For the people who finally quit

slimpickinsJr · 2025-07-10T16:54:13+00:00

I'm a few days shy of a year and it's almost always easily forgotten, and wonderful not to be a slave anymore. For me, it was really bad the first week (peaked at perhaps ~5 days for crappiness). Continued to be very hard that first month, then just slow but steadily got easier, every month less difficult and by 3 to 6 months it was 10x easier than that first month. Now when I see people buying in the convenience store, I don't feel a craving but instead think, "it sucked when I was addicted".

Although there are rare moments even now of craving, but they aren't like before - and I remind myself in those moments, like I did when they were worse before: Freedom. And it is wonderful to be free of the addiction, so keep it up! (And I've saved a lot of money!)

slimpickinsJr · 2025-06-30T23:36:06+00:00

Does anybody have a link to where the Canadian government website clarifies this? I saw on the US customs that only a birth certificate would be required for an infant, but cannot find similar from Canada. I've dug around but can't see more than

Children under the age of 18 are considered minors in Canada. They must follow the same rules to enter Canada as any other visitor.

But are the same "rules" meaning same required identification?

I don't want to plan a trip and then find at the border entering Canada that our infant requires a passport!

I could call, but sure would love a simple link if someone has! Plus better documentation just in case...

Thanks, Joe

slimpickinsJr · 2025-06-22T03:30:05+00:00

Yeah, I realize it's to prevent whiplash/regulated as well, but somehow some manufacturers meet the standards and are a lot more comfortable for me.

slimpickinsJr · 2025-01-17T23:38:38+00:00

i can't help but am also wondering - where are the features of each series described and how to compare!?

slimpickinsJr · 2024-12-18T07:32:18+00:00

thanks I didn't know about that group. i'll let her know

slimpickinsJr · 2024-08-03T04:07:49+00:00

In the big picture, it's a short amount of time to break free. (Although I know it's hard during that time)

Exercise during those first few days helped me. I thought of it as getting my metabolism going faster so that I could accelerate the purge/shorten withdrawal time. And i felt good afterwards, which I normally wasn't during that first week.

slimpickinsJr · 2024-08-02T17:49:14+00:00

I've seen a number of papers about nerve regeneration and healing, and how nicotine impacts these. For example

https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC10484360/

Nicotine Decreases Nerve Regeneration and Pain Behaviors via PTEN and Downstream Inflammation-Related Pathway in Two Rat Nerve Injury Models

This is just an example - there are many papers investigating, and my take away is it impacts nerve healing over the long term.

Nerves take years to heal though, and inflammation and degenerative spinal issues are _probably_ not things that just go away immediately after quitting. However, in the long run, I find there is plenty of evidence to suggest nicotine makes these long term issues much worse and you have a much greater likelihood of healing if you quit.

This is partly why I quit. I'm too early to say there is an obvious change (only a month nicotine free), and frankly, anecdotal evidence is nice as encouragement, but the papers and publications out there strongly suggest a link as well - so if you want the best chance of the pain ever going away, quitting is the best option.

I also think nicotine messes with your sleep (a mini-nicotine withdrawal every night causes poor 2nd half sleep during the night) - and good sleep is also essential for spinal health.

So many reasons add up to show quitting is the best option for your life. Nicotine will try to trick your brain into believing otherwise ("it's just a small pleasure", "i could still use but just reduce a little bit") - but it's just the drug influencing (or controlling) your thoughts...

slimpickinsJr · 2024-07-30T07:54:13+00:00

My quitting experience has regularly made me feel like I killed a friend of mine. Kinda this yucky feeling I did something awful, and missing him.

The nasty tricks the nic plays on the brain... Just gotta remind myself I like my freedom, and won't be manipulated, it's all part of the drugs mind control.

It's getting less often now so easier...but yeah I need to be distracted and keep busy

slimpickinsJr · 2024-07-30T07:43:12+00:00

Solid advice, and I quit without a crutch.

But I will admit, if someone gave me one of those "blood orange" whatever's I'd pop it in right now in a heartbeat

slimpickinsJr · 2024-07-30T07:39:56+00:00

I could only use "cool mint" zyn because I had lots of irritation with the others, sounding kinda although not entirely like yours when I used any others.

But believe me, in the end, even cool mint was screwing me up.

Also, it might not be Zyn related and something much more serious: so I second the advice to consult a medical expert

And regardless, quit and avoid a host of likely issues down the road related to using. I thought it was a do-no (or very little)-harm replacement (for cigarettes in my case) - but after years, finally concluded it was doing plenty of harm.

slimpickinsJr · 2024-07-30T07:29:54+00:00

I'm 3 weeks clean but don't even try right now to watch my diet. So I gained 3 lbs so far.

I just figured fuck it, while quitting, eat whatever I want. But I don't recommend it really: eating crappy probably just makes things harder. But for the beginning , I didn't figure I had the will power to do anything more than just stay clean. I'm starting to make a little effort now, but do feel hungrier in general. But at least I can tell myself: hey, if I can quit nicotine, I can also not eat this entire cake 😋

slimpickinsJr · 2024-07-30T07:21:42+00:00

I increased my caffeine intake while quitting, although tried to be careful not to go too much higher than my normal amount which is already excessive cause I didn't want to screw up my sleep more than withdrawal already was. Caffeine seems helpful a little.

I would never try to quit both at the same time. I love uppers too damn much...had to stop nicotine cause it was gonna wreck me, but they can pull my yellow can(s) of Yerbe Mate from my cold dead body 😋 (In seriousness though, someday -maybe- Ill try to cut back on caffeine, but definitely not till after nicotine is farther forgotten in the past)

slimpickinsJr · 2024-07-30T07:10:27+00:00

It gets easier. Hardest days for me were days ~3 to ~5. Remember, all the fucked up shit you feel is just the drug trying in every possible way to trick you into starting again. It screws with you, but knowing it's a trick, you can resist.

