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Not really. Obviously nobody quits without a bit of summing up pluses and minuses. The 'battle' need not be traumatic if one understands the true nature of nicotine addiction. Similarly if one is certain they are not going to smoke again that will be a lot easier.
Willpower is what people that don't understand it call it when someone ''makes up their mind to quit'' and succeeds.
Of course everybody has his own opinion but personally I couldn't care less about what Allen Carr says in his book because everybody experiences smoking in a different way. What I care about is what doctors say for lung cancer, COPD, strokes etc.
From Wikipedia about Allen:
"He asserted that the "relief" smokers feel on lighting a cigarette, the feeling of being "back to normal", is the feeling experienced by non-smokers all the time"
This is 100% BS, not even a kid could believe that.
We all know what addiction is, we don't need someone to explain it to us. He was not a more advanced smoker than an average one and we have all done our philosophical homework about quitting smoking. I do not doubt that people quit smoking after they attend his lectures, it's just a 7 hours brainwash that people pay for and it probably has the same success rate as any other method.
From Wikipedia about Allen:
"He asserted that the "relief" smokers feel on lighting a cigarette, the feeling of being "back to normal", is the feeling experienced by non-smokers all the time"
This is 100% BS, not even a kid could believe that.
We all know what addiction is, we don't need someone to explain it to us. He was not a more advanced smoker than an average one and we have all done our philosophical homework about quitting smoking. I do not doubt that people quit smoking after they attend his lectures, it's just a 7 hours brainwash that people pay for and it probably has the same success rate as any other method.
Hooked up with an anti-smoker girl and moved to another city. Changing the environment was instrumental to easily breaking habits. I'm now a non-smoking man married to that same woman for more than 20 years.
have no reason to and i'm not interested as to what allen carr has to say its just a profit making
I got lucky... I came down with pneumonia one December. After being bedridden, not being able to breath comfortably that was it. Coming up on 25 years.
Whatever you do, avoid the “vaping” trap. It is not a “healthy” substitute, and is merely swapping one addiction for another.
Now if you’ll excuse me, I need to go clear out my inbox for the inevitable influx of hate mail from vapers...
Well, it is quite possible that vaping has actually saved and prolonged people's lives, so maybe this advice is not really very helpful, especially for those who are really "lost causes," like I was. I smoked for over 35 years, and at least 2 packs a day for most of that time. Smoking completely owned me, but I still loved it, and literally could not face the thought of life without it. Seven years ago, around age 50, I suddenly switched completely to vaping as a last resort, stopped smoking overnight, and have not had a single cigarette since. Sure, I was "swapping one addiction for another." But it is not the nicotine that kills you. My lung capacity improved noticeably within just a couple of months. Nowadays I can walk up multiple flights of stairs without heavy breathing, something I could not do even in my 20s. I have experienced literally no negative side effects of vaping at all, after 7 years of doing it all the time every day. The cost is minuscule relative to cigarettes. I can do it around my wife, kids, and pets, and there is no threat of harm to them. I don't stink of smoke. And because I use relatively small devices which don't produce big clouds of vapor, I can do it discretely in almost any place, public or private, without anyone even noticing. The only loss for me is literally that it is only about 70% (roughly) as satisfying as the "real thing", and I am happy to make that exchange, given all the other benefits.
Yes, maybe someday someone will find some really horrible consequence or side-effect of vaping. But while all those scientists are desperately trying to find these negative effects, there are literally millions of human guinea pigs out there who have already being conducting such "experiments" for years in "real life" without doing any serious harm to themselves, none that I have heard of anyway. In my view, for desperate cases like myself, vaping devices should be available on prescription since they can literally save and prolong lives, ameliorating a serious public health issue. Sure they may not be 100% "healthy" in themselves, but there are literally millions out there now who can tell you that they are self-evidently massively less harmful than cigarettes. And unless you have yourself been a hopelessly addicted smoker who has actually made the shift to vaping devices, you cannot really appreciate just what a god-send the latter are for people like me.
I should add that I am in awe of any heavy smoker who has managed to give up nicotine altogether.
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All these stories of quitting are giving me a lot of hope. I've been smoking a long, long time and I've quit for months at a time before, felt better but caved in because others around me smoke.
This year I'm preparing to try again, don't know if I'll try Chantix or try cold turkey but I know I'll give it my best shot. On the plus side a pack of cigs here is $30, one pack a day is $10,950 per year, I could buy a nice boutique bass for that kind of money. The wife says "go for it" so for once I'm going to listen to her.
