It is a sad, well known fact that more than half of people who smoke cigarettes would prefer not to. There are just as many reasons to quit as there are excuses to continue (believe me, I’ve heard every excuse in the book, and if the book isn’t written yet I could write it!) but the reasons to quit have the weight of reason, health, social acceptance and hard earned cash behind them, so the excuses are starting to sound a little old and tired.
At this point it is traditional to point out all the negatives of smoking in detail, but I am avoiding that tactic as I am sure anyone who has read this far already knows more than enough about the evils of their habit. It is more productive to try and offer some kind of help than to make every smoker who reads this depressed. If you really want details, there is plenty of, uh, ‘motivational material’ at www.netdoctor.co.uk. However, for many people just not being able to light up at the pub any more is reason enough. Whatever your motivation, any reason to quit is a good one……….
So what to do next? There are various sources of help, it is worth considering any or all of these.
ONLINE
The ASH website, newash.org.uk is very helpful and gives details of telephone helplines etc and some basic stop smoking advice. They have more detailed advice available to download at a small cost.
My personal favourite, gosmokefree.co.uk covers the issues in more detail and offers a practical guide to most aspects of quitting.
TELEPHONE
NHS Stop Smoking Line -
0800 169 0 169ll Wales Smoking Cessation Service -
0800 085 2219
GP
As a GP I spend a great deal of time talking about the dreaded fags and prescribing various drugs to encourage my patients to quit. There are a number of medications available from your doctor, and with prescriptions being free for everyone in Wales these days it is a great time to kick the habit for good.
Most people start with some form of nicotine replacement therapy. This would be patches, chewing gum, lozenges etc. I would almost always try and prescribe nicotine patches. This is essentially because there are two aspects to cigarette addiction, firstly the physical nicotine addiction, and secondly the habit.
