I have been a smoker of both tobacco and cannabis for 25 years and have tried giving up repeatedly since I was 21 (19 years ago) as I knew back then how dangerous the habit is as both my grandfathers died from smoking related lung cancer.

In my attempts to give up I have tried every method that there is including all the Nicotine Replacement Therapy (Patches, Gum, Tabs etc), hypnosis (about 10 times), acupuncture (3 times), read all the books by all the authors, Buscopan, incarceration, long flights etc etc etc. The longest that I ever managed to give up was about 14 hours…

I tried Champix when it first came out. Did a 13 week course but did not manage to give up. Was able to power my way through the whole course with no side effects from smoking my usual quantity.

Then 5 weeks ago I decided that I wanted to give up again after my 3 year old daughter pretended to smoke a crayon. I went straight to my Doctor and asked for another course of Champix. At first she was reluctant to give me another course but I expressed to her that I was deadly serious this time.

So I started taking Champix again. I decided that my quit day would be 8 days into the course. On the 10th day I stopped smoking………… I STOPPED SMOKING ! ! ! !

It is now three weeks since that day and I have not smoked again. I feel like a whole new life has begun for me. My family and friends are all supportive and are amazed that I have given up.

Five days ago I came to the conclusion that now that I don’t smoke I will never start again. That is it for me. I see smoking for what it really is now and it is not at all glamorous as it was portrayed to me as a boy. Anyway, because of the fact that I have decided that was the end of smoking for me, then I decided that I don’t need to take the tablets anymore. So I haven’t. Consequently, over the past 4 days I have started to experience some withdrawal symptoms from giving up both smoking and tablets but it is nothing that I cant handle. Poor sleep, poor appetite, a little bit irritable. But then there are already noticeable positives. Better tasting food, no smelly clothes, less risk of a heart attack, no headaches, better memory and thought processes. Less chance of assisted breathing as I get older... The list goes on and on.

My conclusion is that if I can give up smoking then almost anyone can give up but it really is a case of wanting to do so. Champix helped me but then I think most methods would have this time because I was determined..

I know that i have a long way to go and i am prepared for that struggle.

Good luck to anyone else that is trying or thinking or has given up. It is really worth it..