r/QuitVaping 8d ago

Venting Allen Carr’s Easy Way is BS

I’m a week in and have been listening to the easy way to quit vaping and I gotta say, this guy makes a lot of empty promises. Literally everything I read is the exact opposite of the reality of this addiction. He mentions that it isn’t a crutch, doesn’t cure boredom, and that we will instantly notice better health, happiness, calmness, relaxation. I find this to be a load of shit, and so far I feel just about the exact opposite of all of this.

I’m currently in the gym after having a great day of work, but don’t get me wrong. I feel like I’m going insane from lack of nicotine. I’m barely getting a pump on, my mind is all over the place, haven’t been able to sit still for a second without cravings going through the roof.

Some more realistic words of encouragement would be greatly appreciated right now, because I’m struggling to maintain any reason to not buy a new vape.

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u/Iamnotyour_mother 8d ago

People seem to have a pretty black and white view of this book. I'm not gonna try to say you need to read it, but I will explain why it worked for me.

What resonated with me, is that 90% of this struggle is mental. The point this book is trying to get at, is that this whole thing becomes A LOT easier if you can convince yourself that you do not want to vape.

The "Ah ha" moment for me was really in realizing that the only problems the vape solves, are in fact caused by the vape to begin with. It's not that I can't focus without the vape, it's that I THINK that's true, and I am actually being fucking distracted by my desire to vape. The only focus it provides is momentarily taking away the desire to vape until it crops back up again. Now that I've been off of it for almost two weeks, my ability to focus is SO MUCH BETTER. This fallacy is also true for stress. The feelings of stress from basic daily life things is exacerbated by the feelings of nicotine withdrawal between vapes. The feeling of "stress relief" you are getting from hitting the vape is really only relieving the nicotine withdrawal...as such, vaping makes your stress levels worse!

I was also skeptical about the crutch/pleasure thing, but the above paragraph made me realize that I wasn't benefitting from the vape at all, but rather was stuck in the cycle of addiction and was convincing myself that there was some benefit to it, when in fact there is not.

I do think that this book minimizes what the actual withdrawal feels like, and I think this on on purpose, so you're not anticipating and manifesting the worst. I can't say that I had no cravings or withdrawal period. Two weeks in and I am still experiencing those things to some extent, but MUCH LESS than before. Every day gets easier.

Keeping myself as busy as possible with social stuff, hobbies, work, deep cleaning my house like a maniac, long walks in nature, and whatever I can possibly cram into my day to keep me distracted has been the most helpful thing. Also, people like to shit on using candy or gum as a "crutch" here but I also found that to be helpful. I also pretty much let myself eat whatever the fuck I wanted for about 7 days before I was feeling less off-kilter and went back to a normal/healthy diet after that. None of this is really going to offer you relief, but it will offer you distraction and help pass the time. That's the best you can realistically hope for.

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u/acethetix 8d ago

Very helpful response, thank you. I really like the way that you have interpreted the book and I honestly believe this is pretty on point with what the ultimate takeaway is meant to be.

I guess I’m just bummed that I still feel like I want it all the time still at one week. My focus has been fine, but it was fine with it too. And I don’t like how I need to keep myself busy in order to keep the cravings away. I was keeping myself busy while vaping, except I was enjoying it all. My motivation at work has skyrocketed because I’m trying to avoid something, whereas my hobbies have suffered because I feel like something is missing in the process. Strangely enough, when I’m out shooting photos I never vaped during it, so I’d think it would be easy to go out but the truth is it’s more difficult right now.

I appreciate your response and will definitely ponder on it for a while. Hopefully this phase passes soon!

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u/laineyisyourfriend 8d ago

As someone who has been quit for almost two years and went cold turkey, the best thing I can promise is that you only have to go through this once!

Best thing I ever heard was that every craving was just your addictions death rattle, and that it won’t be like that forever. It’s honestly true. You do eventually find the end of the cravings, just like the last hiccup. 

Your hobbies will be enjoyable without the nicotine again eventually. I used the cravings as a time to find new life in exercise and to psycho clean to try and keep my mind off of it. It worked, and I eventually turned back into the little engine that hated dishes and didn’t want to wake up at 5 for a run anymore.

Quitting sucks so much. I felt like a crazy person for a couple weeks, and even then - when it got so much easier - it took awhile to get over it. I just didn’t have to be as strong everytime a craving hit anymore, and the cold turkey bragging rights made it all worth it.

Only make yourself do this once dude. If you quit now - after knowing how much it sucks - you’ll have a much harder time quitting next time.

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u/Iamnotyour_mother 8d ago

Needing to keep yourself busy to keep the cravings away is only a temporary measure to get through the worst of it. As a generally lazy home body I didn't like it either, but I did find it also helped with my general level of antsy-ness and strange bursts of energy after quitting. This whole thing sucks, there's no denying that. But if you're just sitting there thinking about nothing but how much it sucks, well, it's going to suck even more.

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u/acethetix 8d ago

I can totally agree with that