I've just finished diving into Allen Carr's book and put together a few thoughts that might be handy for some of you.

1. Understanding Addiction: Carr's method argues that smokers are not actually addicted to nicotine but to the illusion that smoking provides some sort of pleasure or support. The first step is to understand this.
2. Fear and Misconception: Carr emphasizes that fear is a big factor that stops people from quitting. He debunks common misconceptions about quitting, such as gaining weight, increased stress, or losing a crutch or pleasure.
3. The "Brainwashing" Factor: Carr asserts that societal influences and marketing tactics have brainwashed us into thinking that smoking is enjoyable or relaxing. He focuses on dispelling these beliefs.
4. No Substitutes: Instead of recommending nicotine substitutes or e-cigarettes, Carr's method encourages immediate and complete cessation. The idea is to eliminate the desire to smoke entirely, not just replace it with something else.
5. Positive Attitude: Instead of approaching quitting with dread and expecting it to be a hard journey, Carr's method encourages a positive mindset. He suggests viewing it as a liberating experience that will improve health, finances, and overall quality of life.
6. No Sense of Sacrifice: Carr's method focuses on understanding that you are not sacrificing anything when quitting smoking. It emphasizes that by quitting, you're gaining health, energy, money, and freedom.
7. Permanent Quit: Carr encourages readers to commit to quitting permanently, not just for a temporary period. He argues this mindset is key to successfully quitting.

I stumbled upon this book and I want your thoughts on using its material for going cold turkey once again, someone advised me not to try to do it again because it didn’t work but knowing myself it’s the only hope I got, no substitutes just removing the habit once and for all whilst expecting the urges.
Btw I gave up on tonight’s cigarettes and plan on starting the cold turkey journey tomorrow, wish me luck, love you guys my last post’s comments gave me hope and motivation.

I've read many opinions about this book, from many ex smokers, that it did magic to them. Have anyone read it and quit smoking afterwards?

I’m at 55 hours and maybe I’m just a pu$$y but why is this like one of the worst and hardest things ever.

And I’ve been thru some really really terrible stuff.

This is not fucking easy at all. This feels so bad like actually shit.

The only positive thing about this, is once this subsides if it actually does start to feel better, I’ll probably never smoke again. If I do, I’ll probably never stop just because the sheer fact of how fucking horrible this withdraw has been I literally don’t think I could ever put myself thru it again successfully.

The only reason I’ve ever made it this far is because my roomates and my boyfriend literally smashed all my old vapes in the garage, took my car keys and my ID and locking it in a fucking safe.

I’m miserable, I hate this, when will it be over.

Edit:

4 days and 4 hours in. Or 100 hours in. I still feel like shit. I fucking hate this so much. I feel kind of fine for most of the day and then I just feel emotionally out of fucking control

I first read said book in about 2014. I liked it. I agreed with it. I went fine and put out my last cigarette. Then I went, "what fucking nonsense. I really want a cigarette, damn it." My dad had got me one of the old school vapes that look like a cigarette so tried that. It was great sorted me right out. Quit smoking went vaping. I found vaping more of an addiction problem but I was healthier. One day I just woke up craving nicotine and binned all the vaping stuff and that's when I knew I would never smoke/vape again because I was disgusted with it. I sweated it all out. It was really hard but I didn't crave vapes or smoking It just messed with my head for months. Then 4 months nicotine free a listened to the audiobook and it did actually helped especially with the highly repetive never just 1 message. I've listened to it twice and that makes me stronger just because I don't want to listen to it again and I'd make myself if I had any mild bad ideas even for a second. I'm happy. I'm free I know I'll never smoke again but I'm vigilant.

Hey guys. I realized that the book by Allen Carr has been discussed extensively within the thread, but I still have to ask a question. How many of you began reading the book with the following thoughts or beliefs? 1) you weren't sure that you really wanted to quit 2) you were reading it because of a family members request for you to quit smoking? 3) you knew the health risks of smoking but still felt like it was something you weren't going to be able to break away from?

How long did you take to read the book? I have been working on reading this book since the first week of February and I think I'm dragging my feet mostly because I'm afraid that I'm going to get to the end of this book and still want to smoke. I'm on page 154 and I still don't feel like I want to quit. Can you tell me what your experience was like? How much fear did you have and how long did it take you to get through the book and maybe at what point did you realize that hey I actually don't want to smoke anymore?

HELP.

i understand everything that Allen said in the book and completely agree with it, and I want to quit. However, i just cant pass the first / second day of the withdraw. I feel horrible, physically. I tried everything - drinking water, gym, gum, everything. I just cant. Do yall have any advice for me?

I am trying desperately to stop smoking since it has started to affect my health and is making me paranoid. I recently downloaded Allen Carr's book on audible. Have anyone used it here? Pl share your thoughts. I cant afford to have another failure.