This year I'm preparing to try again, don't know if I'll try Chantix or try cold turkey but I know I'll give it my best shot. On the plus side a pack of cigs here is $30, one pack a day is $10,950 per year, I could buy a nice boutique bass for that kind of money. The wife says "go for it" so for once I'm going to listen to her.
Just a quick update - I've been smoke-free since June 30th. That's after smoking a pack a day for 50 years. That Chantix worked amazingly well. I've been off that as well, since July 15th or so.
. Amen. I have 8 years in vaping and nothing but better lungs. I still use low nicotine, because like caffeine, I LIKE IT. Nicotine is highly addictive yes but in its pure form as in vaping, it really isn’t a extremely harmful drug: Google it. My nic content is low so I can go hours without craving the vape at all. When time permits I vape because it’s enjoyable. Similarly, alcohol is a straight up POISON, not a “drug” and most of us don’t think much about that when we enjoy a couple of tasty brews.
Huh? Never even approached proposing anything. Simple compare and contrast to... never mind. Your imagination will get away on you again.
Edit. Btw a 12oz beer (5%) has 0.6 fl oz of pure alcohol. Poison. My nic juice has 3mg per milliliter. I vape about 10 ml a day so 30 mg. And certainly my body doesn’t absorb all of that nic in the cloud. Likely well over 50% of it never even contacts flesh to be absorbed.
Edit. Btw a 12oz beer (5%) has 0.6 fl oz of pure alcohol. Poison. My nic juice has 3mg per milliliter. I vape about 10 ml a day so 30 mg. And certainly my body doesn’t absorb all of that nic in the cloud. Likely well over 50% of it never even contacts flesh to be absorbed.
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Congrats to everyone out there who has quit!
I’m coming up on 3 years no nicotine/cigarettes/vape of any kind
And I smoked for 10 years
The thing that helped me kick it cold turkey, was health problems I started to have.
Every time I smoked, my heart would have palpitations and a whole lotta anxiety came with it.
I had wanted to quit already for a couple years prior, but it finally took feeling/experiencing real life health consequences.
Maybe for some y’all could go get your lungs examined and see some real damage!
Also, my last cigarette happened to be with Matt Garrison, so that’s a cool way to go out.
Lastly, don’t let your guard down! Even after 2+ years it will sneak up on me like no other! All of the sudden you’re ready to say F it and dive in.
What helps me stay true is my 4 year old son. I know his chances of smoking cigs when he gets older significantly decrease if I’m not a smoker
Ok FINAL thing. Do you want to be owned by a company??? Phillip Morris etc love having a bunch of addicted customers to line their pockets with.
Side note-
I’ve also had some friends who had success with flavored toothpicks
All the best to everyone reading this, and YOU GOT THIS.
Replace it with practicing and working out
I’m coming up on 3 years no nicotine/cigarettes/vape of any kind
And I smoked for 10 years
The thing that helped me kick it cold turkey, was health problems I started to have.
Every time I smoked, my heart would have palpitations and a whole lotta anxiety came with it.
I had wanted to quit already for a couple years prior, but it finally took feeling/experiencing real life health consequences.
Maybe for some y’all could go get your lungs examined and see some real damage!
Also, my last cigarette happened to be with Matt Garrison, so that’s a cool way to go out.
Lastly, don’t let your guard down! Even after 2+ years it will sneak up on me like no other! All of the sudden you’re ready to say F it and dive in.
What helps me stay true is my 4 year old son. I know his chances of smoking cigs when he gets older significantly decrease if I’m not a smoker
Ok FINAL thing. Do you want to be owned by a company??? Phillip Morris etc love having a bunch of addicted customers to line their pockets with.
Side note-
I’ve also had some friends who had success with flavored toothpicks
All the best to everyone reading this, and YOU GOT THIS.
Replace it with practicing and working out
I quit in Dec 1992 after smoking MB reds for 20 years.
For me, it came down to a psychological approach after numerous times of 'quitting'.
I'd tried everything. Then one day I watched a documentary about the family that owned Phillip-Morris and saw how these people lived at an opulent level beyond that of kings.
So I calculated how much money I'd contributed to their lavish lifestyle over the 20 years I'd been smoking. It was enough to buy a new car.
That did it for me. I thought "F" those bastards. I'm not giving them one more cent of my paycheck. And that was that. I threw out the ashtrays and never touched a cigarette again.
