Hai, gais, this is a post I make mainly for me, to have something to look back on if I should relapse, but you may find some advice that may help you fighting a cig-addiction too. Ok, so now, Im down to 4 cigs a day! Thats right, 4 (FOUR!!). This is major progress for me, and heres why: I used to steal cigs from my parents when I was a kid…I was just curious about it, and at 9, I stole around 1 cig a day. My parents busted my ass, but when I was 12, my alcoholic uncle came visiting, and he thought it would be fun to teach me how to smoke…I never managed to quit after that. Now Im 24, smoking every day for the last 12 years…at most Ive been smoking 20 a day, but rarely gone below 10. Recently I had a sparring session (boxing) with a friend, who I used to outlast in terms of stamina…not so much anymore…I was gassing out in third round. I figured something needs to be done, in a few years I will most likely struggle going up stairs. I usually buy my cigarettes over the border, cause its cheaper, but during the last trip over the border, I decided not to hoard cigs. I bought one pouch of pipe tobacco, one single pouch of rolling tobacco, and a lot of snus. So what Ive done to cut down is: I take one morning-cig. I take one lunch-cig, one dinner-cig, replace all cigs in between with snus and snuff, replace evening cig with a bowl, add some snuff, and if I feel any craving afterwards I load my nostrils with even more snuff. I always used to take a cigarette or 2…or 3 before bed, which Ive replaced with 1 bowl, 1 snus, and a lot of snuff. The good thing with this multi-tobacco method is that I rarely crave cigs now, its just a habit, not an addiction. Today I have hopes of only smoking 1 or 2. Ive noticed some drastic change in breathing since cutting down; in the mornings I cough up a lot of mucus, but my breath feels easier, I also dont run out of breath as fast. Im afraid I dont see me dropping that morning-cig any time soon, but any progress is good progress. Wish all of you in the same boat as me a lot of luck.
I have tried to replace cigarettes with other forms of tobacco but it is hard. Like you I get nicotine from these other sources so I am sure cigarettes are a habitual addiction for me.
I find snus helps me the most with cigarette replacement, when I use Oden’s Extra Stark (18mg) I don’t feel the need for a cigarette at all. Sometimes I will take a pinch of this or that snuff and then I want a cigarette. And these aren’t baby snuffs but 6 photo cheetah, etc etc.
I’m hoping to smoke my pipes more often when the weather gets a bit better. I’d like to ditch cigs completely and just use snus and the occasional pipe with a pinch of snuff here and there.
You are probably coughing up a lot of mucus because your lungs are cleaning themselves from all the gunk. When I smoked and drank a lot, when I would brush my teeth I would always choke and hack. That went away after I gave up smoking. Came back when I picked up the habit again. It’s a tough one to beat for sure- but it can be done.
Good luck Rogue. The addiction/habit is harder to quit the longer you smoke.
keep at it and good luck! i quit cigarettes last may i think with snus and snuff and never looked back. i found after quitting cigs, my dependence on nicotine when down all together. i used to practically run outside to smoke when i woke up and now i can go a good while without nicotine in the morning.
stay strong friend and you wont regret it!
Update: 4 cigs today too.
5 cigs and under isn’t much to bother about. Great work!!!
@Konrad_Von_Marburg I know, I feel much better already.
time and persistence. Honestly I never intended to quite cigs myself. It just happened. At some point I stopped craving the bastards. Snus helps too.
@bob yeah, I’m getting to that point, I don’t enjoy cigs anymore.
Ok guys, big update!
Since smoking very little cigs, sticking to pipe and snuff, I’ve noticed a difference in my resting pulse…
When smoking, I had 80 bpm resting…now I’m down to 60, and my lungs feel much better.
Gotta set a quit date now. Good luck buddy. Sounds like you are on the right track.
I’m gonna have a delicious cigarette to celebrate.
@Konrad_von_Marburg a cig? Do a cigar instead, cigs dont even taste good anymore.
Well done mate…1 week today I smoked tobacco for the last time. If I can give up 10g a day of Amber Leaf then anyone can! I’m finding a 50/50 mix of White Elephant and Rustica is doing the trick nicely.
Keep at it!
