Danny

Danny

Danny decided to stop smoking after his daughter came home from school distressed after learning about the dangers of smoking and how it would affect her parent. By not smoking, Danny has managed to save money to be able to take the children away during the summer holidays and has even cut down on their alcohol intake.

My Daughter had a class in year 6 at school about health and it covered smoking. She came home very distressed and asked me to stop smoking so I wouldn’t die and it really hit home. I had tried before to quit but knew I had to try again. 

Truthfully, no, I didn't believe I could achieve 4 weeks Smokefree, but I knew using the service would be my best bet. 

I used nicotine patches for the first 2 weeks or so, and the mouth spray for the rest of the course. I have used Champix in the past and managed to stay quit a few months after the course of tablets stopped, but it does it for you really. I found that using the mouth spray I had to think about when I needed it, which put me in touch with the habit of smoking, when and where I smoked and why. It was an eye opener for me, and I found myself changing things around during the day, so it made it easier. I was aware how much I was using the mouth spray which told me how often I must have been smoking.  

I found it extremely helpful. 

If it hadn’t been for Lindsey calling every week I wouldn’t have done it.  The same person ringing gave a personal touch and we built up a rapport. I didn’t want to let her down and I had my daughter beaming at me cos I wasn’t smoking. I had to dig deep. The daily text messages were fantastic and once I saw the money in my bank account still there at the end of the week, I started taking the kids away for a few days at a time, which I had not been able to afford when I was smoking.  

I visited the Yorkshire Smokefree webpage but I just glanced at it.

My health has improved since I quit, I no longer have to use inhalers for my asthma which I can’t quite believe as I relied quite heavily on them. I can get a proper lung full of air which feels quite strange but am getting used to it. I also start the day without coughing. The biggest thing for me is my mind is sharper, as silly as that soundsI don’t feel ‘foggy’ anymore and I have noticed that I am much warmer, I always used to be cold.  

I have saved money.  My girls and I have been away every week over the school holidays and we have had some very valuable and fun times together as a family. 

I have also bought myself a piano and started playing again, something I haven’t done for a very long time. 

The lockdown helped once I realised I wasn’t going to die from Covid. I contracted it early in the lockdown and was really poorly with it.

For me the telephone was fantastic, better than face to face purely from a convenience point of view. I have 3 kids off school, and it would have been really difficult to find the time to go into a face-to-face appointment every week. 

On a closing note, I would just like to say I couldn’t have done this without the stop smoking service and that if I can quit any one can.  It’s the best way. I can smell better, I can taste better, I have money for things other than for tobacco and as I am not smoking, I have cut down alcohol too, although not completely, come on I am not a saint! For me this has been a WIN WIN WIN!  

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