Episode 11 - Featuring Allen Carr Alcohol Therapist Gerry Williams

Welcome to Episode 11 of  Allen Carr's Easyway podcast, where we challenge society’s assumptions and beliefs about addiction. Here, we present a revolutionary approach that doesn't rely on willpower to quit. 

Joining us on this episode is Gerry Williams, a senior alcohol therapist in the UK. Gerry talks about his experiences drinking and then quitting alcohol and his work now in helping other people to see through the illusions that keep us hooked. 

We also delve into the nicotine withdrawal timeline – looking at things like, 'How is nicotine absorbed into the body', 'What is nicotine withdrawal?', 'What does it feel like?' 'What are the side effects?' and 'How long does it last?'

If you’d like your questions answered drop us a line on pod@allencarr.com with whatever you’d like to say or any questions that you have.

Transcript

 | Hello and welcome back to another episode of the Allen Carr's podcast. I'm Colleen Dwyer, your podcast host and presenter of our online video programs. And I'm thrilled to have you back with us. Today, we're here to challenge societal assumptions and beliefs about addiction and offer a revolutionary approach that doesn't hinge on willpower to break free. And joining me today is Gerry Williams, who's a senior alcohol therapist in the UK.
 | And Gerry candidly shares his experiences with drinking and his journey to quitting alcohol and Gerry is now dedicated to helping others break free from the illusions that keep us hooked. In addition to Gerry's, insights we'll delve into the nicotine withdrawal timeline. So we're going to explore how nicotine is absorbed into the body. What withdrawal really feels like it's side effects and its duration.
 | And remember, we are here to address any questions you might have about addiction. And even if your question doesn't make it to a future episode, we will personally respond with detailed advice and guidance. So don't hesitate to reach out to us at pod at allencarr.com And for a comprehensive look at the range of addictions and issues we've successfully addressed, just visit allencarr.com.
 | But for now, just kick back, relax and open your mind to a fresh perspective on addiction. Welcome to the Allen Carr's Easyway Podcast.
 | Hi, I'm Gerry and I'm a senior. Allen Carr's Easyway therapist. I've been working in the UK now since 2018.
 | Hello Gerry, welcome to the show. And I wanted to start by asking how old you were when you first started drinking.
 | Starting a long time ago. Colleen Now 15, 16 and my word, that's a long time ago. And you know, it was that that, that when you're 15, 16, you're desperate to be a grown up. And what a grown ups do, they drink. So I think we all we're all going to fall into that category. You have to have a drink you want you're desperate to be an adult, so you're going to have a pint.
 | We can have a drink. And if I can remember the first time, it was horrible, disgusting, disgusting tasting stuff. But this this pressure, I think, which is quite intense when you're 15, 16 year old lad to fit in and you're going to take that drink, you're going to have that drink. And even if it tastes horrible, then you're going to keep going and keep going and keep going until you pretend that it tastes okay.
 | I think.
 | So. And then what made you want to stop drinking, Gerry.
 | I think when we talk, when we go through the seminars now, I my favourite question is how do you solve a problem you're not aware of? And of course you don't, you can't, you're not aware of a problem. So how can you solve it? And the whole world is alongside you that everybody's drinking? It's a bit of harmless fun.
 | There's no problem until one day you get up and you think to yourself, Right, I'm not going have a drink today. And you end up having a drink and you think to yourself, Well, when the hell did that happen? When? Hang on a minute. I'm it's starting to get a little bit out of control now. I'm definitely not going to have a drink today and you end up having a drink and you think to yourself, When did that happen?
 | And it's almost impossible. You can't you can't put your finger on that time. And at that point then if it starts to get a little bit concerning and it starts to get a bit worrying, I always thought of myself as a reasonably strong willed individual. I'd I'd given up cigarettes with willpower, and I know we will make sure that we give up nothing now with Allen Carr, but I've given up cigarettes with willpower.
 | I started my own double glazing company knocking doors for crying out loud and build up to a reasonably sized company. So there's a reasonably strong willed individual. I thought of myself, but that willpower was powerless against alcohol. And it starts then to get it starts to get this. This what we are convinced of is having a little bit of fun and enjoying ourselves.
 | And it helps us enjoy ourselves and it relaxes us and it does all these wonderful, wonderful things and it's not doing those anymore and it's starting to come along and bite you on the bum. And it's not the good fun that it used to be. And you think, Right, okay, well, I'll just I'll just ease back. I'll take it easy now and I'll control it.
