The real life quitters below tell their true stories about how they successfully stopped smoking and how they used the free NHS support. Read about their real-life experiences.
David is a member of staff at Medway Maritime Hospital. He originally smoked 40/day and was told by a colleague about the Smoking Cessation Service for hospital staff run by Medway Stop Smoking Service (MSSS) in Occupational Health at the hospital. David called MSSS to find out more and was subsequently booked in to see the Smoking Cessation Advisor at the hospital. After discussion with the Advisor, he chose to use Zyban and also attended weekly support appointments for 7 weeks. David’s quit day was 24th Jan 2009 and he has been smokefree ever since!
Barbara was being treated at the hospital for claudication and was strongly advised by the Vascular Team to quit smoking. After discussion with her, her consultant (Dr Andrews) referred her to Medway Stop Smoking Service (MSSS). Due to her poor health and mobility, Mrs Hood used the Acute Telephone Support Service provided by MSSS. After discussion with her Smoking Cessation Advisor, Mrs Hood decided to use nicotine patches and an inhalator. Her quit date was 15/11/2008 and she has been smokefree ever since!
I started smoking when I was twenty one. I remember that all my friends were smoking at that time and, in my generation, it was a pretty cool thing to do! So I tried it, perservered with it and I got hooked.Previous attempts to stop smoking have been numerous over the years. At one time I even became a 'sneaky' smoker, none of my family or friends knew that I had started smoking again. I felt so embarrassed that the cigarette, yet again, had got the better of me.
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Getting free stuff to help give up is good too because it’s another form of help and handy for people with poor will power.
The patches work incredibly well and I’m already feeling the benefits of not smoking. I’m doing really well, not had a single craving and my family are so proud of me. If you want to give up smoking, don’t do it alone :O)
I started smoking when I was about 15, I'm 29 now. My friends and I thought it was "cool", so we used to pinch cigarettes from our parents.
I'm 19 and my mum is 37, we've both been smoking since the age of 12. I started because my mum did it and so did my mates and she started because other kids were smoking.
We both decided to quit in March. My mum wanted to do it because of me, my brother and sister and she was worried about her health. I also wanted to do it because of money and health and because I was sick of relying on cigarettes.
We decided to join a group in Medway together so we could support each other. The best thing for both us about the group was hearing other peoples experiences and point's of view. Stopping has improved my life and I know my mum is hoping it will do the same for her. I've already noticed health benefits and my mum has said her relationship with us has benefitted.
I would encourage other people to quit because its worth it in the end. It will be the hardest but best thing you'll do!
Kris Waller from Gillingham quit a 50 year cigarette addiciton with the support of Medway Stop Smoking Service. Advisers helped him become smokefree after smoking 20 cigarettes a day.
Join our Online Smokefree Service and interact in online sessions, track your progress and recieve help and advice from health advisors and fellow members.
