Quittin' time

Are you thinking about giving up smoking? Read the stories of three women who have stopped smoking for good – and how they did it. By Julia Neel

I didn't expect a book called 'Skinny Bitch' to be the deciding factor in my decision to quit smoking, but it was. This book seriously changed my life. When I read that cigarette smoke turns into formaldehyde (the stuff they use to preserve dead animals) in your body I knew it was time to give up for good.

 

I had been smoking for about six years and I really loved having a cigarette and a gossip with the girls, a cigarette with a glass of wine, with the Sunday papers, with a steaming cup of tea… But I have realised that I can still do all of those things without cigarettes and also feel so much healthier. I don't stink after a night at the pub, my skin has visibly improved and I am going to save about £600 a year by not smoking. This is a win-win situation.

 

For the first six weeks I went into a semi-hermitage because I knew I wouldn't be able to resist the lure of 'just one' with a glass of wine, but I am now back to being a fully functional human being and can totally withstand temptation.

 

But I did it the hard way. Cold turkey. I was frightened into it by 'Skinny Bitch', but there are other easier ways to go about it...

 

Unorthodox measures – the knitting technique

Elana, 31, gave up smoking for good seven years ago. 'I had wanted to quit for a year because I hated that my boyfriend had to kiss me when I tasted like an ashtray.' So just before New Year's Eve Elana smoked her last cigarette. 'I remember not smoking at New Year but drinking twice as much as everyone else to give my hands something to do.'

 

Nicotine is a powerfully addictive drug, and for most people who quit, it is the first few weeks without smoking that are the hardest, but eventually, those cravings become less and less overpowering.

 

While some people use patches, gum and hypnotherapy to quit, Elana turned to something different. 'I found it so hard to resist cigarettes so I took up knitting at night time when my hands were idle. It was great. Everyone got scarves as gifts and I eventually stopped wanting to smoke at night.'

 

So how were the withdrawal symptoms? 'At first I felt quite headachy and I was sure I was putting on weight, even though I wasn't, and I was pretty irritable for the first week or so. But I am so glad that I did it. Quitting inspired me to take a new interest in my health and so now I eat healthier too. And, better still, my partner doesn't complain when I kiss him...'

 

Any advice?
'I would say that if you associate smoking with having a drink, try to avoid those situations where you might be tempted to 'just have one…'

 

Extreme measures – anti-smoking medication
After 39 years of smoking almost a pack a day, Jane, 50, knew that extreme measures were necessary if she was going to quit smoking.

 

'One of my daughters had developed a horrible smoker's cough and the other had asthma as a child and I realised that I could not expect them to stop smoking when I was still getting through a pack a day – it would be hypocritical.' So a year ago, Jane spoke to her doctor about a new drug called Zyban - a medicine used to help people who are dependent on nicotine to give up smoking.

 

'I had tried patches, but broke out in terrible rashes and I knew that cold turkey would never work for me – I suffer from murderous cravings – so my doctor prescribed a course of Zyban for me.'

Unfortunately, Jane experienced negative side effects the first time she took Zyban. 'I was taking blood pressure and HRT medication at the time and the combination of all three had detrimental effects on my health. My heart was beating very quickly most of the time, I was sweating like crazy, and having occasional pains in my chest.' But that's not all: 'I had never had much of a libido before but all of a sudden I couldn't stop thinking about sex.'

 

Sadly, a few months after taking Zyban, Jane started smoking again but then late last year Jane came off all other medication and tried Zyban again with much better results. 'The best thing though is that one of my daughters has also stopped smoking so I feel compelled to stay smoke free.'

 

Any advice?

'Have a serious conversation with your pharmacist and your doctor before you take Zyban. And make sure you have the right reasons for quitting.'

Check out what our sister site, Net Doctor, has to say about Zyban...

 

Literary methods – giving up gradually
Twelve years ago, Carol, 41, gave up smoking. She owes her success to a tatty, well-used photocopy of an Australian book called 'Habit Breakers' that a friend put in her hand. At that stage she was smoking over 20 per day and felt as though she couldn't be awake without one.

 

'I quit because I am such a hypochondriac and I just couldn't live with the threat that smoking posed to my life. I was also getting pins and needles in my hands and that scared me.

 

'The book asked that you read a chapter a week, so I did have to dedicate time to the task and be committed to it. Chapter one said that, for the first week, you could keep smoking but you couldn't have a cigarette for 15 minutes after each meal. I also had to wrap a blank piece of paper around the pack and record the details of every fag – date, time and whether I enjoyed it.'

 

There were new rules each week so by the sixth week you are no longer smoking after meals, on the phone, at work, with a hot drink, with other people, while reading or inside the house. 'I found the 'at work' rule the hardest,' says Carol. 'I was working from home and it was so hard to resist a cigarette when I took a break.'

 

So Carol became another ex-smoker who took up knitting to give her hands something to do. 'I'm a writer, so when I previously would have reached for my packet of fags, I started to reward myself by knitting a row each time I finished a paragraph.'

 

Then finally, the book instructs you to collect all of your cigarette butts, put them in a jar, label it 'my last cigarettes', add a bit of water and shake it up. Whenever you feel like caving in to temptation look at the jar. Carol says - 'it was disgusting but it works. I had the jar for ages until it got lost in a move.'

 

Any advice?
'I had tried to quit before using hypnotherapy, but it didn't work for me and I found it depressing – aborted attempts are. So I would say don't give up until you are really ready to give up and do it for yourself.'

 

Thinking about quitting? Check out Action on Smoking and Health's (ASH) top tips...

 

Click here for more on No Smoking Day 

 

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