 | Um, and with me, it just got worse and worse and worse. Worse and worse and worse. And I think what also happens is to think about this. It's my fault. It's my fault. All my friends can have a couple of points and not get out of hand. It must be down to me. And that's also an unpleasant feeling.
 | It's my fault. Which of course as alcohol therapists. Now we know it's nothing. It's not my fault at all. We're up against a very addictive drug. But yes, it was. And it got me bad. It got me bad. And the fact that I couldn't give up was making it worse. And worse and worse. And I think, you know, when you're not drinking, you are deprived and miserable.
 | And when you are drinking, you are guilty and miserable. So either way, the situation I was in, I was miserable. Not a good way to live your life.
 | And how did you come across Allen Carr's Easyway then?
 | Well, a girlfriend of mine had quit smoking. She'd been trying to quit smoking for years and years and years with willpower and went to a seminar and she just quit. Now, to me, that was quite incredible because she was a heavy smoker and had tried many, many times to quit with willpower, couldn't do it. And then she went to one session and stopped smoking.
 | And I was talking to her about this is how did you do? And she couldn't explain because I went to this one session as a smoker. I came out and I'm no longer a smoker. Why? And it the logic to me didn't make sense and she couldn't explain it. And I think that that's the usual thing. But they are also running sessions for alcohol, and that was up in London.
 | So I was giving up, let's put it this way, I was giving up every every Sunday clean and then starting every Monday. So something had to give. It was either was going to go further and further down or I had to stop. And this lady had given up, you know, I had quit smoking. Crikey, had quit smoking. It seemed very, very easily.
 | So let's give that a go. And I came up to Raynes Park in 2014 and sat in a seminar, walked out of that seminar and had a it's very it's well over eight years ago now. Colleen So it's, it's a little bit you know, the old brain is not quite as bright as it used to be, but I walked out of that seminar and I, I didn't think anything had changed.
 | And that's the very, very strange thing. But I had a well, I was in a band. I played in a rock and roll band, and we had a a rehearsal that was a Sunday, the 10th of November, and we had a band rehearsal on the Monday, went to band rehearsal. There's always, always beer apps and always be. And then we went down to the pub after that band rehearsal.
 | I didn't have a drink at the band rehearsal. Weird went down to the to the pub after the band rehearsal. I can remember watching one of the guys pick up a pint, have a pint and think, if I could, if I wanted one of those, I could have one. And I didn't have one. And that was the most weird.
 | I and I haven't flown since. So was it difficult? No, it's. I'd been beating myself up constantly. Why can't I give up this bloody stuff that is causing me so much grief? I walked out of that seminar, went to a band rehearsal and went to the pub and didn't have a drink, and it was the most weird, weird thing and I've never been since.
 | So it wasn't difficult. It was strange. I obviously I'm the an easy life therapist now, so I understand the method, but at that point I had no understanding whether it was just this absolute magic marvellous thing that had happened to me and I had no understanding of why. It just completely changed your thought process.
 | How has that impacted your life?
 | Yeah, because it was November. It was November, but six, seven weeks of Christmas, you know, eight weeks to New Year, for goodness sake. I was a serious drinker and I can't go through Christmas and New Year without a drink. Colleen, It's impossible. It's how the hell am I going to do that? And flew through it. I went to see a good drinking buddy of mine and we were a pair of drinkers.
 | There's no doubt about it. We go round normally I go round to hear me come out with the pair as couples and the first thing we do is take a cap off a bottle of vodka, screw the cap up, flip it over the shoulder and say Right, here we go. That was. And I went down to see him in November after I'd been to the seminar and didn't have a drink and fair play that these, my friends are all thinking, well, that's what the hell is happening to Jerry is impossible.
 | This can't happen. And yet there is still this little bit of trepidation going up to Christmas. There's that little bit of trepidation going through to New Year because how can you as a drinker, you can't go through Christmas and New Year without a drink. It's impossible. Flew through it. I had I don't know if that's quite the right because I was only six weeks into it and it was in my mind, Can I do this?
 | Because it is still quite you don't quite understand what's happening to you. You don't quite understand why you're not drinking and why there's no you're not getting up in the morning saying, I mustn't drink, I mustn't drink. You get up in the morning, you've got no desire to drink. It's the weirdest thing. But I still had to. That little bit of thought of getting through Christmas and getting through New Year.
