Your Health Barnet blog

Adrienne was a smoker for 50 years and was convinced that she would never be able to stop until she found the Barnet Stop Smoking Service.  

Adrienne was fed up with her smoking cough – ‘it sounded horrible!’ – and was diagnosed with mild emphysema due to smoking. Changing the language she used to refer to her ‘quit day’ as her ‘tobacco free day’ helped change her mindset and within 8-9 weeks, she was smoke free and she still is 6 months later. But how did she do it? 

Adrienne went to different clinics at first but found their approach to quitting wasn’t for her, until one day she was handed a card detailing the Barnet Stop Smoking Service (BSSS). She decided to call, to take control of her addiction and found that the service was tailored to fit each patient.  

‘After the first few sessions, I just knew it was going to be easier than I thought. The support and knowledge I got from the Stop Smoking Specialist, Nicky, was so vast and helpful, and everything just made sense. 

‘I’m still on the 10mg patches and I still get cravings without them. I know that if I take one puff, I’ll be right back there so I tell myself don’t you even dare! To combat my cravings, I distract myself with various things. I move rooms, stroke the dog and sit in the garden. Basically, when I get a craving, I move to a different environment. It’s a battle with yourself but you must push through and not panic as in about 5 minutes the craving will go away.’  

Six months on from giving up smoking, Adrienne has noticed improvements to her physical health: 

‘I have multi-joint arthritis and I’m sure being smoke free has helped in some way, I have got more breath when I sing and have noticed I am generally less breathless when dressing myself and walking around the house. I also used to have a cough that would wake me up at night. It went after 2 weeks of giving up tobacco, and my sleep has improved too.’ 

While Adrienne is still using her NRT and vaping, she said ‘I have a lot of support from the BSSS and the Smoke Free app where I can get 1-2-1 advice from trained advisors, whenever I need it. I have also joined a Facebook group for extra support. The app can tell you the last time you smoked, the number of days you have not smoked, and the money saved now you are not smoking, which helps keep me motivated.’ 

Lastly, we asked Adrienne if she had any advice for people who are thinking about giving up smoking:  

‘I believe my Stop Smoking Specialist, Nicky’s, approach of changing the language I used about my journey and making me feel I was being listened to and treated as an individual has been very important. Language can have a big impact on your mindset, and that’s why I opted for calling it a tobacco free day rather than a quit date. Also, Nicky took the time to understand where I was coming from and what could possibly cause me to relapse or trigger me, and that’s really helped when tailoring my journey to make sure I keep my smoke free status.’