r/QuittingZyn

I started using Zyn when i was about 18-19, and i used for a solid 4 years. It started off as one pouch a week, then it slowly morphed into several pouches a day. I tried to quit several times during those 4 years, but i just never fully committed. But this time im done for good, and im fully committing to that for one main reason: i believe Zyn had been the cause to my severe abdominal/stomach pain, constipation and unpredictable bowel movements.

About 10 months ago, i went to see a doctor and i described the symptoms i had been dealing with. She was pretty confident i had IBS, which at the time i didn’t believe her bc i thought it might have been something else. Long story short, i eventually went to see a GI and we did every test imaginable to see what was going on with me (ultrasounds, MRIs, breathing tests, colonoscopy/endoscopy etc.) Before i did all of these tests, my GI also thought i probably had IBS, but since that IBS is a diagnosis of exclusion, we had to rule out other stuff. After doing all of those tests, everything came back normal and that i was “perfectly healthy.”

Id say probably about 6 months ago the thought crossed my mind that Zyn could be causing these issues, but i was in denial. I just didn’t want it to be true. I would try to rationalize it in my head saying like “there’s no way Zyn is the problem because it doesn’t make my friends have these same abdominal/stomach issues I’m dealing with.” But i had to realize, as simple as it sounds, that it affects everyone differently. Eventually my abdominal pain got so bad to the point where i had no choice, but to quit.

The first few days are annoying (and i knew that going into it bc I’ve tried to quit before for other reasons). The worst part for me though, besides the cravings, was how tired and sluggish i felt for those first couple weeks. But once you get past that, it gets way easier. I’d be lying if i didn’t say I’ve had cravings to have one since that 2 week period, but that craving is not nearly as strong as it was on day 3. I just have to remind myself why i quit in the first place, and what that alternative looks like if i started using again.

As for my abdominal/stomach pain and unpredictable bowel issues, that is still continuing to somewhat progress. It’s really annoying because i think Zyn is what gave me IBS (and now i think I’m lactose intolerant), so it might just be something i have to deal with for a while. I’m trying to remain positive though, especially since i was zynning for almost 5 years, so it probably takes some time for body to readjust to using the bathroom with having nicotine in my system constantly.

It’s funny bc most people I’ve seen post on this thread say they are having difficulty pooping once they quit Zyn, which is kinda how it started out for me, but now I’m having the opposite problem. Each morning when i wake up, i normally have several bowel movements, which is super annoying because it just delays me from being productive haha. Anyways, thanks for reading this rant and I’d love to hear yalls stories

This morning i woke up and did what i usually do. Black coffee, pop in a zyn, and get started on the day. Wife is out of town for work, so I had to get the kids lunch's packed and out the door. While preparing lunch, my heart rate started shooting up - chest pain, couldn't catch my breath, and palpitations through the roof. Checked my apple watch, and my heart rate was at 146 - I kid you not. 146 from standing and making a PB&J sandwich. I seriously thought I was having a heart attack, but remembered to calm myself down, that it was the Zyn (and probably zyn/coffee mix).

I went to my room, grabbed the zyn tin, dumped the rest into the toilet, laid on my bed, put on my calm app and brought my heart rate / anxiety down. It was indeed not a heart attack. It was the ZYN. This stuff is EVIL. I've had this happen to me before, but this was the worst. My daughter standing next to me helping make breakfast, and I couldn't even talk to her I was so winded, from just standing.

This is it. It's over. No more relationship with anything that sucks the soul and health out of me. Time to get my life back, work on my cardio, and build up my heart / cardio / lung strength. It shouldn't take that much time. I've quit before (for short periods) and have noticed a change usually pretty quickly. I've monitored that when I quit, my resting heart rate is around the low 60's. When I'm on the ZYN, it's closer to 85 - that's a huge difference.

Time to focus on health, not poison.

I've been into sport for 25+ years- I have always been fit, boxed, ran a marathon, played footy etc

I've also enjoyed substances on and off, some nights smoking cigs/vape etc.

Believe me, Zyn had the most noticeable effect on my cardio. Even after just a few days of use.

When boxing, there would be a limit on how much my lungs could take in- not like after a night of cigs when the lungs & airways are closed.

So, for anyone wondering if Zyn bad for your athletic performance, in my experience, yes!