 | New Year's Eve went to the golf club and I was the driver and the people on going with, in all honesty, nearly open mouth. What the hell is going on? He's not he's not, he's not drinking. And it was it was quite something. And we got through went to I went on a golf jolly. Then in April where you know with golf jollies you go away to Spain and drink, play golf.
 | Just one of those you drink and you play golf. And I went and played golf and didn't have a drink. The guys I'm going on the golf jolly with, you know, is this the same bloke that we came last year with? It's it was and there was nothing there. It was, it was nothing. Right. I'm going on this golf jolly and I mustn't have a drink.
 | There was none of that. Colleen It's the weirdest, weirdest thing. I went on that golf jolly and it's difficult to put across sometimes and the seminars as well, because as soon as you start right, I mustn't have a drink. Willpower kicks in, doesn't it? The wife I have now said you can have a drink when you go on the golf holiday.
 | I don't think so. You know, I'm certainly not saying I mustn't have a drink. Everyone else out there is having a drink. Everybody and I didn't. And that was in the April after the November and it just everything got better. Everything in my life got better and better and better and better from from looking a little bit black to say the least, and a little bit down, to say the least.
 | Everything got better and the business got better. My relationships got better, everything got better.
 | Waht abou your relationships with your old drinking buddies, did your relationships changed? Did you have as much fun with them when you weren't drinking?
 | Couple of things on that. One, I think my my real friends were glad because I was on the set on a rocky road. We're going to have to this this on this golf. Jolie We went to Spain and I actually put a deposit down on my house in Spain the previous year. My, my, my good, good. Yes. You've got friends and acquaintances, Coleen, as you go through life, the good friends were saying, don't do that, Gerry, because all you're going to you're going to find a lot of expats and no what are you going to do is going to get and you ain't going to be here in five years time if you're going to
 | drink yourself into an early grave. So I think the real friends were quite pleased, quite pleased, and I stopped. And the acquaintances then I suppose they go by the board. But there were a couple of good, good friends. One wanted to know how I'd done it, you know, how the hell have you done it? It's and the other one didn't want to know.
 | I'm not listen to that rubbish. And and so that was that. You know, one asked me how did I do it? And the other just said, well, oh no, no, I'm not interested. And sort of didn't want to know. But the real friends will always be there. And I'll still see those couple of people now, today, and I still haven't had a drink I've just over a is a couple of them are died now so I'm you know I'm no spring chicken Colleen my friends are of the age now and I'm not going to say that alcohol has killed them but it certainly hasn't helped.
 | This life is this life is wonderful. This life is absolutely wonderful.
 | What then led you to to think about working to help other people to get out of the alcohol trap with Allen Carr's easy way?
 | I suppose I've got a double glazing business for years and years and years and putting plastic in glass in people's houses paid the bills I suppose, but it's not the most worthwhile. And it was very stressful. It was this, there's no doubt about it. I suppose any, any work is stressful, but I found it very stressful. It became a lot less stressful, believe you me, as a non drinker, this thing that we, we believe does all these wonderful things for us, it distresses us, it relaxes us, it gives us pleasure, it gives us coping all these things that we believe unfortunately are completely opposite.
 | And you get out of the alcohol trap and it's not quite so stressful. It's not it's I can start to run this business now and I actually turned it round, but it's not the most worthwhile thing I've ever done in my life. As I say, it paid the bills, but here I am now, not drinking. Starting to think, Well, hang on a minute.
 | There must be a lot of people like me out there that are suffering. I think I look back on it, suffering without a shadow of a doubt and beating themselves up. And as I beat myself up because it's my fault, I've got this drinking problem, it's it's my fault and I can't do anything about it. I've got I'm desperate to give it up.
 | And I come walking out of Raynes park those eight and a bit years ago, the best thing I've ever done in my life. And if there are people out there that are going through the same kind of thing that I was going through, if I can be of service and help those people, then don't want to sound all sort of ultra altruistic, but something worthwhile.
 | If I can help someone that was in my situation, then that's worthwhile. I'm not decrying having a double glazing company, but it's something that has a little more merit. I think, as I say, not wishing I'm not this wonderful person that helps people know if I had a terrible problem. Allen Carr helped me with that terrible problem. If I can do the same thing and help other people, then I'm going to be a happy little bunny.