Sometimes you just have to get pissed off to make a change.
For me, it came down to a psychological approach after numerous times of 'quitting'.
I'd tried everything. Then one day I watched a documentary about the family that owned Phillip-Morris and saw how these people lived at an opulent level beyond that of kings.
So I calculated how much money I'd contributed to their lavish lifestyle over the 20 years I'd been smoking. It was enough to buy a new car.
That did it for me. I thought "F" those bastards. I'm not giving them one more cent of my paycheck. And that was that. I threw out the ashtrays and never touched a cigarette again.
Sometimes you just have to get pissed off to make a change.
I smoked for about 10 years and stopped in '89 back when cigs were 1.25 a pack.
Was up to about 2 packs a day... depending on if it was a drinking day.
Decided to stop because someone else I knew was going to stop.
Hot chicks tend to be great motivators.
Tried to stop and got to the point where all I could think about was smoking/not smoking. Really felt crazy and i was blowing up on people at work for no good reason that they knew.
Bought and smoked about 3 cigs out of a pack. Threw them away and went through that crazy cycle about 3 more times in two weeks... felt worse about smoking again every time.
Lightbulb moment was when I realized I could prevent feeling bad about myself about smoking again by NOT smoking again.
Desire to smoke was gone in that instant.
Never had a craving or smoked again.
Was up to about 2 packs a day... depending on if it was a drinking day.
Decided to stop because someone else I knew was going to stop.
Hot chicks tend to be great motivators.
Tried to stop and got to the point where all I could think about was smoking/not smoking. Really felt crazy and i was blowing up on people at work for no good reason that they knew.
Bought and smoked about 3 cigs out of a pack. Threw them away and went through that crazy cycle about 3 more times in two weeks... felt worse about smoking again every time.
Lightbulb moment was when I realized I could prevent feeling bad about myself about smoking again by NOT smoking again.
Desire to smoke was gone in that instant.
Never had a craving or smoked again.
Cold turkey after a really big bender. Could hardly breathe. Broke all my remaining cigs and threw em in the toilet. That was 15 years ago
Was very hard to quit. I took long walks when. Cravings appeared
Was very hard to quit. I took long walks when. Cravings appeared
DiabolusInMusic
Functionless Art is Merely Tolerated Vandalism
Of the piles of vapers I know, I have yet to personally meet a person who switched to vaping and actually quit using nicotine. I have, however, met dozens of folks who are "quitting" with vaping and that is, quite frankly, kidding yourself. My one friend has been quitting so long with his vape that he now uses it all the time, even in places that now have zero smoking. I am fine with replacing smoking with vaping as a less dangerous alternative but let's not kid ourselves by calling vaping a "quitting aid." That is just as deceptive as the smoking ads of yesteryear.
I smoked for well over a decade but I was fortunate enough that I didn't give much thought to quitting. I got sick of the habit, the smell, and the health cost so I just eventually stopped one day cold turkey. I never got rid of the cigarettes in my freezer though, still have 3 packs, and I always and still consider myself a smoker even though I haven't had a smoke in years and I didn't enjoy the last one I did have. I firmly believe that if a person truly wants to quit, they will. As most of us smokers know, most "quitters" aren't doing it for themselves and will eventually fail.
Well, for those of us who were much heavier smokers for far longer periods, you have to understand that the choice may be between dying a horrible, drawn out, painful death and just being addicted to nicotine for the rest of our lives. And since the latter won't actually kill us and will actually allow our respiratory systems to recover significantly, quite demonstrably improving our quality of life, that is still a very meaningful choice to have. Truth be told, being addicted to nicotine doesn't bother me in the slightest compared to the alternative.
well it worked for me i smoked for 40 years got myself a vape over time i brought the nicotine content of the vape down bit by bit well what can i say 3 years without smoking and a year without vaping. yes a very good quitting aid
and also i was a heavy smoker 40 plus a day
DiabolusInMusic
Functionless Art is Merely Tolerated Vandalism
You make it sound as though you are powerless to nicotine. I am never going to say the fight is easy but I don't believe the fight is unwinnable, for anybody.
well it worked for me i smoked for 40 years got myself a vape over time i brought the nicotine content of the vape down bit by bit well what can i say 3 years without smoking and a year without vaping. yes a very good quitting aid
Congrats brother, that is fantastic news. The only other person I have heard of it working was another TBer. I just don't know anybody in my personal circles that it has worked out for.
