Any former tobacco users??

Is it possible to land an airplane without a chew? Isn't it required?... Isn't it written somewhere in Part 91?

Serious, though, try a product called "Grinds". It's a pouch type tobacco replacement. It's getting pretty popular. The makers were on Shark Tank some time back. Give it a shot. I combined that with the patch. Good luck.
 
Thanks for all the replies everyone! It is somewhat comforting to know others have had the same battle with tobacco as well. I am giving it another shot starting tomorrow. I ran out of chew today and to be honest, I didn't even want to go and buy another can but I found one in my trip bag that was about 1/4 full. It is now gone, so hopefully this will be it for me. I wanted to wait until I'm done with IOE but I have read a few books this last week about kicking the habit and feel like I may have the tools necessary to make it happen. I will give milestone updates if I make it that far, I mean WHEN I make it that far!!

Cheers
 
Good luck with quitting. I gave up the chew almost 25 years ago when my dentist pointed out the pre cancerous spots in my mouth and told me I'd have jaw cancer within two years if I didn't stop.

Just please do your fellow pilots a favor. Until you do stop, please do not leave your spit cup/bottle in the cockpit when you leave. I know it sounds elementary to police up your area prior to leaving the plane, yet d-bags still manage to leave a warm mess for others to clean up. :confused:
 
I saw Chantix is now approved for pilots after a 72 hour window and re-visit with your doctor. Has anyone gone through the process? A lot of my friends(non aviation) have had successful results with Chantix.

Will power just isn't working for me anymore :(
 
have you guys heard of Zyn? They are nicotine pouches with only nicotine salt, no tobacco and no cancer causing chemicals. Lots of flavors too from mint to coffee/peppermint.
Google Zyn NT (non tobacco) It's allover the west coast now and at a lot of gas stations. Has helped a lot getting away from tobacco and quitting in general.
 
Chantix works for a awful lot of people. Pity the rehab fought me during my window of opportunity but this was the joint where they send all the tobacco executives. You want a gateway drug? Cigarettes, that's your gateway drug. Grandma always lit Marlboro 100's and let them burn down in the ashtray. She only took a few puffs. Smoked her whole life and died of a staff infection in the hospital. Crazy this life. She was the secretary to the base commander at Pope. I'd imagine cigarette smoke was rather thick in military offices back in the day. My Aunt was also a Virginia Slims model in New York. She did billboards with long slender cigarettes. She wasn't a smoker. Didn't help to have these role models I must say. At the end of the day, its a choice though.

I still struggle. When I want to light up though, forcing yourself to buy 2mg lozenges at Walmart instead of smoke is a good thing. I don't have the answer, but I get 10 or 12 days with nothing feel great and then I buy one off someone for a quarter. Its like chasing your tail round and round again. I'm known to buy the cheapest pack I can find, smoke a few, and douse the rest. its getting better though. If I don't do this now, its going to give me cancer, bad breath, brown teeth, COPD. Its pretty clear to me. Now or never.

Its even harder to do when you are depressed.

Good luck and keep us posted.

Smoking gives you cancer. It says so right on the box.
 
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SKYROCK said:
I still struggle. When I want to light up though, forcing yourself to buy 2mg lozenges at Walmart instead of smoke is a good thing. I don't have the answer, but I get 10 or 12 days with nothing feel great and then I buy one off someone for a quarter. Its like chasing your tail round and round again. I'm known to buy the cheapest pack I can find, smoke a few, and douse the rest.
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Anything but the cigarettes when you feel the urge.
I've been smoking a pipe since 2015, to me cigarettes smell like crap now (after about 20 years of smoking them up with the average of pack and a half a day).
Nevertheless, not too long ago I got busy with the 135 stuff and forgot to reorder my pipe tobacco like I normally do, so the tracking said there'll be a couple of days between running out and the package arriving. No biggie, picked up a pack of Camel Crush I used to smoke to fill in the gap.
Observation 1 - cigarettes taste like crap and the yuckiness lingers forever.
Observation 2 - I'm happily indulging in my pipe smoking again, but I see the damn cigarettes in my dreams and first few days driving by the gas stations I had to make a point to drive by and not buy any.
Buy a corncob pipe and a pouch of tobacco for the days you feel like you have to smoke but don't touch the cigarettes. Whatever is in them is far more addictive than tobacco
 
I'm about to hop on this train. Longest I've quit smoking was 4 months during basic and tech school. Since then the longest I've made it was a week. I have a deal with my wife right now that when she finishes her final project for her masters I'll quit. She'll be done any day now so I'm gearing up for it. I smoke a pack a day. Work definitely doesn't help because I'm either stressed out of my mind or bored off my ass.
 
