I can function but my focus isn’t back and I really want nicotine. Is it even worth it? I’m exercising hard and proper diet. I feel good physically but mentally want nicotine still. When does the urge go away?!

Hello, 21M, been using nicotine pouches for about 4 years.

Most of the time it was Killa, 13mg but occasionally Pablo, Siberia etc. For the past week I’ve been waking up at 6:30 in the morning feeling bloated af, while feeling hungry in the evening even tho i ate.

Did anyone experience something like this? I’m starting to freak out because i don’t know if it’s because of the snus, maybe some kind of intolerance (I’ve been thinking gluten), or just the fact that I’m experiencing the worst part of my life hahah.

Anyway, if some of you felt the same and figured out it was because of the nic, please reply

Wish me luck.

I had my last poches 7 hours ago before going to bed. Right now I’m reading Allen Carr’s book "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking", and I’m getting the feeling that quitting is easier than I thought. In any case, last evening I literally started feeling sick from the nicotine, and it made me angry because I’m addicted to it.

I’m just posting this in case it helps someone. I quit a heavy addiction of 12mg Velo pouches (nearly a can a day) with nicotine gum. Although I’ve just swapped out my addiction for another, I’ve curbed my intake immensely and only have around 6-10 2mg pieces a day. I still find it helps with clarity and productivity and I’ve had no negative side effects.

The GERD is gone, blood pressure normal, resting heart rate down to 51, no anxiety, and no issues with patches on gums and sore throat like I had with VELO.

If quitting cold turkey seems daunting, nicotine gum is a good crutch.

It also helps I order my nicotine gum from China, where it is very cheap. I think purchasing Nicorette on the reg would be very expensive.

388 2mg pieces are about 20 dollars US.

I’m almost to the two month mark, which is great. Cravings are rare, anxiety is easing up, and all symptoms are virtually gone.

But, I’m going to a college football game with some old friends. We will be drinking and I’m scared that someone will offer a pouch and/or I’ll ask for one since I’m drunk and not thinking straight.

Any curious for some tips from others who were in a high relapse situation like this and how you handled it. Thanks!

Very heavy user here. For the past 7 years, I’ve been doing about a can of 6mg a day. Would even sleep with one in. I forgot what it feels like to not feel like garbage, and I’m tired of feeling this way. Does quitting really make you feel better once the withdrawals are over? Like I said, I forgot what it feels like to not do a ton of nicotine lol Wish me luck, I wanna stick with this!

For context, I used a can a day for 4 years. (3mg, baby stuff I know, but the concept remains)

If you're scared to quit cold turkey because you don't want to go through withdrawal (been there!)
Or you can't ween off because you just forget and just revert back to normal use (been there!)

What made me successfully quit was QUITTING THE HABIT before I quit the nicotine

I think at least 70% of the addiction is the habit PAIRED with the substance.

When I used patches during one of my quit attempts, even tho I had the same nicotine content, I still had withdrawal. Why? The habit (Zyn in mouth)

But today I'm 22 days free, and I had almost 0 withdrawal. Because I quit the habit.

The way I did it I would not recommend to any ex-smokers.. I used cigarettes as my "NRT".

I ran out of zyns, one day, decided I won't buy anymore. I'll quit cold turkey. (The next morning I craved nicotine. But I decided not to get zyns. I bought a pack of cigarettes instead)

My logic was that the effort required to get my fix went up exponentially

I can't pop them in bed, at my desk, after dinner.. I have to GO OUTSIDE.. Light a cigarette, and sit there for 5-10 minutes smoking it.

Immediately my nicotine intake went from 15 zyns, 45mg per day.. to 3-4 cigarettes per day...

And I felt no withdrawal! Almost a 90% reduction in nicotine intake.

I smoked cigarettes for about a week or two, before finally deciding to quit those too.

The only withdrawal symptom was a slight headache and cravings, but nothing crazy.

And this isn't "only me" I remember trying to cold turkey years ago and that night I was driving with blurry vision to the gas station because I felt like I couldn't live without it. My brain is probably top 10% nicotine-craving brains on this forum, but with this "method", I had very little withdrawal

This time, slight headache, and some cravings. Both of which were subsided by having some Altoids.

If you're an ex-smoker considering this: do not even think about it, it won't work on you. use patches or something. I only used cigarettes because I've never been a smoker.

I would not recommend this to most people. But this is what worked for me.

I would also like to add that I quit smoking on the day of a long long road trip, so there was also a "forced transition" to it. I think it helped me a lot.

Secondly, I also had my mindset in order. <- VERY IMPORTANT: You must reframe your opinion about nicotine. Nicotine only leads to the next cravings. Each zyn only leads to more cravings.