All the best.

Growing up (I’m 25 now), I was always a very outgoing, adventurous individual. I’m very entrepreneurial by nature (as I kid I would sell candy to my classmates, DVDs I burned at home etc) and I’ve been like this till about a year and a half ago when I started pouches.

I started finding myself less and less excited about life in general. It’s CRAZY, for example right now I’m trying to build an app, and I KNOW it’s something I want to do, but I simply can not. I want to go to the gym, but I can not, my brain would much rather stay home and do pouches and scroll social media. And on top of that, I don’t even sleep well because pouches late at night make it hard to fall asleep since nicotine is a stimulant. So I’m tired the whole day, unmotivated to live life to its fullest, and I only get good feelings from pouches.

This is called addiction. Huberman describes addiction as a “Progressive narrowing of things that bring you joy”. And I feel that progressive narrowing on a daily basis and tbh it’s scaring me.

I just tossed my last pouches into the toilet and I am done with this habit. I want to live life, I want to FEEL excited, disappointed, desire, motivation.

What I’m writing now would usually go into a journal entry, but I’m making a public declaration.

I will update in a week to let you know if anything has changed.

I originally started to use snus when I was a student and I had some issues with starting to do tasks and focus. So I would pop one in, start doing stuff and focusing.
Eventually when tobaccoless snus was released I moved into them.

I quit in January.

My life has been quite bad after that. I am afraid that I will get fired anytime because I barely work.
Ever since I quit, all I do is pretty much stare at the screen. I have really tough time starting new tasks. Just like when I was a student. I am constantly tired, can't focus and it is nearly impossible to start tasks.

I do appriciate that my gums have healed, my blood pressure is back to normal, my heart does not do weird things etc, but the brain fog and ability to not to start anything is literally ruining my life.

I fucking hate this stuff. I'm so tired of buying it all the time, being chained to it knowing that I'll have shitty withdrawals if I quit. No one in my life knows I do this and I don't want to share it so I'll go through withdrawals alone trying not to be a jerk to everyone. I'm trying to be authentic but feel too deep in this so here goes- today is my last day ever to use Zyn. I'm done. I have the next four days off of work and will get through the worst before going back to work.

Hey, I’ve been clean for 406 days now after using zyns from 2021 - 2025. Recently I have had the urge to start them again but because in this year I have realized that they helped me with other addictions, instead of over consuming in junk food or energy drinks/caffeine I would just use a zyn same with other bad habits with prescription stimulants and even using them as motivation to go the the gym and wake up early is the zyns were a mechanism that helps me avoid these bad habits and reward my good ones I feel like now they are the lesser of 2 evils and I want to relapse but wanted to see if anyone else struggled with this.

I’m not 100% sure this is from zyn but I think it must be - does anyone else have more anxiety throughout the day and struggle to sleep when not using zyn?
For context, I’m coming up to a year of using, started at 6mg and went up to 11mg. I usually finish a can in about 2-3 days. I’ve recently noticed my heart rate and blood pressure has become elevated and obviously receding gums etc so I wanted to quit. The first day I tried and I woke up in the middle of the night and was unable to sleep the rest of the night. I feel so unable to quit because of this as I work night shifts and need to have enough sleep so I can function at work. This feels so undoable for me right now, every time I try and reduce or stop my usage my anxiety just goes through the roof. How do I get through this and has anyone else had this experience too?

So I’m not yet diagnosed with GERD but my symptoms all match up perfectly with GERD.

I notice that when I put a pouch in, the acid reflux flairs up pretty instantly.

I normally use pouches while gaming and while at work so basically every day I’m using like 5-10 pouches.
It’s going to be really hard for me especially when gaming or at work because when things get tough at work or the game gets sweaty, zyns take the edge off.

Any tips are helpful thank you!

