Successful Quitters

Success Stories

Kathleen Byron aged 56 from Dagenham had smoked for 41 years. She had suffered from asthma for 10 years and after a visit to the chest clinic, where Kathleen was told her lungs resembled those of a 72 year old she decided it was time to quit smoking. That was nine months ago and Kathleen has not looked back since. Kathleen said 'I feel great now, stopping smoking was easier than I thought it would be, thanks to the help and support of the Stop Smoking group and the 16 hour patch.

Peter Brown aged 45 from Dagenham decided to quit smoking for the sake of his mother, she suffers from asthma and emphysema. Peter contacted the Stop Smoking Service and joined one of the groups. With the support of the group and the use of the inhalator he successfully managed to quit. Since stopping smoking Peter says he feels much healthier and is even considering running the marathon in 2005, 20 years after he first ran it. The money Peter saved from stopping smoking meant he could take his mother away on holiday.

Nicki, aged 32 from Dagenham had tried to give up before but without success, until now. 'At first I really suffered, I found it difficult and it took awhile to stop craving cigarettes. But as time went on it did get easier and the support of the Stop smoking service and the use of Zyban really helped. I think it is the best thing I have ever done and as a result I wanted to help other smokers quit. That's why I am now a volunteer for the service'

Lora started smoking at the age of 16 due to cue to curiosity and the fact that all her friends smoked. Lora had never considered giving up smoking until she became pregnant. During a routine appointment with her community midwife Lora was advised to stop smoking. Although she wanted to stop she never thought she could. Lora was referred to the Specialist pregnancy adviser who supported her in stopping smoking. In order to offer Lora further support her husband decided to stop at the same time. Much to her surprise and the support from the pregnancy specialist Lora found quitting much easier than she thought it would be. Now seventeen weeks into her pregnancy both Lora and her husband are non-smokers and looking forward to the birth of their first baby.