 | So that was it, really. I remember the first time I got an email and I thought, I have what you want me to do, what we should do on this podcast. But I'm not. I'm a I'm a six foot x rugby playing hard drinking rock and roller. And the first time I got an email, it brought tears in my eyes.
 | That's the honest truth. If someone is emailed in and said, I can't believe how you've helped me, it's not me, it's I'm just a vehicle for Allen Carr. But to get that back and I've changed my life and it's wonderful. It doesn't get any better than that. And I can remember that I was in a car with my wife in a restaurant in Poole and it came through on the email and it's just a I don't know what I hate to think it's ego.
 | I do, but it's something nice about being able to help someone else. Delivering the seminars are great fun. I'd like to hopefully, hopefully the my clients think it's a bit of fun and we get the point across. Maybe having a laugh and a giggle. That's that's hopeful and it's a worthwhile job Colleen And there aren't many of those about.
 | And are people pretty receptive to it? I remember when I stopped drinking, Gerry, to put your hands up and say, Oh, I want to stop drinking. You were saying I'm an alcoholic. I've got a big problem. You know, I'm not trustworthy. You know, there are all sorts of connotations that went with declaring that you didn't want to drink anymore.
 | I think there's still bloody scary labels calling problem drinker, alcoholic. These are very, very scary. And and I think the brainwashing is still out there. It's still out there that that's that's the problem I think the brainwashing I know Allen started with with cigarettes I don't think the brainwashing is quite there Is it with cigarettes today. I don't know but with bright with with the alcohol, it doesn't matter what programme you watch on television, what film you go and see if you want to have a good time and you want to make that good time better have a drink and if you're having a bad time, have a drink.
 | And there it is. It's, it's, it's across everything. And so I think the brainwashing is out there. I don't know whether the the stigma is less or more. I don't know. I feel for the people that come into the seminar because I'm a problem drinker, I'm an alcoholic. Are these are scary labels and I've got great respect for anyone that comes along because it takes a bit of courage to to sit there and say, hang on a minute, this bit of harmless fun is not so harmless anymore and it's my fault.
 | I can't control this. What everybody else seems to be able to control that that I think is is the main one. And I think if I can, the first thing I would say to in the start, the first half an hour of the seminar, there is no blame here. You know, there is no blame at all. We are up against an addictive drug that the whole of society thinks is a bit of harmless fun.
 | So it's hardly surprising that we're having this conversation. It's hardly surprising. We're here today to talk about this. It's a it's a very, very addictive drug that the whole of society thinks is a bit of harmless fun. Put those two together and it's hardly surprising there was an alcohol problem.
 | Did you, Gerry, ever contact AA or anything?
 | I went to one AA session. One AA session. I look back on that. I've got a great respect for AA, but that they are so totally different to Alan Carr. It's certainly didn't it didn't resonate with me claim, let's put it that way. I walked out of there feeling worse than I when I walked in. I'm not an expert on AA and it's not my position to talk about them, but I tried once.
 | It didn't feel right. It didn't resonate with me. It didn't. Again, hopefully I would say hopefully when people come into my seminar, they are going to be lifted. I certainly wasn't lifted when I went to my one AA session, but that's really all I can say about that. They've to do it a different way. It didn't resonate with me.
 | I can remember my doctor. I went for a an insurance medical which sent me scurrying back to my doctor this self like 14 stone adult you're looking at now. I was 20 stone I was 20 bloody stone, an absolute bare monster. And everything was wrong with me. Everything. The blood pressure through the roof, fats and sugars in the blood through the roof.
 | I was an absolute mess. And, you know, I remember lying through my teeth when the doctor told me, ask me how much I was drinking. I was cutting in half. I told him I was drinking 5 pints a day and he went and he went into apoplectic fit at the five pints a day. That was that was just just starters, you know, all the doctor can do is tell you to and always remember just just keep to your 21 units.
 | It was 21 It I know it's 14 units a week now and all the doctor can say, well you've got to stop that. One doctor told me if you ain't going to make it. I was mid-forties, you know, going to make 50. But if it if you carry on like you are, I know nothing about medicals or nothing about a doctor.
 | I've got great respect for doctors, but I don't think they quite understand addiction. Allen Carr understands addiction and being. I think what we say is we don't drink for the reasons we shouldn't. Again, I can remember going through I know I shouldn't be drinking a lot. It's killing me. It's doing is it's doing dreadful things to me that didn't stop me drinking.