Amazing achievement. I myself am an ex-smoker, and now just have a pipe or two over the weekend. Mainly a snuff user now. Keep going @Rogue - you can successfully quit cigarettes. I did.
@dan11 nice, keep up the gold work. Im confident I can quit cigs. @newbiesnuffer I have a few bowls a day. Me and a friend just chainsmoked our pipes after a workout session to see if we got ill effects. With cigarettes, he gets a hard time breathing, and long time before his heartrate goes back to normal. I feel my heart beating heavier with cigs after workouts. With a pipe, none of us felt any ill effects, so we took another training session, which seemed to be easier this time. Makes you wonder what the hell is in those cigs!
smoke contains carbon monoxide. That shit bonds to red blood cells more efficiently then oxygen. Inhaling large quantities of smoke gives you large amount of carbon monoxide. Your heart has to work harder to get the oxygen around the body. Hence the lower heart rate with less cigs. That might help give the final push to think about that any time you have one.
@bob yeah, thats part of the reason I quit.
Well heart rate increases due to nicotine. Nicotine is in all of these products.
@Konrad_von_Marburg I know, but for some reason snuff and pipe doesn’t seem to have that horribly bad effect on me OR my friend.
Update again: Small relapse, needed a few extra cigs to get me through yesterday.
@Rogue these things will happen. I’ve tried to cut down to only X or Y a day, but sometimes events occur that cause me to smoke more. The only real option is to get off the cigs and don’t buy them. It’s also harder if you live with, or have a large social group of, smokers.
At least you are trying and figuring out your triggers, etc.
Relapse for cigarettes mainly occurs due to old habit of the motor function of lighting and smoking it. Once you use snuff (especially ones high in nicotine), I dont think you ‘crave’ nicotine, but just the feeling of filling your lungs with smoke. You can snap out of it (even cold turkey) anytime you decide.
@newbiesnuffer I know, but events as of late has required me to get a strong and quick nic-fix to be able to keep goin through the day.
cig-battle paused. Dislocated shoulder while sparring, had it put back in place, dislocated one minute later while moving arm. lots of pain lots of cigs. Funny thing: First thing I did after relocating it the second time was to grab a cig…foolish me.
@Rogue - take care man. But isnt it worse to kill yourself with cigarettes when some other pain is already doing that? Try some strrrrong snuff
@newbiesnuffer Hard to move my arm up to nose level, goin with my left hand makes it very messy.
@Rogue If you’ve cut down to 4 cigarettes a day, I’d say cut them off entirely. You’ve obviously beaten the physical aspect of smoking by substituting, why not go all out and beat it mentally? 4 cigarettes don’t really provide you with all that much nicotine, you probably can’t get past the little “rituals”, like smoking after waking up or after dinner, or even lighting and holding a cigarette. These things are understandably hard, but you’ve went this far so why not go all out? Also, if you’re going to smoke and box, it’s not a good idea to count on your stamina. Develop knockout power so you can drop people before the 3rd round starts, or maybe even tough it out like I did and do extra cardio. I used to run 5-6km every day and still put away a pack of smokes. I was as determined of a smoker as I was a boxer. My role model was Ricardo Mayorga, and he still is in some ways.
@DrOctagon Mayorga, eh? I always digged Nicolino Loche. My very style in boxing is actually based on wearing my opponents out. I never go toe-to-toe, I like to make every punch count, and rely a little too much (which some people have exposed) on counter-punching alone. It should be noted that 4/5 of my wins were due to well-placed counterpunches. I know my stamina holds me back, which makes me avoid combinations, I throw 3 maximum, and its rare for me to throw that many. I have decent reach, so I try to stay on the outside, which I feel helps me catch my breath if, for some reason, I have been trading blows for too long, which I try to avoid. On topic again; I found I dont need any cigarettes if I smoke a pipe, so I ordered a few pipes, just to have something on hand when my old carey’s magic inch is resting. Im thinking of buying a few cobs too, those things never need any rest it seems, so that should be a good all-day pipe. Luckily for me, pipe tobacco is cheap over the border, and I smoke way less pipe tobacco than normal tobacco, which is an economical win too. I have also noticed that I dont even enjoy cigarettes anymore, at all. A pipe is more relaxing, satisfying, tastes and smells better, and lets face it, a pipe is freakin cool. Theres nothing like playing chess and smoking a pipe while recovering…or just smoking a pipe now that I dont have anything to recover from. I was forced to quit boxing for a year by my doctor, who told me I need to let my shoulder rest for a ton of weeks, which I have to follow up with weightlifting (not the worst medication I guess), but there goes the hand-speed and loose shoulders I spent a long time training for.
