Can’t butt out? Here’s how the stars gave up smoking.
“In Asian studies, the quit rates are as high as 40 per cent for serious first-time quitters who go cold turkey,” says Professor Matthew Peters from the Australian Lung Foundation.
“However, if you continue to keep smoking after that, you need to try other strategies like the patch, or Varenicline (Champix). The bottom line is to keep trying.”
So, how can you make it work for you?
Put a photo of someone you love on your desk and think about how they’d cope if you weren’t here.
Particularly in the first few weeks, avoid places and situations where you’re likely to smoke. Plan meetings with friends at smoke-free venues like the movies.
Be committed. Set a date and tell at least three people. Call 137 848 for your free Quit pack or to speak to a counsellor, who will call you around your quit date.
Self-help
Imagine yourself breathing in nasty fumes as they poison your body, making your hair smell awful and your fingers yellow.
Take a tip from Ellen’s hypnotist, Paul McKenna, who told her to imagine cigarettes tasted like “spicy liquorice coated with hair from a barber shop floor.”
Now imagine breathing in pure air – how much more kissable you’ll be and how much better you’ll look and feel.
“If hypnosis makes somebody start thinking about quitting, that’s a good thing. It doesn’t work for everybody, but doing something is better than doing nothing,” says Professor Peters.
“Although you light them and breathe out what looks like smoke, it is actually water vapour and supposedly much less harmful than normal ciggies,” Katherine says. E-cigarettes are not sold in Australia, but can be bought online.
So how can they work for you?
While millions may swear by them, experts urge caution.
“On balance of early evidence,it’s likely e-cigarettes are safer than smoking [real ones],” says Professor Peters from the Australian Lung Foundation. “But they’re probably not safer than not smoking. One alsoexploded in a man’s face recently, taking out his teeth.”
A US Food and Drug Administration lab analysis of e-cigarettes found one brand contained a chemical toxic to humans.
Need help? Visit www.quitnow.gov.au or call the quit line: 13 78 48