 | We don't drink for that reason. Shouldn't we drink for the reasons we do? And until we get a hold of those and understand them, then concentrating on the reasons we shouldn't is worse than useless. Because even if you even if you do give up with willpower, it's not the greatest fun. You spend every waking hour moping for something.
 | You're probably not going to have. How much fun is that? It's even if I. If I went months without a drink, it's not a happy month because I want to drink. I know it's killing me and I know it's doing all sorts of nasty things to me, but I still want to do it. This there's no understanding of why I want to do it.
 | There's no end to what Allen Carr gives you is the understanding of why you're doing these things that you shouldn't be to addiction. What is it that you never get enough of what you don't want and and all the time you're wanting to stop. I want to stop. I want to stop. I want to stop. I want to stop.
 | And you just can't do it until it flips. And to me, I never met Allen Carr because it passed before I started here. But what an absolute genius. When you actually flip it and you start to understand why you're drinking.
 | He really did understand addiction from the perspective of the addict and enabling you to change your thinking about it and free yourself is God was the gift. He left us all, you know, solute absolute.
 | Yeah. And you know, I know we call it we call it the miracle. And I am one of those people. It is an absolute miracle. And what a guy once you see the truth. I think this was Allen, wasn't it? Once you see the truth, the fear of never being able to drink again is replaced by the excitement of nothing having to drink again.
 | And I thought that was absolutely wonderful because you have to as a drinker, I don't. There are times when I don't want to, but I've got to I've got to have a drink today. I just there ain't no way I can handle all the pressures and stresses of the day without a drink. You have to have that drink.
 | It's so in you and that that is just basic addiction. How he unravelled that was to me, genius. And then you look at it as I say, the fear of never being able to have a drink again is replaced by the excitement of never having to drink again. Wonderful. Wonderful.
 | You say that actually you were able to work better without drinking, say like building your business and turning things around and enjoying yourself are actually all of those things were easier. Things that we normally associate drinking as aiding. But actually when you when you stopped drinking, you could deal with things easier.
 | Absolutely, I suppose. How can we sum it up? Alcohol creates the low and then it deceives you. It's an advantage by relieving the low. That's that's what it does. And so it creates the low with withdrawal. And then it deceives us that it's an advantage by relieving that low which it created. So we are going through life as a drinker permanently low, but we've got no understanding of that.
 | That next drink takes us up a bit. It relieves the low. And what we do then is we think that's a high. So, yes, I've got to have a drink. I've got to have my little high. I've got to have my stress relief, I've got to have this and whatever, whatever it is. And we are absolutely hoodwinked and conned.
 | I don't that's that's not too strong a word. We are conned into believing that we need that drink to take us a little bit higher than normal when all it's doing is taking us relieving that low, I suppose at that relief of that low is pleasant. I'm not saying it's not it's pleasant to relieve that low, but why the hell get in the low in the first place by being a drinker, I suppose.
 | Whereas, you know, getting back to being I, I also talk about I've got a lovely quote from Jim Carey and he said, I'm a very serious about no alcohol and no drugs and life is just too beautiful. And it is life is just fantastic. And you've got to grab it with both hands because my word, Colleen, 70 years of age now and then I'll fly by quick, mate.
 | It really does. And so you've got to grab it. You've got to grab this wonderful, wonderful life. And I say, Jim Kerry, very serious about no alcohol, no drugs. Life is just too beautiful.
 | And I and especially like just remembering life. I remember I would wake up in the mornings and just think, what was I doing last night? Who did I find Wherever I left all my things, it was it was horrible because I couldn't remember it.
 | I've never woken up. I regretted not drinking. I haven't lost my phone, I haven't lost my glasses, I've lost my watch, I haven't driven into a wall. I haven't fallen over and broken my nose. I'm lost and woken up. You get home and I've got a brand new leather jacket. It's ripped and I've got no idea how it happened.
 | Not a clue. And you think to yourself what this. This fun is now causing me incredible grief. And that's part of the problem that we think that that fund is under 90% of the adult population for chronic matter are doing it. And we've got no understanding. The only reason it makes us feel better because it made us feel worse in the first place.
 | And it's I had to drink. I was a rugby player. If you're a rugby player, you have to drink this. I know that sounds ludicrous today and I look back on it with abject horror, but as a rugby player you had to drink it. It was part of the rules. You don't go into an amateur rugby situation and not drink.
