This sub helped me realize I’m not insane

I am coming off two cans of 6mg daily. Typically I’d put five to six pouches in at a time. I’ve done that for two years. Before this, I’ve been a daily nicotine user for 15 years and dipped a can of grizzly wintergreen a day.

Recently I’ve started to experience physical and emotional issues in life. I was reaching out to doctors, therapists, even a pastor because I thought I was going insane. For background, I have six years sober through the AA program so I like to think I have a pretty good grasp on reality and my emotional state.

I stumbled upon this sub and saw some of the symptoms everybody else was experiencing. High blood pressure, chest pain, anxiety, 110 resting heart rate, and general lethargy.

I finally said I’m done. This stuff is toxic on so many levels. It’s cunning because it feels “safe” and the convenience factor. I became a junky. It no longer was just popping a quick pouch and going about my day. I had to stop what I was doing and throw some in and isolate myself. Insanity.

I have five days. To be frank, I’m using nicotine patches to ease the withdrawal symptoms while visiting with the family for Christmas. I wanted to use the time away from work to get the process started.

-lots of water -meditating -telling myself I have no choice but to quit due to health issues -I’m taking husk fiber so I can actually shit -I let my family know to not take anything personal while I quit -I have a bad habit of setting expectations and putting too much on myself when adjusting a behavior. In the past instead of easing off zynns I would say “ok I’ll quit zynns and while I’m at it, I’ll cut out caffeine and sugar” which of course is not the most effective way to go about it

So far I feel A LOT better. The heart and nervous system feel so much more relaxed. I couldn’t turn off that fight or flight response at the end of using them which I know was only five days ago. Every little sound would set off my heart and make me jump. Fuck these things.

I never want to fall back into being a slave to them.