WELCOME TO WEST & MID KERRY LIVE

Since Ash Wednesday some W(&M)KL readers will have tried and ‘failed’ to give up cigarettes. There has been a turning of the tide in recent years against smoking, the image of the strong attractive independent Marlboro man is fading, and it is more and more associated with stress, illness and ‘failure’to quit.  Rates of youngsters taking up smoking is down, and quit attempts are increasing.
But giving up smoking, famously, has a lower success rate than giving up heroin. It’s hard to do. People get disheartened, feel they can’t do it. A favourite line from Samuel Becket comes to mind: “Try again, fail again, fail better.” We can learn from all our quit attempts. The reality is that most smokers do manage to give up eventually – it makes sense to do it BEFORE the heart attack.
Given that smoking is so hard to give up, I think it’s important to recruit all the help you can get. It’s importatnt to make a big deal out of it, to prepare for it, to set a date for it. You need to think about all the situations you smoke in: what are you getting out of cigarettes? (stress relief, a break, a few breaths…) What can you do as a substitute for this (a snack, just taking a few breaths, a quick walk etc etc.)
Two things have been shown to DOUBLE your chance of giving up cigarettes. The first is using a Smoking Quitline. In Ireland for the price of one local call (1850 201 203), you’ll get support material posted to you, and at least 6 call backs (at a time that suits you) to get you through the early weeks. This acts as an added motivation, as well as advice, and does work.
Nicotine is the addictive (but not the most harmful) part of smoking. Taking it for the first few weeks is an effective way to get off cigarettes. There are various ways to get nicotine replacement (patches/inhalers/gums/tablets). The important thing is to only use nicotine when you are serious about quitting. Quitting takes a lot of energy and bloody mindedness, and I would only start using nicotine replacement when you feel committed to actually giving up.
You can think of  E cigarettes in the same way as nicotine replacement. They are attractive because they replace both the drug (nicotine) and the habit. The danger I guess is that they’re so similar to smoking, that drifting back onto real cigarettes might be easy.
Again nothing can replace motivation and a bit of determination.
“The tablets” (champix) are quite popular recently – and have obviously been heavily promoted. Before contemplating them, it’s worth looking at reasons why previous quit attempts have failed. (Fail again, fail better!). The tablets work on the brain– they’re supposed to change our motivation and appetite. While they can be successful,there are a number of effects (on mood and behaviour) that you need to quite wary of. They are only on prescription, and you would need to discuss them further with your doctor before launching into them.
Mar fhocal scor: Only try to quit when you are prepared. When you do try, use all the help that’s out there. And learn from your failures.