@Renegade I dug Mayorga because he’s like us, he’s a smoker and a boxer who on several occasions actually blew smoke in his opponent’s face at the weigh in. A true character. And as per smoking boxer MO, always got winded in the later rounds and lost, which is why he knew to finish early. Truly a God among men. I always hated guys like you, to be honest! I was a pressure fighter, and I hated having to chase guys around who knew what they were doing. My trick was just to rush the opponent, corner him and tear him apart. Whenever guys started doing stuff like gauging distance or fancy footwork or counterpunching, I got irritated. I’m a fairly short guy and I’m a southpaw so I ate a lot of small punches before I got inside so it always had to be me punching harder than the other guy otherwise I’d probably lose. I’m too old now, I’m almost 30, plus I have a lot of little old injuries that get aggravated when I get too into it even on the heavybag now. I can’t even tell you how many times I broke fingers or got that stupid boxer’s fracture or wrists or something, and these things add up. Whenever it rains now I feel every single thing that I broke. Also if you’re looking to speed up recovery time, I suggest you go out and find Thai Boxing Liniment. It’s this yellow oil you rub into sore muscles or sprains or even bruises and it does wonders. Usually it’s fairly cheap, but make sure you get it from a legitimate source because there’s a problem of bootleg Boxing Liniment coming out of thailand. My advice to you with regards to smoking is, stick to one thing for long periods of time. If you try snuff and snus and pipe tobacco, eventually you’ll exhaust your options and go back to smoking. Maybe we should contact a snus manufacturer and perhaps get a snus mouthguard developed? How cool would that be! You’re just handling your business in the ring and you get your nicotine at the same time. But I digress. Quitting smoking is done in 2 ways: you either quit cold turkey, or you wean yourself off it. The latter is mostly psychological because eventually you’ll have to quit cold turkey anyway, but honestly out of everything I’ve tried to quit with–and I’ve tried all of it–there is a lot more progress with snuff than anything. I just wanted snuff to try it, but I’ve actually noticed a pack lasting me longer and longer.
@DrOctagon Nicolino was a smoker too, a heavy one, smoking between rounds, even. I guess thats one reason why he never made it big, despite a lot of skill; bad image. And I know what you mean regarding injuries, I had some wrist/hand/finger issues myself, which luckily, I dont have now. I havent tried the thai cream, but I use tiger balm, which is absolutely incredibly too. Im not sure if it will work on my shoulder problems, but I will try it. Im waiting for an answer for what they found on the x-rays, which is hopefully nothing that requires surgery. My doctor “prescribed” me some weights and some weird freakin ways of lifting, which he says works very well, cause it tightens up the shoulders (but should not be done with healthy shoulders, cause apparently it can damage them). And I can undertand your frustration with outfighters. I have a friend who is competing on amateur level, who I have the “honor” of sparring with. I dont compete myself, but love sparring. Anyway, the first time we sparred, he was a slugger. Slow, easy to hit, bad punches. After a while, his coach had him switch styles and copy mine. Now I have problems hitting him!!! So instead of simply being an outfighter, I was forced to focus on counter-punching to be able to hit him, cause that became my only way of actually hitting him. He trains much harder than me, which I assume is why he bypassed me in regards to footwork…frustrating indeed. It was actually in a sparring match with him that I damaged my shoulder. He threw a jab, I crouched, countered with right hook, and as soon as my glove connected, I heard a weird sound in my shoulder followed by excruciating pain. With no workin out, I find it hard to avoid cigs tbh, boxing is one of the things that convinced me to quit.
