Is Allen Carr some kind of magic?

[wintertime6]

Like a lot of people this year, my drinking has got pretty bad. I've had an unhealthy relationship with alcohol for years and have tried to cut down or to only drink at weekends etc on numerous occasions and never got very far.

So I started listening to Allen Carr's audiobook in the car on my work commute and finished it earlier in the week. I don't think I learnt anything I didn't already know and I finished the book and wondered if that was it? I admit I had been waiting for some sort of epiphany at the end but no there was none.

But the weird thing is that I haven't wanted a drop of wine since finishing the book. Like I really haven't wanted it! This has never happened to me before. I was tentatively dreading Friday when I would usually pour a glass when I get in from work around 5:30pm and often be opening the second bottle before the kids were into bed around 7pm. But no, I had absolutely no desire for even one glass! My DH got himself a beer and asked if I wanted a drink and I said a cup of tea. I could tell he was surprised but he didn't say anything.

So here I am starting on Day 5, waking up without a hangover. I just feel really weird. Like I'm not myself. I don't even know how to describe it. I'm sure my post makes no sense but I just had to write something down.

[mellongoose]

Congratulations @wintertime6! You should be really proud of yourself.

That weird feeling (I hope) is energy. With a little bit of well deserved smugness thrown in. Waking up without a hangover on a weekend is like being given the gift of time.

I don't know where you live but could you sneak out for a lovely walk alone before everyone else wakes up?

[CodenameVillanelle]

Well he stopped me smoking just by reading a book and it certainly felt like magic at the time. Really I think there is science and evidence behind it and it's your brain that is magic but if you believe in it then it will work!

[APheasantPluckersSon]

That’s great OP, well done!

To answer your question though, yes I think you’re right. DP was a heavy smoker for over 20 years. Last year he listened to the Allen Carr smoking book and quit cold turkey. He said it was weird as he didn’t have any cravings. Like you, he’d tried to quit before and always failed.

I can’t think of any other explanation

[XDownwiththissortofthingX]

I stopped smoking in 2009, went cold turkey, stopped with no real problems despite having puffed away quite enthusiastically for over 20 years.

It was about 2 or 3 years later that I first heard about 'the Allen Carr method', and upon investigation I realised that I had kinda come to exactly the same conclusions as Carr about smoking, and I think that's why I found it relatively simple to quit.

In short, I got to the point where smoking was making me quite physically ill on a regular basis. Breathlessness, Bronchal fits, that sort of thing. It got so bad that I realised I hated smoking, and that I wanted to quit more than I wanted to continue to stop. That desire to quit gave me all the willpower required.

If often said since that I think the problem many smokers have, is that they say things like 'I should quit', 'I want to quit', 'I wish I could quit', etc, when all of those are dramatically different from 'I am quitting'. If your desire to smoke outweighs your desire to quit, then you'll just continue to smoke and any noise about quitting is just for show really.

The way to do it is do it at a point when you are absolutely convinced you want to stop more than you want to continue, then as soon as you do stop, you have to regard yourself as an 'ex-smoker', and not just a smoker who is trying to quit. Any pangs and cravings you feel is therefore just your body returning to normal, and not your body telling you you should be smoking. The 'ex smoker' mindset also helps the more bloody minded, in that when I was still getting cravings two weeks after my final cigarette, I was thinking to myself 'absolutely no way am I chucking away two full weeks of being a non-smoker'. It gets much easier to maintain that mindset the longer you go.

It's not 'magic', and it's not even complex psychology or some sort of mind-trick, it's just about fundamentally reassessing your relationship with your problem substance, and how you go about framing your abstinence in your own mind.

[XDownwiththissortofthingX]

continue to smoke obvs

[Magicsprinkles]

Am going to buy it now,!

[myhobbyisouting]

I think it's because you've already decided that's what you're going to do. Well done

[wintertime6]

I think I feel weird because I really have no desire to have a glass of wine (now it's actually 7:30am and I wouldn't normally have had a desire for vino at the time of day, but you know what I mean).

When I've stopped for short periods before or cut back, I've always known the damage it was doing to me, the awful hangovers, forgetting what I had said, who I had phoned or texted, driving to work and knowing I was probably still over the limit. But despite knowing all that, I still really craved that glass of wine after a hard day (and also after a good day, or to celebrate something or to commiserate something else), which was never just one glass. And in the past, that desire took over, despite knowing all those things.

