*Stub Me Out* - Smoking Cessation with Brian Shardlow.

[sparrow.2]

I started smoking 15 years ago and have basically been on 25-50 cigs a day since then.

Never really wanted to stop and actually really liked smoking. The whole routine behind it and the paraphenalia associated with smoking was nice. First thing I did in the morning and last thing I did at night were have a cigarette.

That was then.


My girlfriend and I started taking champix because she wanted to stop and I thought it wouldn't work anyway. The great thing about it was that I was able to continue smoking while taking the tablets.
A week later I was glad to stop and really looking forward to smoking my last cigarette. The way champix worked meant I wasn't getting what I was expecting from the fags and smoking a steady 30 odd a day to try and compensate as you didn't get what you wanted from the cigs anymore.

That was six weeks ago.


Six weeks down the line I look back on 15 years of smoking and think - why? I can walk further, have a better sense of smell and taste, can sit still for more than 2 hours without getting fidgety or irritable, have more cash, etc.
One of the major things I dread to think about is how bad smokers smell. I have several colleagues at work who I always used to go have a cigarette with and they smell like ass to me now. To think I smelled the same really makes me shiver. They really smell shit.


The champix did not get on very well with me either and 5 weeks of stomach cramps and other side effects I have quit and like it that way.
One thing that did help with the fidgeting were the plastic cigs called crafe-away i think. No nicotine in them, just the shape and size of a cigarette and you can take a drag on them too if you like.

At the end of the day one thing is left to be said:

Stop Smoking -
It makes you smell like ass!