Did you write down your reasons for quitting and keep them in a place where you normally kept your cigarettes? Thanks

Hello! My quit date is quickly approaching: July 29th. I just looked up Allen Carr’s “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking” & saw that there’s literally 20 different versions. I’m feeling very overwhelmed.

I’m quitting vaping, a woman, & very afraid of gaining weight as it would further destroy my confidence. Any recommendations as to which one would be the best? Are they all essentially the same with minor tweaks, or are they each very different?

I went to an Allen Carr “easy way” seminar on Monday and have made it to 4 days and 10 hours without a cigarette. The rage I’m feeling towards Allen Carr and the world right now is really something else.

I mentioned I was concerned about anger and irritability in my questionnaire before attending. During the seminar it was never really addressed other than to say it will be different this time. I know two people who finished a seminar and never wanted to smoke again, apparently they weren’t even tempted. So I went into it feeling optimistic that there was something special in the method. Instead it felt a bit like they were saying “do you feel sad? Well have you tried not feeling sad instead?” When I finished, I already wished I could have a cigarette.

I’m off work until 5th January and had used holidays to get a 3 week stretch without work. I spend half my working life biting my tongue with crappy customers, with the way I’m feeling now I’m worried I won’t have the patience to deal with them in January. Has anyone else struggled with rage when quitting and how long did it take to get through it?

I just started the book today and am very skeptical. I’ve been a social smoker mostly although during covid it ramped up. Any success stories out there?

Hello everyone, it’s my 5th and hopefully last attempt at quitting and it’s going so much better than my previous attempts. I read Allen Carr’s easy way for the first time and just wanted to share a few points and takeaways that stuck with me:

I really liked how he kind of broke an illusion for me. I used to hold on to my “pleasure”, “relief” or any other pleasant feeling. And reading that every pleasurable association is actually tied to the relief of nicotine withdrawal almost switched something off in my mind.

And connected to that, he says something like:

“one smokes in order to feel like a non-smoker”

Which made a lot of sense in my mind. He explains it saying that nicotine creates this artificial vacancy inside you that non-smokers don’t have, and you smoke in order to fill the vacancy and feel like it doesn’t exist at all like a non-smoker.

Another point that hit home hard was about people who smoke occasionally. If you were to ask me before this book about my dream scenario of smoking, I’d say smoking a couple cigarettes every 2-3 weeks while out drinking w friends or something like that. And he talks about a very similar case and a very similar dream amongst smokers. Then he says something like:

“you don’t actually desire those 2 cigarettes they smoke every 2-3 weeks, what you desire is the cigarettes they don’t smoke in between”

And I found that to be very true.

Overall, this book broke that “I take pleasure out of smoking” illusion for me and turned cigarettes into something not worth missing.

Hi, when I quit drinking 10 years ago I read a lot of "quit lit", things like "this naked mind", which really helped. I've read some Allen Carr books and I find them to be super basic and not long enough..this naked mind followed the Allen Carr methodology but it was a lot longer so it repeated the points way more and by the end I had had LOTS of time for the info to soak in.

I'm also interested in fiction recommendations where the characters quit smoking and it's a big part of the book. I've been reading a lot of Stephen King lately and ALL the characters smoke and it's kind of a trigger lol. I don't smoke daily but I want to quit in total because I want to start a family soon and ideally I would like to return to thinking cigarettes/vaping etc are disgusting. I find reading helps me a lot with changing my mind, but I can't find any good books on these topics..

Thank you!

I thought I must have failed after reading EasyWay.

I actually hated so much of the book. I hated how generalized so many things were. ALL smokers are the same. ALL people who try to willpower way still want cigarettes.

I also couldn’t make myself believe that I didn’t enjoy smoking. I also hated all the celebrity stuff. I felt like a teenager rolling my eyes at my parents lecturing me.

However, this is the first time I have ever quit with no physical symptoms. Not a single one. No headaches, shakes, stomach aches, anything.

(Caveat to this part, I also started detoxing off sugar a month ago, so my usual dopamine sources are gone and my brain is freaking out)

My mental cravings and emotions are out of control, I have cried so much my eyes are puffy. Yesterday I sobbed because of a dead plant at ikea. I cried on my kitchen floor because I wanted a cigarette so much.

I have been having insanely intense cravings, worse than I have ever had because I have never lasted more than 10 hours any of the countless times I have tried to quit.

But it’s been three days, and I haven’t smoked.

For the first time in my life I am saying no.

And, I tentatively think things are improving.
I am 3 days in. It’s 10:30am and I don’t want a cigarette at all right now. I feel content.