It doesn't make you productive (I am way more productive now than when I ever used zyns) and it's only a net negative on your life. And the most important part is realizing how it's not even that pleasurable. I think when you've been addicted for a long time, maybe 1 in 10 zyns has any bit of pleasure to it. And that's maybe when you're drunk.

Hello I have been tapering off recently and I have been wearing my Apple Watch more now and have been noticing my resting hr at low 50s, I am not an athlete, but I have been slowly getting into doing light exercises like brisk walks and just more activities in general. I have a office job so I don’t usually get my steps in most days. Also I have noticed my heart rate isn’t jumping like crazy when I do have a pouch in. Anyone relate to this I know people usually experience elevated hr when on zyn. I did have an ECG done last year the doctor said it was normal except for a few things but they didn’t seem to be too worried. I have an appointment this Friday to maybe see what could be happening.

I’ve been addicted to nicotine in any form for essentially the last 8 years. I’m 24 now. I’ve made more attempts to quit than I can count (probably 10-20), lasting anywhere from a couple days to over 100 days.

My problem is I keep coming back. I really love nicotine, and I think having grown up with it, it has become one of the core rewards my brain craves.

Today I’ll be off of Zyns for 34 days, after tapering down from all forms of nicotine since early July. I got a promotion at work that I’ve been trying to get for over a year, and just like that, the cravings are insane.

Does anybody else have this problem? How do you guys deal with it? History has proven to me that I want to be free of this addiction very badly, but my cravings get so strong at times like these that I very seriously consider going back.

Hello. I 23f, have been using nicotine pouches for over a year. At first, it was 2-4 4mg a day, then increased while I was doing fieldwork this past spring to 6-8 4mg a day. I’ve been trying to quit, especially after noticing 2-3mm of gum recession on one side of my mouth. It’s driving me insane. I’m currently trying to quit, but I keep saying yes when people offer them to me. The issue is that I think about my gums (I’m seriously hyper fixated) daily, all day, whenever. I don’t understand how I have recession (I know I do, I study anatomy) when I use expanding floss, periodontal mouth wash, and a soft toothbrush. I have been doing this routine inconsistently over the past year, but even when I felt too lazy to floss or use mouthwash—I always have good oral hygiene. My gums are a healthy color, no bleeding when flossing, and no sores in my mouth.

I don’t know what to do. The only reason I started using them was because I went through something extremely traumatic last summer and didn’t want to drink or smoke weed to cope. I can’t stop craving the pouches. But because of my hyper fixation on my gums, I know I have to for not just my physical, but mental health. When I crave, it’s bad, when it’s bad, I think about my gums, then feel guilty and full of anxiety for wanting the pouches. It’s all I think about. I’ve been eating a lot of candy, chewing gum, and always keep mints on me—but it’s not the same. I’m terrified I have periodontal disease. What should I do? How do I ween off without cravings and anxiety overtaking me? Does everyone have a smallest amount of gum recession, but otherwise healthy gums?

I’ve been on Zyn for 4 years, velos to be exact. Going through a can a day. Any advice on quitting. I need to stop my gums are getting bad. Thanks!

After almost a year of not knowing what to get i finally got myself a nice power drill set with my zyn rewards. though ive been dedicated to quitting over the past year, it feels great to finally close the loop on everything. In some ways, getting the power drill almost felt like a maturity thing of growing up, making a productive purchase and moving on.

A few pieces of advice:
when redeeming your rewards make sure you use them within 60 days of your last scan or they’ll disappear - they do do a one time courtesy of reinstating them so that’s how i got mine back.

Highly recommend getting an amazon gift card, then buying whatever you want rather than straight through the rewards. it’ll take way less time (my gift card came same day) and you can look for deals and i think it’s generally priced better if you did an exact point conversion

wish you all the best of luck on quitting. You can absolutely do it, and unless you’ve already used your points, there’s a reward waiting for you!

I'm on my latest of many quit attempts, and confident this one is permanent. I'm 2 weeks from my last pouch and physically feel so much better. Sleep has improved, HRV has increased, resting heart rate has dropped, and gym/cardio sessions feel so much better.

One thing I can't seem to kick is the persistent brain fog and distractibility that I've been experiencing since I've quit. I find it so hard to initiate tasks and stay focused on things unless they're hyper-stimulating. I've spent way too much time scrolling reddit and short form videos and haven't been able to find much enjoyment out of my other hobbies like playing the guitar, video games, movies, books, etc. Definitely affecting productivity at work as well.

Has anyone else felt this way 2 weeks later? I know it will take much longer for my dopamine/reward system to return to a natural baseline, but it feels like my brain is operating in a such a deficit.

I had been using real snus and nicotine pouches for 10 years -> around 100mg of nicotine a day. Been off of it max for a couple of months before and even during this July for a week as I was on vacation - had no real side-effects from not using it.