NovemberEcho said:
I'm about to hop on this train. Longest I've quit smoking was 4 months during basic and tech school. Since then the longest I've made it was a week. I have a deal with my wife right now that when she finishes her final project for her masters I'll quit. She'll be done any day now so I'm gearing up for it. I smoke a pack a day. Work definitely doesn't help because I'm either stressed out of my mind or bored off my ass.
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You will never regret a day you didn't smoke. If I quit anyone can. I mean that. I was a 1.0-1.5 pack a day for more than 20 years.

You can do this.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk Pro
 
For an update... I regret to inform you that I failed pretty badly in my last two attempts this summer... Still currently chewing, it is such a hard habit to kick. I quit once for 10 days, had a chew on an overnight after a meal, I walked right by a 7-Eleven and the temptation bit me. The next attempt ended after 5 days on my way to work, stressing about my commute and the insane flight loads that day, so I stopped by the convenient store and bought a tin. I have so many situations in life where a chew is just a part of the routine. The drive to the airport in the early morning, after a meal, and yes even after a run or a workout.

It really is embarrassing that I cannot seem to kick this nasty habit. I have done so much good in the last five years with my career, just wish I could find the same drive with my health.

I will be trying yet again starting November 1st. It will be my first month since joining the 121 world that I won't be a commuter, so my stress level will be way down and I am going to start a lifting routine to bulk up a bit now that I will have a few more days at home to go to my local gym.

I thank you all for the words of encouragement and really do wish I had better news, but unfortunately at the moment the tobacco monkey is still getting the best of me...
 
JDean3204 said:
For an update... I regret to inform you that I failed pretty badly in my last two attempts this summer... Still currently chewing, it is such a hard habit to kick. I quit once for 10 days, had a chew on an overnight after a meal, I walked right by a 7-Eleven and the temptation bit me. The next attempt ended after 5 days on my way to work, stressing about my commute and the insane flight loads that day, so I stopped by the convenient store and bought a tin. I have so many situations in life where a chew is just a part of the routine. The drive to the airport in the early morning, after a meal, and yes even after a run or a workout.

It really is embarrassing that I cannot seem to kick this nasty habit. I have done so much good in the last five years with my career, just wish I could find the same drive with my health.

I will be trying yet again starting November 1st. It will be my first month since joining the 121 world that I won't be a commuter, so my stress level will be way down and I am going to start a lifting routine to bulk up a bit now that I will have a few more days at home to go to my local gym.

I thank you all for the words of encouragement and really do wish I had better news, but unfortunately at the moment the tobacco monkey is still getting the best of me...
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It happens man. But if you keep trying the gaps between falls off the wagon will get wider and wider and eventually you’ll be done. Just keep chipping away.

Check out that coffee chew, it’s good stuff.
 
Hi JDean.

As a former smoker and avid nicotine user, I can say that I’ve successfully kicked the habit after several failed attempts. What finally worked for me was a ton of education from the website whyquit.com. I’d post a link, but this is my first time using Tapatalk (and my first post in over a year!!) and I’m old and social media challenged. But you can seek it out. It’s mostly for smokers, but it’s useful for anyone who has a nicotine addiction. Equal amounts of horror and encouragement can be found there.

Cold turkey was the only way I could do it. No gum or other substitutions. Because each time you ingest nicotine, you reset your withdrawal symptoms timeline back to zero.

Accept weight gain. I gained over 20 lbs when I quit smoking. But, I’d have to have gained over 100 lbs to be as unhealthy as I was as a pack a day smoker. Also... I later lost the weight I gained.

There are things I still miss about my old habit, but not many. I’m so much happier and healthier now.

You can do this!!


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
 
NovemberEcho said:
I'm about to hop on this train. Longest I've quit smoking was 4 months during basic and tech school. Since then the longest I've made it was a week. I have a deal with my wife right now that when she finishes her final project for her masters I'll quit. She'll be done any day now so I'm gearing up for it. I smoke a pack a day. Work definitely doesn't help because I'm either stressed out of my mind or bored off my ass.
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The financial aspect of buying a pack a day in NY would make me quit. That's like 4k a year! Quit smoking and buy truck parts instead

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
 
bimmerphile said:
The financial aspect of buying a pack a day in NY would make me quit. That's like 4k a year! Quit smoking and buy truck parts instead

Sent from my SM-G900V using Tapatalk
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The downside of being able to afford your addictions. However part of my quitting plan is to transfer the $10 each day that would go to a pack into a separate "fun money"'account
 
NovemberEcho said:
The downside of being able to afford your addictions. However part of my quitting plan is to transfer the $10 each day that would go to a pack into a separate "fun money"'account
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In $1 bills? You might be on to something here..
 
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