Nerys

I have an addictive personality and I can be quite rebellious, due to illness and my mental health I did not think I would be able to achieve this quit but I have! I set a quit date with my advisor but then became worried, the night before my quit I remember exactly the time I smoked my last cigarette at 9:20pm, I really expected to become grumpy and fail but I didn’t! I did so much better than I thought, I was worried as I can self-harm when I am anxious and frustrated and I thought stopping smoking may make me anxious but it really hasn’t at all!

I was 14 when I first started smoking but I managed to quit and had 17 years in between that smoking period and this one.

I started smoking when I was 14 becuase it was the cool thing to do at school behind the bike sheds. I was smoking between 26 and 30 cigarettes a day.

The reason I decided to quit this time was because I lost my dad to COPD and cancer, he made me promise I would stop before he died, my uncle then asked the same of me before he died, then my late partner also asked the same of me but he passed away before I could. 

I now have COPD and some days I do feel like giving in but I will not do this for my children's sake.

I have had some issues with alcohol but I am also working hard on this as well as cigarettes and alcohol go hand in hand.

I accessed the stop smoking support by using the telephone support, it was 10/10 service.

I used a combination of Mini Lozenges and Quickmist to help me quit, I found the Quickmist particularly invaluable.

Apart from the products, I made sure I told everyone that.I was stopping, the weekly calls with my advisor were also a great help. This really helped me to quit and stay smokefree. I feel so good in myself with it all, I am really proud.

I think my health has improved since I quit, I am not coughing since I stopped and I am not as breathless.

Since quitting, I have saved up a lot of money and I intend to keep saving to take my children away.

The thing I like about not smoking is that I have saved money and my breathing is better.

I have saved in excess of £350 so far. With the money saved I plan to buy things for myself and my house, I would like some new clothes as a lot of my clothes are ruined from previously burning the whilst smoking.

If I could go back in time to my younger self I would say do not bloody do it! And that is what I say to my kids!