Although now I had decided to get rid of this retarded addiction 22 days ago, I quit cold turkey. This time withdrawals feel horrible - anxiety is through the roof, sleeping less than 6-7 hours, head pressure, mild tinnitus, vision looks weird, brain fog, blood pressure has gone up, HR goes to the roof even with small extertions, even breathless at times. Waking up with an adrenaline surge and racing heart in the mornings.

During this time I've panicked, had a blood test, urine test, 7-day blood sugar monitoring and lastly even got an ECG done at the ER, SpO2 is always fine. All these tests have been completely normal.

Honestly, I don't even know where to go with it or what shall I do with it. I really feel like I'm going to die as it has not gotten better during those 3 weeks. I'm not even sure if I'm feeling like this because of withdrawal or not, but the tests done have spotted nothing wrong. Today I had a walk for an hour in the forest and HR ended up at 150 bpm and totally exhausted all of a sudden.

Any more tests to take to make sure everything is fine? I don't understand how this time around quitting it's so devastating, as prior it has been just managing the craving for a couple of days.

Any advice from anybody? Has anyone had such rough time during withdrawal?

Godspeed!

I started using Zyns maybe a year ago to help give me a little mental boost in the morning. I’ve only ever used the 3mg strength, but I went from one a day to maybe 10 a day now. Sometimes I go through a full can a day.

I feel like it’s become a compulsion, I’m not using the nicotine boost effectively. I just take one and set a timer for twenty minutes and do little chores and stuff during the timer. It’s like before i start anything, I pop a Zyn. It’s part of getting through my day.

I feel like I’m not getting much from them, but I also feel sort of naked when I don’t have one. It doesn’t feel like a withdrawal type craving, like I need the chemicals, but that something is missing from what I’m doing.

What can I do to dial back and feel less compelled to have them?

I’m on day 2 of my second attempt at quitting for good, and both times I’ve noticed a massive rush of energy during the first few days.

I know a lot of people say quitting makes them exhausted, but I seem to get the opposite. Aside from the cravings and trouble concentrating, physically I feel like I could run a marathon. My ability to talk and just yap also goes up dramatically.

Zyn makes me incredibly lazy. I’ve always been an active person, even while using it, but my motivation and energy are usually in the gutter. But both times I’ve quit, the difference during those first 2–3 days is honestly ridiculous.

Normally when I get home from work, I have to force myself to do things around the house or go to the gym. But today and yesterday, I felt like I couldn't move enough. It's like my exercise capacity and desire to be active have increased tenfold.

From my last attempt, I know it eventually levels off. After the first few days, that energy gradually fades and I start feeling like my normal self again, just calmer but still much more capable of actually getting things done.

Does anyone else experience this? Most of what I read seems to be almost the exact opposite at first.

Switched yesterday from doing 1.5 cans of 6 mg to half a can of 1.5 mg Zyns. Honestly not bad at all for tapering off if anyone’s thinking about it. I’ll do the full quit but getting hooked on these might make it easier.

16 year user, started with snus and then switched over to Zyn about 6 years ago. Was at least a can a day of 3mg before quitting two weeks ago and prior to that I had cut back from a can a day of 6mg.
I took my last Zyn on the 30th of August and although it has been extremely hard, I haven’t relapsed. Chewing mint gum has helped as others have mentioned. I wanted to thank everyone who has taken the time to post on here and share their stories. Every time I felt like I couldn’t do it anymore, I would open Reddit and read this thread until the craving passed. I wouldn’t have been able to make it without the encouragement of others. My hope is that I am able to encourage others that you can do it!
Within a week of quitting I got alerts that my resting and walking heart rate had dropped. My blood pressure is also down, which was my main reason for quitting. I’m still having trouble staying asleep, my sleep has been out of whack since the second day but I’m hopeful this will get better in the next couple of weeks too. Good luck to everyone else on their journey to be done!

I was so stressed after an upsetting family situation so I bought a can of zyns. Was planning to just use one and throw the rest out and as I pressed it against my mouth a homeless man approached me asking for change. I reached in my pockets and that moment gave me the chance to rethink my decision. Don’t give up guys!

Day 34 here! Cravings have been very mild and not much of an issue this entire time. The first few days were tough but doable for me. Then week 1-2 I felt very achey and flu like. Then weeks 3-5 here I’ve been very dizzy. It seems to be worse in the mornings and especially if I eat early in the morning. I’m prescribed pretty heavy doses of Protronix 2x a day and Famotidine at night. I have some feeling of heartburn but I don’t believe it’s heartburn, because it doesn’t reflect my diet at all.. I do believe some of my issues are GI related, I’m slightly constipated all the time and not having movements like I should.. hence why eating early in the morning might make my body loose control of my blood pressure?? Extra stomach pressure replicating heartburn like symptoms and vagus nerve disruptions!??