@Rogue Bad image, my butt. In boxing, as long as there isn’t an outstanding warrant on you for rape or armed robbery, you can basically do anything you want. It was probably politics. Boxing has always been crooked. I was an amateur for a little bit and I still saw and heard some stuff, when it gets to professional it gets so dirty. It’s not a cream, it’s an oil. It works better than tiger balm because tiger balm is just topical, but you really have to massage this oil in and that itself heals, plus it’s ingredients are top notch too. Penetrates really well but it’s a constant burn either. If you get into Thai Boxing, they rub the fighters down head to toe in this same stuff to prevent injury and it totally works. Thais use this stuff religiously: they put it on after warmup to prevent injury and to get blood flowing, and afterwards. I’d trust their methods because those guys really put themselves through hell even in training. Another thing I suggest is looking into kinesiology tape. I thought it was nonsense but it really, really works, especially in your case. If you’re not training to become a fighter, try not to spar too hard. Even real fighters pace themselves outside of the gym, but since you have no plans to turn professional then you should take it easy. Otherwise you’ll break yourself and for what, you know? Or even mess up someone else that could’ve turned pro. It takes one little thing to end both your desire to fight and to end someone’s career. It sounds like you just threw your shoulder out. It’s a soft tissue injury, you need to baby it for a while with ice and resting and that Thai Boxing liniment I told you about and you’ll be good soon enough. But I’m telling you, man. Boxing is serious business. It’s not a sport you can do casually, right? Consider giving kickboxing or Thai Boxing a try after your injury heals. They’re not as punch intensive but still very good and lethal sports. Or pick up biking. I myself got into BMX biking not too long ago, seems fun. Basically anything that’s even remotely active and engaging will keep you from smoking, especially if you enjoy it.
Day-4 of me going cold turkey. Ofcourse I have a little bit of snuff to take care of the nicotine urges. Hopefully my order reaches me sooner than later. I didnt really have any health reasons to quit. After over a decade of smoking (usually 6 or 7 a day - I’d smoke after a meal or after having tea only), I find cigs to be tasteless now. Dont really miss the cigs but I do miss the smoke breaks and the throat hit. But I resist. So far so good.
@bolbam420 nice! You’re doing good! I fell back into old habits, but will try to quit…again…
Guys it’s just psychological with the cigarettes. With snuff around, cigarettes are not really needed. (speaking from experience here)
With snuff around, e-cigs are not needed (started quitting back around March). I had a couple weeks of relapse a few months back but I don’t even own any anymore after 8 years of clinging to them. And on top of nicotine I also enjoy the experience, aromas and history of snuff.
@rogue I am a man of routine. So to make any changes, I have to adapt a new one. I think that’s what helped me most. When I did smoke (5 days back!) I always had a cig after a meal or tea only. Now I’ve changed that to having a couple of sniffs immediately after having anything. Or having a sniff while having tea. The urge to smoke is noticeably quite less now. And when I do feel like it, I take a big pinch, lurk on snuffhouse, keep myself distracted. Cigs havent taken their toll on my health yet (touch wood) but they’re getting quite expensive here in India too. I’d rather use that money on snuffs - there are so many of them to try. It will take some time to just check out all the Indian ones. And then there’s a big world outside India for snuffs too. I’d like to try pipe smoking some day too. None of this is happening if I keep having cigs. However sometimes I do wonder if me quitting cigs is because of the reasons mentioned above or maybe I’m just bored of my routine from the last 10 odd years. Maybe I am simply looking for something new. Whatever it is, not going back to cigs again!
@bolbam420 It may be you’re getting tired of cigs…I am…back in the day, every cig was a pleasure to smoke…now I dread the next one. Instead of being something I enjoy, it’s now something I feel compelled to do, and I loathe the cigs. Pipes are better…I look forward to every pipe I light up.
@rogue Tired of cigs-yes. I have had to put out my stick of Marlboro Red midway many a times before I finally quit. Pipes and cigars are intriguing. However as a cig smoker I do wonder what is the point of it all if you wont inhale.
I believe everyone has a different genetic make-up and I am NOT assigning any “labels” to anyone but myself. I think what some people refer to as a 'habit" or “routine”, in my case, in just plain old addiction! I have an addictive personality and I always have. I can easily become addicted to almost anything if I allowed myself. I think accepting this fact helps me. Usually, instead of quitting something, I trade one addiction for a lesser one.
In my case, the most important thing about trading snuff for cigs was… NOT HAVING ANY CIGS AVAILABLE!
