Quote Originally Posted by bedrockbob
Chance, I chewed Cope for about 25 years or so. Man I couldnt be without a mouthful. That stuff is deadly.

I quit tobacco when I was about 35 years old. I was tobacco free for 7 years. I was in Mexico scuba diving one year. When I came up out of the water I smelled the boat captain's Cuban cigar. I thought I could enjoy a few puffs of that beutiful thick smoke and not relapse. Within a year I was smoking 8 Macanudo Ascots a day. I couldnt hunt elk smelling like cigars so I started chewing Cope again. By the time it was all over I had it in my mouth all the time and I had lost 25 lbs.

I finally am tobacco free again for the last six months. It really made the PTSD worse beacause t is such a powerful poison and stimulant. I would find myself in a little situation, suck up a big swallow of Kentucky's finest tobacco juice, and three minutes later the fight was on! It is like being on a constant nicotine drip. Need reinforcement? Just swallow!

Sleep and appetite are my two main problems. Cannabis helps both and tobacco makes them worse. What a drug though! I wish I had a big wad of Copenhagen right now. I reach for my can 20 times a day still!
I started when I was 15 because all "tough cowboys do".Man what a crock of shit. Man 6 months is awesome,my weak ass has only been able to go 1 month.
Ah so you dive as well eh Bob. I've been certified for 18yrs now! Nicotine calms me but significantly reduces the effectiveness of Xanax. If I wasn't reaching for and finding my can 20 times a day I'd quit. Screw heroin,heroin is a weanling and nicotine is a stud colt. Sleep and appetite,all to familiar. I have no recognizable pattern and very few short and far between urges to eat. I've lost 30# since October. I was 6',200# and now I seem to get guys looking at me me longer than they used to. You know,pondering "I could take him". I'm thankful that the muscle strength I do have came from years of hard work. We both know that their is no comparison between work obtained strength and lifting weights and protein shakes. I've lost a lot of weight but I continue to take my vitamin regimen and I eat a lot of flax.I've lost a lot of weight but it may not be such a bad thing. My blood work is all "excellent" and I owe that to that damn ditch and those 100+# mankillers. I used to go get our oats in bulk from Claude Barry in ELP or NAPI on the rez. I unloaded the ton into 100# burlaps and stacked em. There used to be a place in Mesquite that would sell feed in one ton bags and a place right next to Sunland where they got your order and filled 50# papers before your eyes. Those were the days. Anyway it seems as if we might have more incommon than originally thought. Later on.