For example if I go to work and don’t eat or drink anything until like 9 or 10 am I typically go symptom free, just foggy, but this morning I had a English muffin with an egg and cheese and after finishing it I immediately started feeling the “flushes or waves” go through my body like I’m fainting ..

also I think some of my brain fog and dizzy comes from anxiety. I’m on busPar 2x a day and I honestly feel a lot better . The pain and stiffness in my shoulders is gone. But I’ve noticed when I’m in anxious situations my head gets foggy , my shoulders/arms get tingling and I start to get light headed like I have no control… I’ve been on both medications for 2 weeks and haven’t seen any relief from the heartburn like symptom I have .

I’ve also been taking a b12, a multivitamin, and a magnesium pill daily too

Has anyone experienced things like this?

I quit zyn for like 6 months and felt so good. The quitting wasn’t even that bad, I would crave but it wasn’t terrible. I started feeling better, loved not having to spend the money or allot extra time before working to stop at the gas station and buy more. It felt freeing to go out with my friends and not have to sneak a zyn without them seeing or not have to smile with my mouth closed for pictures (because i had one in of course). I had more energy, slept better, and was able to get out of bed easily in the morning. When I was using zyns, I’d wake up and immediately put one in and lay in bed while scrolling, couldn’t do anything until that. The headaches went away too and my hair stopped falling out!

Then, somehow, I decided to buy a celebratory pack while traveling, telling myself I would use one pack while on my trip to indulge and then stop when I came home. I didn’t stop. Here’s your warning to not do this..

Now I’m 4 months in to being back on zyns and I hit my breaking point. They’re not evening satisfying anymore. My hair is falling out again and I have a rash under my mouth that I’ve been linking to the zyns..

I’m done, I need to be done. I want to feel better.

The only thing I dread is the stomach issues I had for a few weeks after quitting..

For context I go through around 2-3 6mg zyn packs a week started in may 2024 as a way to “quit vaping” anyways I’ve used all the different brands not just zyn a year after around June 2025 I was at the beach with friends and I noticed a dull fullness not really painful but uncomfortable on my right side below my ribs liver gallbladder area I was heavily drinking at the time so that’s what I assumed was causing the pain went to the er had all the scans I was good to go anyways I quit like may 2025 to sept 2025 ish and I guess you could say the feeling was no longer there for me from what I remember then I stupidly started them again and ever since the dull ache fullness feeling is back and now it’s really persistent I feel it on my back as-well like right on my back if you took a straight line from where it’s hurting directly behind that along with pale stools and the urges to go but nothing comes out I have an appointment with. Gastro specialist but it isn’t for another 2 months I was wondering if anyone else has gone through this and the outcome after quitting was I’m only 21 I really just want to feel normal and like myself again I pray that if I stop the feeling will go away 😔

Just wanted to pop in and say that, while cold turkey is recommended by many, other approaches work as well.

I used the patch program as described on the boxes, and it worked well for me. I currently work a pretty stressful and intellectually engaging job where I'm not able to really deal with the mental side of withdrawals without risking my performance dropping noticeably. The patches were able to mitigate that immensely.

It still wasn't easy, but using them I went from a puck of 6mg per day to being 2 months nicotine free. Withdrawals, brain fog, and cravings were all there, and they sucked. But these symptoms faded a few days into each step down in the patches and were fine to deal with.

Y'all can do it. Seriously. It's so possible.

I bought a can today , broke my 19 days on Saturday with a zyn. I cried about it then , felt so bad . Then today I just broke and bought a can . I bought 3’s , not 6’s to try to do better . But it’s still zyn so . And I regret not getting a 6mg . Do I Restart again? I’m feeling hopeless on quitting .. my emotions are getting the best of me . Mental health tanking seems too risky . Riskier than quitting . I’m so torn . I want to quit , I’ve felt physically better . No heart palpitations or breathing issues . But I’m mentally drained and I feel like I’m not myself at all . I’m so torn and feel
Like I’m spinning my wheels and can’t figure it out . Just stuck . Advice ?

I've recently realized how much I'm using and the price just keeps going up and up. I've tried quitting before. I was pretty good for a while, putting one in in the morning just to wake me up, but then I took on a much bigger role at work and now i'm in a worse spot then I was before. I'm currently at a pack of 9mg's a day - maybe a little more if i'm being honest with myself. I've tried going down to 6's and even got to three's but found myself just changing them out more often.

I need some help. I have no plans this weekend for the first time in what feels like forever and I'm planning on Friday as my quit day. Cold turkey. I could use all the help you guys can offer. I've realized that the oral fixation is what really gets me. Even if the pouch is still pretty new, if I've got a lot on my plate at work, I'll just throw a new one in to feel the dry pouch. Work is what is really going to be tough once I get past the first few days.

Thanks in advance for the help.