Preparing for No Smoking Day
Preparing for No Smoking Day
If you're thinking this year's national No Smoking Day - March 13 - could be a good time to quit, make sure you're prepared. Locala's Specialist Stop Smoking Advisors will be out and about on the day offering advice and support but Deborah Maguire's story may inspire you in advance.
Deborah smoked for 29 years but she had her last cigarette on 15 August 2012 and now she wishes she had given up years ago.
"It's the best thing I've ever done," she said. "There's no good reason to smoke but I couldn't do this on my own. I tried to go cold turkey but it was too much. I've succeeded this time with help and support of the Locala Stop Smoking Service.
"I've done this by going to one of their group sessions and it was great to share experiences with other people who were going through the same thing. I put on my patch the morning after my first session and I've not looked back. I was worried about what would happen and about putting on weight but they give you information and advice about all that."
Deborah, from Liversedge, used to smoke 15-20 cigarettes a day and is saving around £200 a month since she quit. But it's the health benefits she is experiencing that impress her the most.
She explained:" I'm asthmatic and used to wheeze dreadfully and couldn't breathe properly but now I'm so much better I don't need my inhaler. I can taste food better and generally feel a lot better in myself. When I went to my first session my carbon monoxide reading was 20 - the sign of a regular smoker. The next week it was zero - a definite non-smoker!"
Christine Farmery, a Locala Specialist Stop Smoking Advisor, supported Deborah on her journey to be smoke-free. She commented: "Deborah has done really well, especially as she was so anxious to start with. She was concerned about putting on weight but we give advice about that.
"It's important to realise that there's no magic cure. You have to want to quit and be prepared to work at it, and Deborah was. She was willing to share her experiences and was an inspiration to the others in the group."
And Deborah added: "Christine was brilliant. The really big thing was that she told us what to expect. She warned that we were likely to get headaches but they wouldn't last. So when I did get headaches I wasn't worried and no, they didn't last!
"I'd encourage any smoker to go to a Locala Stop Smoking session. You need to be ready to stop in your own mind and they are there for you. I wished I'd done it years ago."
The Locala Stop Smoking team offers one to one and group sessions on weekday afternoons and evenings across Kirklees. There are new, two-hour Saturday sessions at Dewsbury Health Centre starting at 3pm and at Huddersfield Sports Centre at 11am. For more information about the service and to book onto sessions contact 01924 351498.
