I read Carr’s book a couple of years ago. The whole time I was reading it, I was thinking “Oh, I get what he’s doing here…this is just simple brainwashing through repetition…man, I see right through this”. Then I realized that I could pat myself on the back for being “smart enough not to fall for these tricks”, or I could roll with it and maybe quit smoking. By the time I finished, a 25-year smoking habit was behind me.
I read the book, but I didn’t quit smoking until I found out I was pregnant. It’s been two years and I haven’t smoked another cigarette. I’ve been very tempted though, and it’s those times that the book has helped me most. Sometimes, it’s not the quitting that so hard . . . it’s not picking the habit back up.
Heroin withdrawal is not dangerous. Nor is opiate withdrawal in general. Nor is benzo, cocaine, LSD, shrooms, meth, pot, caffeine, or nicotine withdrawal.
Granted, the withdrawal process is uncomfortable as hell from some of these drugs. But it won’t kill a person.
Dangerous withdrawals (from drugs of abuse) which can kill: Alcohol & barbiturates.
I agree that some folks can’t give up nicotine without some sort of intervention. IV nitroglycerine got me off of nicotine for good. (I got the IV nitro for my MI).
I remember actor Jason Beghe mentioning that not only did “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking” work for him to help him stop smoking, but that the same methods could also be used to get yourself out of a dangerous mind control cult. (link starting at 7:00.)
2 packs a day @ $3/pack * 30 = $180, which is about $100 less than my car payment. I did say *almost *covered it. I was a heavy smoker!
I always chime in on these discussions with raving support for the book. I’m a bit of a nazi about the ‘Easy Way’… say what you want about other methods that use a nicotine substitute or what have you, the only way to quit and have no desire to go back, IMO, is to internalize the ideas in the book. It’s sort of like losing weight… the only way to really do it right, and keep the weight off forever, is to modify some of your eating habits forever, not to “go on a diet”.
It took me a couple of attempts, but ultimately the book and its ideas are what did it for me. My husband used chantix for a short time, but the book reinforced mentally what his body was telling him, and it helped him as well. And yes, neither of us have any desire whatsoever to go back.
Oh, and I owe a debt of gratitude to the Dope… read about Carr’s ‘Easy Way’ here and ordered it from Amazon; something like $7.95. Best money I ever spent.
Quit smoking in one second? Impossible, so you think . But believe me, my friend, an absolute cure! I will explain the method but first let me inform you that there is no trickery involved here; no hypnotic, medicinal or other physical means to dissuade you from ever smoking again or returning to the tobacco habit.Here is how it works:
- You must reach what I refer to as your DD (Day of Decision). Once established that you seriousely intend to renounce the habit, then you must do the following:
- Take the pack of cigaretts and place them in your right hand (position of the hand is irrelevant; left or right).
- Now crush the pack in your hand but at the same time , leave your mind blank for one second. In short, simply crush the pack and think nothing while you do it. And here is what happens: By crushing the pack and thinking nothing while doing so, it becomes a form of rejection that is not recorded in the subconsious mind. But if you were to say or think while crushing them, “This is my last pack”, then the impulse is not rejected and you will continue smoking. Does that make sense to you? In other words, the brain receives only the rejection and not the message.How did I discover this remarkable method? When I first decided to quit, I would throw the cigarettes out of the truck window and then tell myself that it was my last pack. The next day found myself smoking again. This happened again and again. But one day I threw them out without thinking anything. Lo and behold, the desire left completely. I could not even force myself to smoke! Contact me after you have done the above and let me know the results. (evusmc@yahoo.com).
I’ve had SVT attacks 2 or 3 times a year since 2003. I usually am able to stop them on my own. I’ve also had high blood pressure, which I didn’t bother to treat. I’ve been a smoker since 1990. I’ve been an insomniac since I left the Army in 1991, and tried all of the OTC and prescription meds. None of them worked for long. I used herb to treat it for a while, but that stopped working also. For the last 10 years or so, I’ve alternated between drinking myself to oblivion every night, and not sleeping. I quit drinking a year ago, but started up again several months ago.
Since this last round of SVT, I’ve realized how much my health has deteriorated. I’ve been doing some serious soul-searching because of this. I have a 26 month old daughter, and another due in September. I finally have my dream property that I worked so many years to afford, and I don’t have the energy to do all of the things that I want to do with my 14 acres in the country. I get winded easily, and can’t work as hard as I need to to keep up with cutting firewood, keeping mother nature from taking back my yard, and my latest farming venture. I simply cannot continue abusing my body like I have been for the last few decades. I’ve been rode hard and put away wet, but now I have to accept that I’m no longer indestructable.
I’ve started treating my high blood pressure with diltiazem (which should hopefully also stop the SVT - If not, I’ll have the surgery). I’ve quit drinking, and it’s different this time. I don’t know why, but it is easy. Every time I quit drinking in the past, I’ve felt like I was giving something up, but this time I don’t.
This leaves me with one last serious vice - smoking. I need to quit before it kills me. I’ve quit loads of times by the usual methods. I’ve tried cold turkey, gradually cutting down, the patch, the gum, welbutrin, and hypnotherapy. Nothing worked for long. I’ve recently been reading Alan Carr’s book, “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking”. It seems to make a lot of sense. The hard part is reprogramming your mind to stop thinking of it as giving up something, and start thinking of it as getting free from the addiction.
So, anyone try this method? Did it work for you? Tips?
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Well, after this thread, I picked the book back up. I read a couple of chapters every night before going to sleep. Remember, I’ve been on Chantix for about 3 weeks, and haven’t smoked in 10 days. I finished the book today.
I do recommend the book to the OP, whom I hope is still reading this thread. I wish I’d read the whole book and at least tried it before subjecting myself to the horror that is Chantix (which I am now used to but for a bit there it was vile to me).
What the book really does is change the way you think of smoking- from pleasurable to nasty, from a reward to a suffering, from wanting and needing it to being completely committed and happy to stay away from it. I was pretty committed to not smoking again from day one, but once in a while I had been letting myself have the thought that maybe I could just smoke one here and there and it would be okay- the book recommitted me to NEVER smoking again.
Yipee! I’m a non-smoker! And, OP, you can be, too!
Thanks, Alice, and congratulations! I’m glad my post helped!
I last smoked Friday night, around midnight or so. I thought I would have problems with Carr’s “method,” as it seems too easy, but so far so good! I didn’t plan the date, and never really commited to quitting forever, just tried a practice run out of the blue, just to see how it worked. I just tried to keep the cravings in the perspective recomended by the book. It’s amazingly easy - feel craving, realize it’s a minor empty feeling created by the addiction, celebrate killing the !@#$% addiction - craving gone! After a day, I was hesitant to break the run, after two days, same thing. Today I had a very stressful day (had the stress test on my heart - results normal! OK, why can’t I do anything without getting winded?), but I don’t know if I’ll smoke again or not. I have no particular desire to do so. We’ll see.