Amazing stories of people who stop smoking – Diane Mullins, UK

It’s great to hear from so many people who use Allen Carr’s Easyway throughout the world. The endless pages of stop smoking success stories which are left on our website are so encouraging to read.

Having said that – it’s even more wonderful when we receive more detailed information about those who stop smoking with us.

My name is Diane Mullins. I’m 57 years old & for 43 of those years I was a smoker. You know, just as an example of how our addicted mind plays tricks, until I actually decided to quit I would’ve said I had smoked for around 30 years – we really do push those negatives of smoking to the back of our minds don’t we?

I tried to quit so many times using nicotine gum, nicotine patches, nicotine “everything” – and I also tried hypnosis, Chantix/Champix, and e-cigarettes too. Of course I tried to motivate my attempts to quit smoking with “guilt”.

These other ways of quitting smoking helped me to stop temporarily, but I always returned. I honestly believed that cigarettes were my friend. I would have a longing desire for a smoke after a period of attempting to quit. How stupid did this make me feel? Very stupid! Did it make me put them down? No way – I smoked twice as much after my failed quit attempts. After all, it was obvious to me that “they” were in control, so I just had to arrange my life around that fact.

How did this play out? Well, I work with kids. Of course I wished to be a great role model so I had to be certain to put on fresh clothing if I had smoked & sometimes I sprayed the fresh clothes with Fabreeze to make sure. I added cologne to myself, brushed my teeth, mouth washed & added chewing gum. I’d smell my hands and if I smelled cigarettes, I’d rinse my hands with bleach. You see, I was so embarrassed to be a smoker and felt like such a hypocrite because I tried to encourage young people to live a healthy lifestyle.

I teach English and also do volunteer work in impoverished communities and hospitals. One day I went to my job (at a school) after having carefully completed the “no cigarette smell” ritual above. I will never forget this: I was in the teacher’s lounge talking to another teacher. She stopped talking and said, “Diane, do you smoke? I smell it and it really smells bad.” I was mortified and shamefully, I lied. I told her I had just been in the car with a friend who smoked. I was later angry that “she” had put “me” in that uncomfortable position. Kind of twisted isn’t it? After that, I became very careful not to stand too close to people, to look away when I spoke, or attempted to speak without allowing breath to come out. If I was out in public and saw non-smokers I knew, I would pretend I didn’t see them. That way I could avoid contact and they wouldn’t know the secret.

I’ll add here that these were people who were very dear to me. Eventually I just stopped going places where I’d be likely to encounter these people. I never invited non-smokers to my home – they might smell cigarettes and think less of me. I was ashamed. It was also easier to just stay home and lay around alone because I was plain tired & didn’t have energy to do much of anything. I had my dogs for company & that seemed enough. Of course, I’d open the window when I smoked because I didn’t want cigarettes to make my pets sick. This was my brain on drugs (nicotine)!

I never felt anything positive in smoking. I simply felt weak, trapped, guilty, ashamed, controlled. My willpower was never sufficient, which increased these negative feelings. Nicotine patches or nicotine gum or nicotine lozenges just kept me longing for a smoke until I’d do stupid stuff like take the patch off, smoke, put the patch back on. Didn’t want to cause a heart attack! When I used the e-cigarettes I’d allow myself one “special” and “proper” cigarette each day – usually my first in the morning because I believed my day would be happier that way. Of course before long I was back to my usual smoking routine.

Bottom line: All of the things I did and the ways I felt were indeed caused by my addiction to nicotine. I read Allen Carr’s Easyway To Stop Smoking book, and knew this without doubt. I still felt the need for a more human type of contact, so I viewed the webcast which left me with firm resolve and complete confidence that I could & would be a happy non-smoker for life.

Now I have no desire to ever smoke, and no need to exercise willpower. I had no pangs of any sort or adverse feelings about quitting. I’m so thankful to have found you!!

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