 | It's it's impossible. And I'm sure what today's professional rugby players don't drink, for crying out loud. So you know, that's that's, that's the difference.
 | But see when I came along to my seminar for drinking, I had this notion that, okay, it's a mess now, but if I could just get back to the bit where I started drinking, where I wasn't out of control, and where I would just be drinking at, you know, certain functions. And I wasn't blacking out and I wasn't, you know, I had this idea that that was like I had this fantasy view that there was an ideal state for me to achieve the Holy Grail, if you like, of drinking on certain occasions, but having control enough not to do it on other occasions.
 | But now, you know, like you say, I recognise those moments were great in spite of the fact that I was drinking as opposed to, you know, because of it, which I thought was very good at demonstrating that at no point on the journey are you in control or are you getting a benefit from it? You really are not, and the benefit belongs to the experience of being with your loved ones or the environment you're in or the achievements that you obtained, not from the drinking itself.
 | Absolutely. That there is nothing to be had and that the normal, as you say, that the Holy Grail, the normal drinker, is not getting any pleasure out of it, it's not getting any benefit from it. Having said that, the normal drinker is absolutely convinced they're getting pleasure and benefit from it. Absolutely convinced. And that's what keeps us drinking, that we're sure there's a pleasure.
 | We're sure there's a crunch. We're sure it relaxes. We're sure it distresses us. Absolutely. It's not doing me any harm. I'm in control until one day you wake up and you're not in control then. And when did that happen? Colleen? That's the question. When. When did I lose control? When did that happen? When did I wake up? When I couldn't control it?
 | And if you look back, there's no way you can answer that question. When did you decide it would become a permanent feature of your life? When did you decide you drink every day and there's not a drinker in the world that can answer that question. Because whenever never did decide it's a drug, the media doesn't help. The media will not say it.
 | It's alcohol and drugs. It'll never even say alcohol and other drugs. Alcohol is not a drug. It can't be a drug because if it was a drug, that means Carlsberg, Smirnoff are pushing a drug. So it can't be a drug. And we were allowed 14 units of this drug per week. So it can't be a drug, but it is.
 | And it's a very potent addictive drug that's a lot more subtle. That's I think the put it becomes it's not heroin. You don't it's not cocaine. It's it's very, very subtle, but it's still a drug and it still works the same way as any other drug does. I get to the other point, which I think I was going to make.
 | That's it. As a rock guitarist, we had a three piece band and I would not go on stage before it and after some place a lager would do it. You're not going to get me on stage until I have off dozen pies, a lager. And we talk about that in seminars. Don't worry about the football socks. I am not.
 | I cannot play guitar until I get off this and pints of lager and that's the power of the mind is so intense. But I played sober for five years and the only difference between play sober and drunk is you. When you're drunk, you don't notice the bum notes. That's it. The that there's nothing, nothing to do with alcohol.
 | It's But you get sober up here, the illusion becomes so convincing. It's it's an illusion which is out of the top drawer. Clean, isn't it? It's out of the top. It's a one. It's the. The illusion is awesome. It's got 90% of the population fooled. It can't. It's a good illusion. It's a pretty evil illusion, but it's a bloody good one.
 | Yeah. Thank you so, so much sharing. And thank you for all the work you do and helping to bring the message to to the other drinkers out there. So much, much appreciated. And your time of course, today on the podcast.
 | An absolute pleasure and I'm very, very, very proud to be associated and a member of Allen Carr's team.
 | Okay, so now we're going to talk about nicotine and I'll answer some common questions about its role in the addiction, what it feels like, and also how long it takes to get rid of it. You know, there are so many trusted sources which misinform us on a number of aspects surrounding nicotine withdrawal. So it is really important that we sort out fact from fiction.
 | So number one, how is nicotine absorbed into the body so nicotine can get into your body in a few different ways. If you smoke or vape, it goes through the lining of your lungs. If you sniff or chew tobacco, it gets absorbed through your nose or your mouth, and you can even absorb it through your skin. But no matter how it gets in, nicotine travels through your blood and it gets all over your body, hits your brain pretty fast.
 | When you smoke, it takes just 7 seconds for nicotine to reach your brain. And what is nicotine withdrawal? Okay, so nicotine withdrawal is what you experience as your body purges the poison nicotine from your system. And nicotine withdrawal isn't something that only happens when you're making a concerted effort to stop. Rather, it's something that happens every single time you put a cigarette out or a vape down.
