A Successful Quit Story

From Tonia, practice nurse at Dulwich Medical Centre 

Nadira was one of my memorable patients form the smoking clinic. Why? Nadira was suffering from agoraphobia and just to make the weekly appointments was an achievement.

Nadira smoked 15 cigarettes a day. She came to the clinic after giving birth to her beautiful daughter, desperate to quit, if not for herself then her child. On first meeting, Nadira demonstrated the willingness and determination it would take to quit. She had no experience with Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT), we agreed to try Nicotine patches and review. One week later, Nadira had not smoked since her quit date. She told me 'It was half NRT and half will power. We discussed motivation as long term prevention.

Nadira explained 'Her daughter is her motivation and if you have the right motivation, behind you can do it'. I asked Nadira what lifestyle changes she has adopted and she said 'With the help from my smoking adviser I identified why I wanted to quit, what habits and disciplines I already have and how I was going to eplace bad habits with good habits'.

'It also helps when you set realistic goals and have positive support, like Tonia, who kept it real and gave me a target to achieve each week or reassured me when I was at my most low'.