Hello FriendoBill -

I ran across one of your posts from last month. Just wondering how you are getting along.

I am using the pouch to satisfy my need for nicotine. I haven't had a smoke for 8 weeks and 1 day. Overall things are going well but I am concerned that I am becoming addicted to the pouches where my intent was to decrease the intake of nicotine until going cold turkey. I missed my target date of July 1st. 

Oh well, at least I'm on the right track with my smoking. 

My latest addiction is chocolate milk. Better than vodka and a lot cheaper. My sugar cravings are overwhelming at times, and I have gained 2" in my waist. I'll deal with this later.

I can say that my life couldn't be better. I have much to be grateful for and look forward to each day that I am on this earth. Good health, wonderful marriage and happy to be sober for almost 5 years. I stay busy and enjoy my free time in retirement. 

I believe I will remain smoke-free this time. I now know how badly I was fooling myself into thinking that I needed to smoke, it really did nothing for me except rob me of my health and money. I feel so much better physically and exercise daily. 

Just a quick note to check in. Let me know how you are doing these days. Love to hear from you.

Good day,

Andrew

Hi Candrew, I love the positivity, and I am sure from your current attitude that when you decide to get rid of the pouches completely and for good - you will be able to do so.

Well done Andrew - I am so happy for you.  8 Weeks is a solid foundation.  Keep on building, you are doing great.!!!

Hey X

How are you doing?

I remember a reply of yours last month. It had to do with my use of the pouches. Going on 11 weeks no-smoke I am still sucking on them. I know that the only way I am going to truly lick this addiction is eliminating all forms of nicotine 100%. This is absolutely true. 

I am using them almost as compulsively as my 2 pack a day habit was. I like the charge I get from them much like the Marlboro Red's gave me. That coupled with my excessive coffee intake, I sail thru the day in a hyperactive manner. Although I don't see this as a problem, I do think it could affect my no-smoke commitment when I stop using the pouches.

Lori asked me to lookup "No Man's Land" on Google. It has to do with a critical time like my 2 months abstinent. People can get complacent and find themselves thinking of having just one after a brief period of quit. I have been fighting this mindset with my mantra "I just don't smoke anymore" PERIOD. i experienced some big-time stress the night before last and had considered getting a pack. Considered is the key word. I will not jeopardize my progress on a whim. It's too important for me to fail this early in the game. 

Again, continued use of nicotine is likely to end in relapse because the pouches are not anything like the real Macoy. Of course, I think about the "pleasure" that I experienced with a cigarette but as Allen Carr says cigarettes do absolutely nothing for you. 

I need to remember this. 
 

Take care 

Good day,

Andrew

Hi Andrew

Congratulations on two months! that is a big achievement. Lori can advise better than I about the pouches, since I quit cold turkey. I have had the exact same thoughts as you not only at the 2 moths period but for a while after. I also considered. But I didn't buy them. I waited the cravings out. these cravings lessened over time to the point that I have not had one for at least 4 months..

I'm not sure about relapsing on cigarettes because of the pouches, people just get addicted to the pouches, however I can tell you this about Nicotine:

The 'Charge' that you get from the nicotine is a reaction for Nicotine's action on the brain. It is both a relaxant and a booster at the same time. And the 'booster' you feel is the Nicotine molecule creating  'fight or flight' neurological signal in the brain. That is why your heart starts beating faster when you take nicotine.

When the body is in Fight or flight mode, it dumps a bunch of cholesterol into the body, which in real flight or flight situation will be used and consumed quickly, giving the animal the boost of energy it needs in such a dangerous situation. Except when you smoke a cigarette you are not sprinting or fighting anyone. You are sitting. What happens? the cholesterol that was not consumed is deposited in your arteries. It builds up. And as if that was not enough, Nicotine molecule hardens the gunk lining your arteries now. Add to that the fact that your heart is working harder than it should because of nicotine making it beat faster than it should, and as a consequence your arteries also work to hard and lose their flexibility over time, and there you have a perfect recipe for a heart disease. Nicotine is a dangerous, deadly chemical, a drop of which will kill you on the spot. If possible, don't put this poison into your body... Try to wean your self. If you have cravings still even with. the pouches, then you might as well have them without nicotine replacement.