I have known for a while now that I need to quit. With school starting up, I have finally decided to actually do it. But I'm not sure whether to go cold turkey or gradually decrease strength and amount of pouches until I can easily quit. I feel like cold turkey can be harder, but I really don't want the possibility of just upping the strengths whenever I feel like it. Do y'all have any suggestions? Also, what else would you recommend for help quitting? I have heard gum and mints are helpful.

will quitting zyns (in my case 6-10 6mg velos per day) increase libido/sexual function? been pretty okay for a while but even the fact i gotta ask this tells me something

Hey so I was playing with the thought of quitting snus for a while now but today I got this sudden motivation to commit to it. Now I ask myself if I should start reducing slowly (I use around 3/4 a pack a day of the velo mini 2pts) or if I should just go cold turkey.
Ive been struggling a lot with anxiety, chest tightness and generally feeling something in my body all the time. I‘m also in therapy for the anxiety but now I‘m thinking maybe quitting snus will fix a lot of my issues which are anxiety related. So what are your takes on quitting, did cold turkey do it for you or are there benefits to reducing gradually?
I once quit smoking weed but it didn’t really feel like quitting it, I just didn’t feel the need to do it anymore (after around 5yrs of daily smoking). So I am kinda nervous. Also i’m going on vacation in 2 weeks and i’m wondering if I should wait till after the vacation since there will be more drinking than I usually would etc. But I will always finf a reason not to quit I guess…

My hubby has started using nicotine pouches last year. He started at 4-6 (6mg) a day he says. He bought a substantial amount online. From around 3:45pm to 5am (just woke up), i noticed 3 cans are gone from his stack. I don't take them, i don't know what's a normal amount but that seems excessive. 20 pouches/can at 12mg. From what I know, that's the highest dosage of nicotine. Guessing he had at least 2 cans because he went for a third. He's had problems with drinking and i'm worried this is another one where he can't exercise control.

Should I be concerned?

On day 4 and has anyone else experienced these symptoms as well? Insomnia waking up every 1-2 hours, extreme anxiety for things that didn’t make you anxious before, intrusive and obsessive thoughts, weaker erections which was not a problem before, brain fog, depression.

I’m at 2 weeks, hoping this time sticks but as of right now I have no desire to ever get back on it. I’m been experiencing slight depression with the withdrawal but my energy feels more steady and I feel less anxiety in general. I’ve already noticed I’m waking up earlier naturally and not sleeping in past alarms.

I’ve been starting my day with a walk at 5 AM and that’s been so crucial to my state of mind. I’ve wouldn’t say I’m in the clear yet, but I’m feeling so much better at the gym and feel stronger and less out of breath. It’s just that healthier feeling that pushing me to keep this going.

Thought id post for those lurking thinking of quitting. I'm 36, had more health issues than id like to admit since getting covid.

7 Days ago my BP was 140/97, this morning was 123/88. Only difference is no nicotine / zyn for 7 days.

Hopefully this trend continues to drop over the next week or two so I can avoid my doctor prescribing BP medication

Quit around a month ago. First two weeks were tough especially with brain fog and cravings. Brain fog slowly cleared over the last two weeks and HOLY SHIT I am locked in. Been going to the gym consistently 4-5 times a week, cardio three times a week, eating healthy, actively enjoying my work and studies, almost no anxiety. I was using velos 17mg about 10 a day, quit cold turkey and never looked back. When I was using I was so anxious all the time, I’d get palpitations and freeze in social situations. My sleep was terrible, I had no motivation to study or exercise and I couldn’t even do basic daily tasks without a pouch in. Now I get a dopamine rush when I go for a walk or have my morning coffee or eat my chicken when I get home. Guys you have to stick with this, it was tough to start with but after this improvement I will NEVER go back to regularly using nicotine. Everything in my life is already better and I’m so excited to see how far this goes. Stick with it!!!!!!!!!

First time in about 20 years my body has not had nicotine. I’ve been feeling some real lethargy and depression stuff. is this normal and if so, how long did it last for you?

Edit: thank you all for the kind words and support! You’re all legends in my book.

I quit back December and thought it was pretty easy, It sucked a little but I was so determined and so convinced it was done with Zynn for good. Then about a month later I had one while having drink and that was that. It was hard to resist because my husband had them in the house. Im ready to quit and maybe it's good that Im scared I will relapse, maybe It will keep me vigilant. My husband said he will quit this time with be but he has lied before so I don't trust that he will. I need to quit for myself, Im really sick of them!!

Im going to taper down a pouch a week because I don't have the time to feel like shit with work. this week is 5 Zynn 3mg a day. Im using pouch buddy to track, I think that will help. Also Taking NAC and GABA at night.

Any advice on what to do in that moment of giving up!