing else was said by me or my wife about it. I am a 2 can of Cope a day guy. I have been using since I was in high school, so thats almost 25 years.

Today I made lunch for my son and daughter and she looked at me and said "daddy are giving up that yukky stuff"?

I looked at her, at my wife and said "yep" again not even giving it a thought. I have never wanted to give it up until yesterday. I always had anxiety about it but it seems that the anxiety is gone and I want to give it up.

So I went online and placed an order for some mint and herb snuff (a lot cheaper than Cope) kind of made a outline of what I will do and how I will try to get through the first few days. I need to get a week under my belt.

Sitting here now really thinking about my task at hand I am starting to get a bit nervous. Not so much about falling off the wagon but is it too late? Have I created something in my mouth or throat that will show it nasty head just when I think I have beat this? I dont know if this is normal or not but I guess it will give me that much more energy to fight the addiction.

I know there are many of you who smoke or dip or both who have given it up so your words of wisdom are welcome.It seems not long ago I added to a thread about wanting to give up nicotine by. My 2 cents at the time were you need to want to do it or it wont work. I hope I can put that advice to use myself.

So I think once my herb/mint snuff is at the door thats the day I will jump in both feet. It should be at the end of the week.

Thanks so much for taking the time to read this

This will sound ridiculous, but I QUIT smoking when I was 14. I did it then only because I spent all of my gopher money (my sole source of income) on my first Harley. 35 years later I still sometimes, though very rarely, crave a cigarette.

I wish you much strength of resolve on doing this. Bad habits are hard to break and addictions are much worse. When you quit, get rid of it--ALL of it. Temptation is easier to resist when you don't have it on hand. Anytime you walk into a store that has it, if you are remotely tempted then leave the store immediately. Remove yourself from the temptation. If you have friends who still use it, make it clear to them that you NO LONGER DO and that they are not to give it to you and that you'd appreciate it if they don't use it around you. If you are tempted, then think about your wife and kids. If you are still tempted, then think about your wife and kids at your funeral.

Good luck. You know you will need a lot of strength to beat this at least for the first few weeks, and then months and years will get easier.

Thanks Utopian, I had thought of having an emergency can of cope just in case but I know I would open that can in no time. So it is best to not have any in the house at all. Luckily the store that I get my cope from is about a ten minute ride because it is always fresh. I have to go there, its not like I go by the place in my daily driving.

I just love the frankness of your posts.

There is no mincing words. Great!

The mint stuff it pretty darn good. I guess your addicted to nicotine so it "might be a good idea to switch over to lozenges as a first step. You can park one in your check or gum and grind it for a little nicotine hit. I only suggest this because you have a strong habit with the can and the pack and the wad and also the nicotine. Go through a pack of 4mg mint lozenges, then the mint snuff.

Eventually cold turkey is the way to go.

--Shoki

Good luck to you, I also plan on quiting (cigarettes) on the first but unlike you I have a few previous attempts under my belt. Im going to try to ween myself off up to the first so it's not such a shock and get yourself a nice present when you make it through the first month or so.... A nice new razor maybe!

Congratulations on deciding to quit! It CAN be done. I quit smoking after seven years (and many failed attempts to quit).

Just watch those "trigger" times like after a meal, first thing in the morning, etc.. The times you always use tobacco and find something else to do during that time. You need to try to replace your habit with a good habit. It's been about twenty years since I quit and I still have cravings for cigarettes (and marijuana too but that's another story!).

Just get it into your mind that you are done with it, and be definite about it...no compromise! The cravings will come even in your sleep. I remember having dreams that I started smoking again that were so real, I woke up crushed thinking I actually did it.

I will post this reply with a prayer for your strength...good luck!

I quit smoking over a year ago. I started with Chantix and took it for about 3 days, then thought about what I was doing. Basically, I was trying to substitute smoking for something else. I was trying to "cheat", and so I decided to quit cold turkey. It really wasn't that hard for me, as soon as I put my mind to it. Every time I felt a craving, I would start saying outloud to myself "It's poison, it's poison, it's poison..." until the craving passed, which usually took less than a minute.

You can do it, you just have to fight for it.

Originally Posted by goaT

I quit smoking over a year ago. I started with Chantix and took it for about 3 days, then thought about what I was doing. Basically, I was trying to substitute smoking for something else. I was trying to "cheat", and so I decided to quit cold turkey. It really wasn't that hard for me, as soon as I put my mind to it. Every time I felt a craving, I would start saying outloud to myself "It's poison, it's poison, it's poison..." until the craving passed, which usually took less than a minute.

You can do it, you just have to fight for it.

I used to say "Never Ever" over and over again when I was trying to talk myself into some sort of nicotine or tobacco.

Good luck with quitting.. another thing you can do is every time you seem to think about Cope picture your daughter or son. Children can be a great motivator in stopping a bad habit. My uncle stopped smoking cold turkey from being a carton a day smoker ( he was in construction and on average had 5 to 10 cigarettes in his mouth at a time when working ) because his son got sick and the docs told him it was due to nicotine transfer through the skin.

As far as possible future harm I would not worry too much at the moment as your focus should be getting off the stuff and letting your body repair itself.

It is easy for some and hard for others. I first dipped Copenhagen when a tin cost $0.30. The last tin I bought was $6.00. I smoke tobacco pipes quite a bit (I don't inhale) and used to dip the snuff when I was in the tattoo shop and couldn't smoke. We moved to a new location in early October and I decided to give up the Copenhagen at that time.

I just didn't buy it. When I would sit down to do a tattoo at first my mind craved the Copenhagen but it wasn't long before I stopped thinking about it. If it is really bad you could resort to nicotine gum or the patch for a while and "taper off" by using a less potent patch as time goes on. If you don't want to use a nicotine system I would suggest either regular gum or carry a pocket full of hard candy. When you feel a strong urge a piece of hard candy will substitute the oral part of the habit. If you do quit you'll certainly be glad you did once you get through the tough time.