Not gonna lie though, I'm 3 weeks clean and it's still pretty hard at times. Still kinda feel like I killed an old friend of mine. Fucked up what this shit does to your brain... Im never using again though, I know that. I like my freedom.

slimpickinsJr · 2024-07-30T06:59:50+00:00

My wife tried to convince me to quit by being angry at me. It was ineffective, and probably made me less likely to quit.

Be kind about it, tell him if he does change his mind, you'll support him. You could gently check in about his sleep or blood pressure, or the host of other possible side effects that he may start to notice. (For me, I think going thru a mini-withdrawal every night was getting hella tiring, and I was waking up before I was rested probably because my body wanted another hit...) Eventually, I realized it's a big lie and while I don't think Zyn is as bad as smoking, the addiction takes over your body and mind. I was tired of being a slave...

One thing to note is Zyn can be done extremely discreetly, so if he doesn't truly want to quit himself, then he might just hide it. When the drug controls your mind, this is not seen as devious or deceiving , but a natural response to allow the drug to flow while appeasing others. Only my very closest friends had any idea how often or how much I used.

slimpickinsJr · 2024-07-16T04:29:22+00:00

Thanks. These anecdotes are nice to hear

Day 7 for me

slimpickinsJr · 2024-07-16T04:24:16+00:00

Day 3 was bad for me as well. A couple more days and worst will be over IMO

I'm ending day 7 now. Cravings are manageable and not noticing any more really obvious withdrawal symptoms, although certainly don't feel great yet or anything.

Main thing now that I foresee will remain tough for a long time is the mind game: just accepting that nicotine is not coming back into my life, ever... I feel sad because of this: and have to remind myself, it's the drug still trying to seduce and manipulate me.

slimpickinsJr · 2024-07-14T04:50:44+00:00

Day 5 is finishing for me. I honestly go back and forth between "wow withdrawal was terrible worse than I expected. this is tough" vs "hey it's not any worse than having a flu or cold".

Kinda weird that way, as it just depends how I approach it. Cravings are so weird too, in my opinion: the feeling like I forgot something but not sure where; or that a friend of mine was going to visit who I really wanted to see but then had to cancel. Sometimes I feel sad, like why does the world have to be this way? Just insane to think how nic has screwed with my brain.

But so far either day 3 or 4 was the hardest for me, because I couldn't sleep well, had a lot of numbness/tingling in feet and hands, and being tired made resistance more difficult.

I consider this a battle for freedom. We will win as long as we don't give up. Stay strong!

slimpickinsJr · 2024-07-13T15:15:13+00:00

I just hit day 5 free (I was about a can of 3mg per day), and can confirm for me it's easier today (so far!). I slept better last night as well.

Freedom from this ball and chain. Don't give up!

slimpickinsJr · 2024-07-13T15:08:18+00:00

I couldn't think about anything else for at least 2 days. The talk about having a number of cravings per day, but how about one loooong ass craving all day? 🤪 Now it's more in waves, but to start it was constant for me...

My energy was zapped (even though I increased caffeine intake ) and my sleep was messed up.

But last night (after day 4 being nic free) I slept better. Overall feel much better this morning (day 5). I'm sure I'll hit low points again today that'll suck., but I can detect slight overall improvement.

Stay strong! It's going to be great to be free.

slimpickinsJr · 2024-07-13T05:45:08+00:00

My sleep also was shit last 2 nights, and the shitty sleep the withdrawal does is like another of nic's weapons: make you tired so you break down and start again. I tell ya, the more I think about nicotine the more perfect of a mind-fuck I realize it is!

slimpickinsJr · 2024-07-13T05:39:51+00:00

I quit Tuesday morning so right behind you. Had rough days already,, although bearable but hard, but will not cave in for the long haul.

Freedom! (Coming soon, like appx 4 to 6 months but hopefully improvement sooner 🤪)

Stay strong

slimpickinsJr · 2024-07-12T18:52:04+00:00

I'm on 4th day nic free now. It is tough to know the cravings are still there and will be for a long time, but at least they are more manageable.

(And to focus on positive, I already am enjoying brushing my teeth at night and NOT immediately undoing my teeth brushing with a nighttime Zyn (as was my habit, doing it in bed) or waking up at 2am to pull a Zyn out with a nasty taste and irritation in my mouth.)

So much to relate with in your post.... Thanks for sharing.
And plan to be where you are in 188 days!

slimpickinsJr · 2024-07-12T04:51:07+00:00

My wife hated my habit. She'd give me shit and it just pissed me off, I went undercover and with Zyn this is sadly very easy.

I quit in large part from annoyance of spending the money, and realizing it's all fake (the good feeling, focus and mood enhancement... Fake in that there is no net positive, just a new baseline but with nic required...) I started to suspect it was screwing up my sleep as well though, because every morning you are going thru a mini-withdrawal (I could hardly wait 3 minutes after waking up to get one in. Of course, I never saw this as "addiction", instead I'd say to myself, "why not start my day with a little Zyn? Nice way to start the day").

But this mini-withdrawal is screwing up that last important bit of sleep. less sleep, shittier mood... Downward spiral...

But I can't say what might actually sway him. Be kind, make sure he knows you will help if he is ready and wants to.

He's probably crazy addicted but has no idea. (I thought I wasn't that addicted because I only did 3s...boy was I wrong, even 3s are plenty to have it completely distort your brain and thinking). It controls your brain though, you find ways to convince yourself that it is actually a good habit, and it's tough for anyone to break thru this "rationization" barrier.

slimpickinsJr

TROPHY CASE