 | And if you were to do an Internet search, like on nicotine withdrawal, you'll find most sites would describe nicotine withdrawal as including feelings of irritation, fear and anxiety, frustration, anger, difficulty sleeping, moodiness, problems with concentration. But is that true? What does nicotine withdrawal feel like and what are its actual side effects? Well, the physical withdrawal from nicotine is actually just a very mild, slightly empty, insecure feeling.
 | In fact, it's so mild that most smokers don't even notice it throughout their entire smoking lives. As soon as a smoker extinguishes a cigarette, nicotine rapidly starts to leave the body and the smoker begins to experience nicotine pangs. Now, there's no physical pain in the withdrawal from nicotine. It's merely an empty, restless feeling. The feeling of something's missing.
 | Which is why actually a lot of smokers think it's something to do with their hands. And if it's prolonged, the smoker can then become nervous, insecure, agitated, lacking in confidence and irritable. It's like a hunger for poison nicotine. The more obvious physical feelings that the slight feeling of withdrawal trigger are caused by the false beliefs that smoking or vaping helps you to relax, cope with stress, socialise, concentrate and focus, enjoy drinking or enjoy meal.
 | And it's these beliefs that make a smoker who's using willpower to quit experience awful panic, anxiety, upset and irritability. If a smoker maintains that they have made a big sacrifice by quitting and they're uncertain about whether the feelings of deprivation will ever go, then those symptoms get worse and worse and they can affect your sleep and create a horrible feeling of doom and gloom.
 | But the great news is the only course easy way to stop smoking method and shows that the former smoker doesn't suffer any of those negative symptoms. In fact, the physical effects of quitting nicotine are entirely positive, as are the mental ones. As long as you use the right method to quit, most smokers, even really heavy ones, don't experience so much as a nicotine headache.
 | The stages of nicotine withdrawal cease to be a minefield or obstacle course and instead become like a walk in the park. Tobacco withdrawal, even for chain smokers or chain vapours, really isn't a problem. As long as you know how to stop smoking without feeling deprived. So when does nicotine withdrawal start? Well, nicotine is a drug, and whatever methods you used to take it, whether it's smoking or vaping, you will experience withdrawal.
 | And nicotine withdrawal begins as soon as the cigarette is extinguished. Nicotine starts to withdraw from the body and the smoker can experience physical and mental symptoms. When someone has their first ever cigarette, the moment that they extinguish that cigarette, they experience the very slight feeling of nicotine withdrawal for the first time. If they light a second cigarette during the withdrawal period.
 | The slight thinning of nicotine withdrawal is momentarily relieved and the brain concludes non consciously. Next time you feel nicotine withdrawal, do that again. The behaviour of lighting a cigarette in response to experiencing nicotine withdrawal is reinforced every time a smoker lights a cigarette or has a vape, regardless of the fact that the next cigarette or vape will also be causing nicotine withdrawal.
 | So how long does nicotine withdrawal last and how long does it take for your body to stop craving nicotine? Well, the first thing really for us to be clear on is that the smoker's body doesn't crave nicotine. The nicotine addict's body is just trying to purge nicotine. It's a smoker's brain that gets tricked into thinking that the next cigarette will ease nicotine withdrawal.
 | But in terms of how long nicotine withdrawal lasts, most of the nicotine actually leaves the body over the first three days after a maximum of three weeks. There are no traces left. And it does bear repeating that with Allen Carr's Easy way, there is no sense of loss or feeling that you're giving up something. And as a result of recognising this truth that you are freeing yourself from a pointless addiction, you can actually enjoy the little nicotine pangs which occur in the first few days.
 | They are a reminder of your freedom, physiological withdrawal. Well, whether a smoker is in a happy situation, a concentration situation, a sad stress, relaxing, boring or a lonely situation, they are simultaneously experiencing nicotine withdrawal and they respond to that by lighting a cigarette or having a vape. And in that moment of smoking a cigarette, they immediately feel better than the moment before, and they're oblivious to the fact that the cigarette or the vape will just perpetuate nicotine withdrawal says No wonder really, that smokers are conned into thinking that nicotine helps them to be happy or to concentrate, or to cope with sadness and stress and to help them relax or cope with boredom or loneliness
 | and reality. It's got nothing to do with genuine pleasure or genuine improvement of mood. And every time they light a cigarette in one of those situations, the brain concludes non consciously. Next time that happens, do it again. Non-smokers don't have to deal with any of the mental and physical aggravation of being addicted to nicotine. They don't suffer nicotine poisoning, nicotine withdrawal, or the unnatural impact nicotine has on dopamine and their behaviour.