If I have cigs around when I get a craving, I’ll smoke one, if I don’t, I wont. It really is that simple The first time I quit smoking for 7 years, as soon as my girlfriend (at that time) started smoking, I was doomed! I started by just bumming one of hers, then a couple… well, you know how that goes…
If you want to quit smoking with snuff, stay away from cigs and use snuff to calm the nic cravings… if I did it, anyone can.
Oral tobacco(snus,dip,chew…)helps better to quit a habit that keeps your mouth busy…
I hope this sound proper
@tobaccobob wish snus was available here in India. Guess will have to place an international order for that. Am waiting for my order from 6P to arrive, which includes their Fire & Ice makla (or dip idk). Hopefully its worth it.
@bolbam420 Fire and Ice is a decent makla! I hope you will enjoy it. I advice using 1.5 g of product for one prilla (hard pressed bean-shaped ball). It delivers just the same as regular strength snus, or even a bit stronger. Waiting forward to try 6P Begum Pathani, too.
You can order snus to India from these online shops:
https://taxfreesnus.com (rolls of ten cans only)
https://www.snusline.com (here you can order single cans). Both ships free.
With a very few exceptions, snus is unavailable in most countries, so ordering it online is the only way to procure it.
You can use northerner.com services, too. Shipping of one roll of snus is under EUR 10 there. You will find widest assortment of oral tobacco products there, Belgian maklas and American chew/dip including. Just don’t forget to choose India as your country at the very top (right side). Northerner’s assortment differs for different countries.
@volunge Finally got to try Fire & Ice. Though the flavour will need some getting used to, it does pack quite a nicotine punch! This is the only oral tobacco I have had, other than IPCO creamy snuff and Chaini Khaini. The later literally sets the gums on fire. I really couldnt hold in my mouth for more than a few minutes and I dont intend to give it another try. I do like IPCO, I like the flavour and I like the gentle nicotine nudge it delivers. Would be awesome if there was a makla with similar flavour. I think I am going to like Fire & Ice and I will definitely be getting Begum Pathani in my next order with Six Photo.
Btw, today is day-11 of no cigs. I avoid hanging around with peeps during their cig breaks, not because I might be lured back but the smoke and smell is kinda off-putting. With such lovely aromas you get from snuff, cig smoke feels like snorting from an ash tray!
@bolbam420 - effing nailed it. Keep going. Soon you will be cig free!!!
@bolbam420 Congrats! It won’t be harder than this with all those delicious and strong snuffs you got.
I didn’t expect 6P F&I to be that sweet scented. I knew it’s not plain, but still it was a very pleasant surprise. I was used to the raw, rustic taste of Belgian maklas (Ifrikia, Bouhlel, Africaine), all (except lightly mint-scented El Kantara) unscented. They reek of ammonia and cut the gums like a razor. I find 6P Fire & Ice tastier and more user-friendly product of superior quality.
That IPCO sounds interesting. What is the true way to use it? I mean, do you spread some on the toothbrush and clean your teeth like with ordinary toothpaste, or just rub some cream to the gums with a finger? Is it safe to swallow, or one should spit it out after some minutes?
getting cig free with snus and snuff actually gets easier. Soon you’ll find yourself acclimated and not wanting to reach for cigs. Or at least that’s my experience. I wasn’t even trying to quit cigs just trying to have something so I wouldn’t have to go out side everyday time I wanted a smoke.
Thanks guys. I must admit that it’s been much easier for me than most people trying to quit. @volunge I actually got IPCO from a pharmacy and was told to use my index finger instead of a toothbrush to gently massage my gums with it for a couple of mins and leave it on for a few mins more. Rinse after that. You are supposed to spit like you would for any regular toothpaste, no swallowing at all. If you have high nic tolerance, it is possible that you might not notice the gentle kick it delivers. Still worth trying.
CONGRATULATIONS on 13 days (I trust) since your last cigarette! Rock on, man!
@thatotherguy Thank you! I am one of those lucky few who thankfully didnt have to put in too much effort. Almost overnight my taste buds kind of changed. Cig smoke smells dirty now and snuff obviously is an absolute delight.
@rogue How are you doing mate?!
@bolbam420 been cutting down heavily. Not really replacing the cigs…just havent wanted one as often if that makes any sense. Bringin some snuffboxes to work today…my boss and coworkers already know what it is.