Are you thinking about quitting—or recently just quit—and wondering what the withdrawal from quitting dip feels like? You’re in the right place, we can help.
What’s The Suck?
You have seen it all over this website and you are probably asking yourself—what is “the suck”? The suck is the withdrawal symptoms that you experience in the early stages of your chewing tobacco quit. We call it this because well—it sucks.
The following symptoms make up what we consider the suck. When you first quit chewing tobacco, they come on strong within the first few hours and days. They can last for up to two weeks, but usually become much more manageable and begin to ease after 7-10 days of quitting cold turkey. You will still feel some of these symptoms later on in your quit, but they will not be as strong as they were the initial first few days.
The Withdrawal Symptoms
- Severe Nicotine Cravings
- Being Unable to Concentrate
- A ‘foggy’ head
- Issues with Anxiety
- Intense Irritability
- Stomach Problems
- Insomnia
- Bouts of Depression
- A feeling of Chest Tightness
These are the chewing tobacco withdrawal symptoms.
What Nicotine Does to You
Before we can understand why quitters experience the suck, we must understand what nicotine does in our brains. When you throw in a dip or smoke a cigarette, the nicotine immediately enters the blood stream, making its way all throughout the body and brain. The nicotine stimulates glands in your body that release adrenaline, This adrenaline in turn raises both your heart rate and blood pressure, and gives you a rush. This flood of adrenaline also tells cells throughout your body to dump their glucose stores straight into your blood stream, giving you energy and killing your appetite. This is what you feel when you use chewing tobacco.
You have to realize that your brain and body are addicted to how nicotine alters your natural brain chemistry. Your body is withdrawing from this nicotine induced chemical rush, because it has grown accustomed to it and is now dependent. Your brain chemistry has been abnormal for however many years you have been using that poison. These quitting chewing tobacco withdrawal symptoms are your brain resetting itself back to a normal state.
CAn you experience fever/ headache chills and much more in with first few days of quitting dip
John,
We know you can experience what is called a “Quitters Flu” that sometimes manifests itself in the form of headache and chills, but we are not sure about the fever. If your thinking about quitting, or need help with your current quit, head on over to our quitting forum. There are people there who can help. https://thequit.org/boards
What about slightly blurred vision? Could that be a side effect as well?
Brandon,
Quitting chewing tobacco can cause all kinds of symptoms. But you should check with a doctor or medical professional on that one.
Yes you can. I Just had it happen to me as well. It lasted for about 10 minutes and then returned to normal.
My first four days of quitting smokeless tobacco went by without a hitch. Day 5 has been horrible with cravings. Also once I made it official by telling my wife, the process has become much harder. Any suggestions?
Get in the quit groups Jonathan. You can find them at http://forum.thequit.org/
My husband quit chewing, going on 5weeks now, but he is still having bad headaches? What can I do to help?
My boyfriend is trying to quit the dip. He’s so sick it breaks my heart to watch him. He goes from hot to cold and always feels like he’s ready to throw up. I hate watching him like this, anything I can do to help?
Breathe! I quit cold turkey after chewing Cope for 30+ years @ up to 2 cans/day. Whenever you feel the craving, take three deep cleansing and calming breaths. It helps more than you can imagine. I’m only 2 weeks Cope free, but I’ve had none of the side effects apart from insomnia…..You have the power to empower yourself! Free Yourself!