 | Reducing nicotine withdrawal. All a smoker or vapour is trying to achieve when they light a cigarette or have a vape is to recapture the feeling of peace, calm, tranquillity and completeness. They enjoyed their entire lives before they let their first experimental cigarette or vaped for the first time. In other words, a smoker smokes in order to feel like a non-smoker and a vapour vapes in order to feel like a non vapour.
 | Once a nicotine addict understands and calls easy way, we explain how nicotine addiction, irrespective of nicotine's influence on dopamine levels, is actually extremely mild and that the really unpleasant symptoms are nicotine addicts suffers when they tried to quit without easy ways. Hell are the result of a mental struggle that struggle or craving is caused by the nicotine addict feeling deprived of what they think is a genuine pleasure or crutch.
 | Easy way. It goes on to reveal how the nicotine addicts belief systems surrounding the drug, that it helps them to relax and socialise and how to stress and concentrate and enjoy alcohol and take a break from work and so on is illusory and based on misinformation, misinterpretation of personal experiences and their addiction to nicotine. The smoker then concludes that there aren't any factual advantages or benefits to be obtained from nicotine, and therefore there is no point in doing it.
 | This effectively destroys the belief that they need the drug and that simultaneously removes the to smoke or vape which ends the addiction. This leaves the smoker to handle the extremely mild symptoms of nicotine withdrawal without having to experience the discomfort of feeling that they're missing out on something that they used to enjoy or receive benefit from. And this is so important as the former smoker develops new responses to any habitual triggers.
 | The smoke over the first few weeks of being a happy non-smoker, for example, if they used to light a cigarette as they left work in the afternoon, that might be a moment when the thought of smoking crosses their mind. But once they quit with easy way, instead of consciously processing thoughts and feelings of loss, they process thoughts and feelings of release and freedom.
 | Smoking and nicotine withdrawal timeline. Many people believe that nicotine withdrawal is and unpleasant and that there will be nicotine headaches and clear signs of nicotine withdrawal, such as mood swings and difficulty concentrating and anxiety. This belief would create a tremendous fear of quitting smoking and vaping for anyone. But withdrawal is not as bad as people fear. You may be surprised that nicotine addiction is 1% physical and 99% mental.
 | The reality is that smokers go into withdrawal whenever they put out cigarette smokers sleep through physical nicotine withdrawal every night when they go to sleep. But it's so mild it doesn't even wake them up. It is the mental reaction that causes the physical feelings. The notion that smoking or vaping helps to enjoy drinking or enjoying a meal. It's these beliefs that has a smoker who's using willpower to quit.
 | Experience awful panic, anxiety, upset and irritability. It's the notion that smoking helps the person to relax, cope with stress, socialise, concentrate and focus. It's these beliefs that has a smoker is using willpower to quit, experience, awful panic, anxiety, upset and irritability as a smoker goes through the various stages of quitting smoking using willpower. The symptoms get worse and worse and include everything I've just mentioned, as well as sleeplessness and a general feeling of doom and gloom.
 | And the great news is that an easy way method ensures that the former smoker doesn't suffer any of those negative signs of nicotine withdrawal. In fact, the physical effects of quitting nicotine are entirely positive, as are the mental ones. As long as you use the right method to quit. So when do nicotine withdrawal symptoms stop? Well, nicotine withdrawal, which is again, I'll just repeat it a very mild, slightly empty, insecure feeling.
 | So mild you sleep through every night. It starts the moment you put the vape down or the cigarette out, and within 30 minutes you are 50% nicotine free. Within 8 hours you are 97% nicotine free. And within three days you are 100% nicotine free. When do nicotine withdrawal mental symptoms stop? Well, immediately, pretty much. I mean, as soon as you recognise it, you're not making any kind of a sacrifice with the willpower method.
 | That feeling of loss and deprivation can actually increase. And for some people they have to carry with them their entire life. So I've come to a aware of withdrawal. You need the facts, not the fiction. And you can get the facts about nicotine withdrawal and trust us, you'll be pleasantly surprised. And you can quit easily with Allan cause easy way.
 | Thanks again for listening. Please do like and subscribe. And I look forward to our next episode.