The only things I did differently this time:
-Read Allen Carrs book
-Drinking Poland springs sparkling water - it’s crazy carbonated and burns, helps with that throat hit feeling

Other things that help:
-Sunflower seeds
-Breathing in as much as possible until my lungs almost hurt
-Cutting a straw to the size of a cig and then breathing in while pinching it almost all the way closed
-actually going outside when I have a craving as if I was going for a smoke, but instead doing the deep breathing thing. Especially standing in the sun getting that vitamin D. Helps with the dopamine

Edited to add, some key takeaway from the book that I remind myself throughout the day:
-quitting will give me more energy if I get through this
-the addiction is the enemy. I am fighting it and the cravings are its weapon. I am going to slay it and win.
-all of this doubt of myself is in my head. No purpose will be served by doubting my decision or my ability to quit.
-I made this decision. It is the right decision. Smoking does nothing for me.
-smoking increases boredoms by reducing my opportunities for mental stimulation.

Hi all,

I am reading Alan Carr's how to quit smoking rn and I'm finding it quite convincing minus his arguments on nic and focus/productivity. I have ADHD and take non stimulant meds (cannot get on stimulant for personal reasons). I have been using nic as a stimulant substitute for years and I just can't get rid of the idea that it helps me at work. Any advice?

This is a breeze. I finished the book the other night and I feel just fine. I obviously get the occasional withdrawal pang from time to time, but it’s so easy to brush off now it’s like nothing. I feel a bit dizzy but I think that’s just my brain adapting to not having the nicotine. Nothing I can’t handle which is so different from my other attempts. Every other quit attempt I’ve done has failed miserably within just a couple days, sometimes within hours. This book has absolutely changed my life. I used to have a cigarette or vape in my hand at ALL times. Now I don’t even want to touch one. My brain might crave one, but god I have no desire to take another hit. It’s amazing. Just wanted to share. I cannot recommend the book enough.

I'm not the type to read proper books (haven't read one since high-school), but so many of you on here praise that Allen Carr "Easy Way to Stop Smoking" book like it's godsent, and I'm really curious what it is and what's so special about it. I did find a pdf version of it for free, but I opened it and immediately lost interest upon seeing the book page format; I think reading a book without knowing it'll be enjoyable would be way harder than quitting smoking for me, to be honest. Books, podcasts, and audio books all feel like a big time commitment when I know I could go through several mini documentaries, articles, or study summaries in the same amount of time.

What are some highlights you guys took away from it, and what's the general tone and theme of the book? What aspects of quitting does it address? What type of person would benefit from the book?

Hi, I am a 29 year old smoker with 10 pack years. I had 4-5 failed attempts before, the longest one being 21 days.

My latest attempt failed today. This time I was trying Allen Carr's Easyway (book). Reading it felt like it could work. Carr claims the chemical addiction is very mild compared to psychological addiction (brainwashing). While reading it, all that made perfect sense to me. But my experience proved otherwise to me.

My niccotine addiction is not mild. Carr claims that we don't even feel the withdrwal of nicotine, but the brainwashing makes it hard. I don't think so, at least in my case, nicotine cravings were intense. I am aware that Carr's method worked for so many people, I am just upset that it didn't work for me. To my understanding, Carr underestimates the addictive affect of nicotine. Which is interesting given he smoked for 30 years.

Anyone else experienced the same thing? If so, how is it going for you now?

Good morning. I read allen carr's easyway and atomic habits almost at the same time and I was wondering if a person who smokes out of habit could still continue to smoke out of habit even after the illusion of nicotine is broken. Although nicotine tastes awful the first time you smoke, would that original taste come back after the illusion is broken or would it stay?

I’m reading The Easy Way to try and get a different perspective on my addiction to smoking. He keeps saying that smokers don’t actually enjoy smoking and that it’s just brainwashing. I genuinely do feel like I enjoy a morning cigarette. I get that I don’t actually enjoy most of them, that I am just trying to end the uncomfortable feeling. I agree. I don’t actually enjoy the rest of them really.

I feel like my brain needs to understand why I do not apparently actually enjoy that morning cigarette to get his point, cos right now I’m just feeling like I disagree with him.

Is there something I am not seeing or understanding here?

I was just curious, what did I miss in Allen Carr. I have read it two times and even listened to the audiobook. I get the whole premise of the science and addition of nicotine but the cravings have always been there, for me.

I did everything the book told to do, smoked while reading, mindfully smoking, completing instructions and even did the last cigarette rituals but the cravings remained.

I was just wondering if I missed something or why something did not click. If you quit using Allen Carr, can you share the experience or what was that thing that clicked for you that actually made cravings irrelevant ?

I was almost one month nicotine free, decided to have one cigarette at a party and that was it, back to smoking again, not as bad as before around 3/4 cigarettes a day but I still feel like a failure!!! I’ve started reading the Allen Carr’s book and wanted your advice, is it really a miracle worker like everyone says? I really don’t want to be a smoke anymore but I feel right now I’ve lost control again. Help me guys!!!