I'm really keeping my fingers gets crossed that this feeling continues, because if I can lose the desire to drink, then surely that's all I need to do.

[wintertime6]

@Magicsprinkles I assume his books are all similar but I got the one called the easy way for women to stop drinking. Would be interested to hear how you get on with it!

[Planetzog]

The book that stopped me drinking over 5 years ago was Jason Vale's Kick the Drink Easily. It gets you to look at alcohol in a totally different way - after reading that it seemed actually ridiculous to want to drink! I gave up completely for about a year and now have just the occasional G and T. It's brilliant.

[wintertime6]

I've made it through Saturday night, I am so pleased with myself! I had a little wobble earlier when preparing dinner. DH was out and that would usually be a good excuse for me to get started on the wine without him noticing and I did think about it but then I realised I didn't actually want it, i just thought I wanted it because that's what I am so used to doing. So I made a nice coffee and enjoyed that instead.

Think I'm going to have to stock up on biscuits though, I seem to have got through an awful lot the past few days 😬

[catchyjem]

Hi, I read Alan Carr's easy way to control alcohol just over a year ago. I found the same as you, it was like magic. I stopped drinking instantly and haven't touched it since. The desire is just gone. I feel so much better being a non drinker now. I love feeling alert in the evening, not losing my train of thought in conversations and not having any hang overs. I actually like being the one able to drive everyone home on occasion! I've discovered some really delicious soft drinks. I actually tried a tiny sip of my mum's wine the other week, just to see whether I still liked it really....honestly it tasted like I imagine drain cleaner would taste! Absolutely disgusting, and I don't have any doubts about continuing as a happy non drinker.

[SparklyGlitter95]

I quit smoking after a 10 year habit thanks to Alan Carr. Amazing. Not a single craving or anything, and I could be around smokers without wanting one myself. I remember wanting to shout from the rooftops how good it was! Before I read the book I was sceptical, I thought the reviews were too good to be true. I was wrong!


Well done OP

[ThePinkGuitar]

Following

[EIsaCragg]

Well done on your progress so far @wintertime6. Yes, it works.

I'm now over a year alcohol free. It really does flip that switch in your brain, so you just don't have the desire any more.

My life is so much better now, the benefits are amazing. More time, more money, no hangovers, no anxiety. My rosacea and allergies have all cleared up. It is so mentally freeing to not have that constant alcohol chatter in your head. It's the best thing I have ever done for myself.

[heatseeker14]

I used his book to quit smoking nearly 20 years ago. More recently I read his book Easy Way to Control Alcohol, and haven’t had a drink for 7 months. His books basically reprogram your mind. Take your time to read the book and absorb the content.

[ThePinkGuitar]

Which book was it op and how quickly do you read it?

[ThePinkGuitar]

Sorry just realised it was the audio book- I read the book but very slowly and it didn’t work for me thinking the audio might be a better option?

[wintertime6]

@ThePinkGuitar it was The easy way for women to stop drinking. I'm rubbish at reading books (although I used to read a lot, and maybe I'll start again now that I've got a clearer head) so the audiobook was great for me and I just listened to it in the car on my way to work. I think it took me about 2 weeks to get through it.

[wintertime6]

I've now moved on to The Sober Diaries to keep me company on my commute, it's a lot more humorous and I'm finding it very relatable.

[whatnow41]

My DH is sober 3 yrs now thanks to Allen Carr, so I think there's a lot of magic in his books. Although I read his one for weight loss...and I'm still fat.

[fandigo]

I read the Allan Carr stop smoking book 12 years ago and have never touched a cigarette since. I remember thinking "when is he going to get to the bit where he explains how i stop smoking". It was weird... the book doesn't really say anything much, yet like magic, i was repulsed by the mere notion of smoking. Definitely witchcraft.

[Summerhillsquare]

Does he have one to deal with the biscuit habit?

[fandigo]

I too read the one about weight loss alas that one didn't work for me either

[wintertime6]

I'm on Day 10 today. A few weeks ago the thought of 10 days without a glass of wine would have felt so impossible, but here I am, not counting the number of bottles of wine in the cupboard and wondering if I might need to pick up a few more, and not doing endless runs to the bottle recycling wondering was I not just there a few days ago.

I've been having some mad dreams though, quite a few about alcohol, not all involving me.

In the past 10 days my Fitbit tells me that my resting heart rate has plummeted by a whole 13 beats per minute and is lower than it's ever been since I've owned my Fitbit. Really makes me realise what I've been putting my body through over the years.