All the best, and im here for you.

Hey X-

Great post. I learn a lot from your knowledge of the effects that smoking has on our physical self. You should have been a doctor. 

You know, I think I need the pouches.  It's a mind game that I play with myself. I firmly believe that I would do fine without them but I'm fearful that stopping will result in a relapse with cigarettes. 

All the consequenses that you descibe should be enough to convince even a hard headed addict like myself. In the past I have been known to take incredible risks that potentially could have landed me in jail or even worse dead. And I'm not talking about just driving drunk. Maybe more on that later. 

I have been on 8mg pouches since starting them 2 1/2 months ago. The store didn't have any 8mg so I bought 6's. Probably a good opportunity to throttle back and continue a downward path to minimizing the strength to 5 then 4 and then a wimpy 2. You can tell that I am still not really willing to make a decision today knowing that if I am going to make the change to 0mg I better be commited or I will stay on the same path. 

I very much want to take care of this problem. I am approaching 70 and do not wish to be smoking for the rest of my life. Some of my long-time friends are still smoking and don't express the need to quit, not a good influence on this guy. I am scared to think that I can't consider myself worthy enough of this change. I have overcome other addictions with sucess and it should not be any different this time. 

My attitude is incredible. Never before have I felt this powerful to make a change, for the rest of my life. But as they say in AA,  nothing can be for the rest of ones life, it's a day by day affair and the commitment must come every day that we wake up alive and free from <what ever>. 

Again thanks for you realistic response. There is no reason to continue smoking as I value my life like never before. 

Good day,

Andrew

Hi Andrew,

Are there 0mg pouches that you can wean yourself down to, maybe in another brand? I never used them, so maybe a dumb question, but we can trick our minds to a degree. I never tried pouches, the patch, or gum because none of them seemed anything like smoking. I used an ecig with nicotine when I started, and the last 3 months without any nicotine. So, no nicotine, no flavor, but I find it helpful.

I'm not recommending that to you, as everyone has their own preferences and every quit is different (like a snowflake). A big part of my addiction was based on hand & month movement. When we could smoke in bars, I chain smoked. I played with the cigarette, the pack, my lighter, anything related to the process.

But my point is if your mind is convinced the pouch is a replacement for tobacco, maybe it doesn't matter what's in the pouch.

Best to All,

Paul   

JavaNY-

Hey, I was only kidding.  There is no such thing as a 0mg pouch.

A nicotine pouch is definitely a substitute for the nicotine found in cigarettes. It just doesn't require the combustion that a lit cig has. All the same stuff in a different form. 

I agree that the hand to mouth routine was important to me. But the real reason that I smoked was the power of nicotine addiction. Much like heroin. crack, meth or any other drug; the addict's insatiable appetite for nicotine dominates all rational logic. I remember one sub-zero night in Minnesota when I drove 30 miles in a snowstorm to get a pack of smokes. Crazy but true. 

Pouches are nicotine just like cigarettes, but they just don't have the perceived pleasure that a cigarette does. Plus, pouches don't contain most of the harmful ingredients found in cigs that cause cancer, heart disease, emphysema and other untold physical issues. Still pouches are not a totally safe way to get nicotine. The only safe thing to do is quit everything. 

I am still a serious nicotine addict and will be until I stop all nicotine use. By prolonging my addiction, I risk going back to full blown smoking. That is something that God knows I do not want. 

Hope this helps in your fight to freedom.

Good day,

Andrew

I had a friend that chewed tobacco. I tried it once. To me it was disgusting, from the taste to the process of spitting it out. 

Night all,

Oh, by the way, pouches are not chewed, they are placed between the gum and inner lip.

and provide the nicotine through the skin much like chewing tobacco.

Just thought I would clarify for you.

Good day ,

Andrew