Kicking the smoking habit is never easy – but there is help at hand in the form of nicotine replacement therapies, writes PRISCILLA LYNCH
YES, IT’S one of those times of year when you decide to give up smoking. Ash Wednesday, after all, is tomorrow, but it’s hard to beat those cravings. As you think about Lent stretching out endlessly before you, there is help out there.
While we already know smoking is big business, helping people to give up cigarettes is also lucrative. In the past five years, the sale of smoking cessation products has significantly increased in Ireland, rising from €13.34 million in 2006 to €22.5 million last year*.
In addition, Allen Carr’s book, The Easy Way to Stop Smoking, has sold tens of thousands of copies in Ireland, and hypnosis and therapy clinics are also becoming a popular option.
The overall percentage of smokers in Ireland at June 2010 was 23.6 per cent, down 3.8 per cent from June 2008, according to the Office of Tobacco Control, while more than 8,000 Irish people manage to successfully give up every year.
The pharmacist is often the first port of call for would-be quitters, who cannot fail to notice the huge displays in many pharmacy windows for a whole range of nicotine replacement therapies (NRT) which help control cigarette cravings through the use of gum, inhalers, patches, microtabs and lozenges.
Kathy Maher, a pharmacist in Donore Pharmacy, Co Meath, says sales of smoking cessation products have “definitely increased” in recent years and tend to peak around the beginning of January and the start of Lent, times when smokers traditionally try to quit.
She says if people find that one smoking cessation product doesn’t suit them, they shouldn’t be discouraged and should talk to their pharmacist about trying a different product or dosage.
Acknowledging that the cost of NRT products can add up – a pack of microtabs costs almost €11, a week of patches is priced at about €25, and a pack of gum can set you back between €8 and €12 – Maher points out that smoking itself is far more expensive.
Twenty cigarettes a day costs more than €3,000 a year, while NRT products are only used for up to three months, so she feels it is a worthwhile investment.
Maher says that support is a key element in helping smokers to give up and her pharmacy regularly texts patients who are trying to quit.
“Whatever way you try to give up smoking, once you have the support of your doctor or pharmacist, your success rate tends to be better,” she says.
The HSE, in conjunction with the national Cancer Society, runs the National Smokers’ Quitline on 1850-201203, which provides free, independent advice and support on kicking the habit. It received more than 14,500 calls between 2007 and 2010.
It also co-runs the associated website, giveupsmoking.ie, which provides a number of interactive tools to encourage smokers to quit and an e-mail support programme for those who register a quit date. Since its launch in May 2009, the website has had 85,000 unique visitors, 9,500 of whom have registered a quit plan.
Dr Fenton Howell, HSE director of public health, says that giving up smoking is one of the best things people can do for their health.
More than 6,000 people in Ireland still die from smoking-related causes every year and it’s estimated that almost 10 per cent of the health budget is spent on smoking-related illnesses.
“Most people want to quit, and most do try to quit at some stage. It’s remarkable for a product that almost one million people use every day that nearly all of them want to stop and the only reason they can’t is they are addicted,” says Howell.
“However, there’s nearly three-quarters of a million people in Ireland who have successfully quit, so the message they send is that you can do it.”
So with Ash Wednesday approaching, why not try to quit and this time get the support you need?
*Source: IMS Health, National Retail and Hospital Data, MAT Dec 2010
ASHES TO ASHES: SMOKERS WHO ARE DETERMINED TO KICK THE HABIT ON ASH WEDNESDAY
ASHLING LYNCH, from Tipperary, has tried quitting smoking at least twice, but will again try to give up this Ash Wednesday.
She says cigarettes are just too expensive and, most importantly, she has a child, Scott (23 months), to think of now.
"It's hard to stay off them, particularly when your friends smoke around you or if you are in stressful situations as you'd be so used to having a cigarette.
"I tried just quitting myself and then using prescription tablets, which didn't agree with me at all.
This time, I am going to try nicotine patches and the inhaler.
"I think for me it's just having something in my hand that I miss, so hopefully the inhaler will help me stop for good this time."
Newlyweds NOEL GARVEY and his wife DANIELLE CORBETT, from Dublin, are both trying to kick the habit this year.
Corbett quit in January and says this is the longest she has ever managed to stay off cigarettes after unsuccessfully trying prescription tablets, nicotine patches and quit smoking therapy sessions.
This time, she tried hypnotherapy and says it has worked for her.
"I still needed willpower to do it, but it was different in the sense that any other time I've been off them I had really bad cravings and just went and bought them, whereas this time I still had cravings but something just stopped me buying the pack and giving in."
Garvey, meanwhile, has smoked 15 cigarettes a day for 20 years and is getting ready to stop this Ash Wednesday. He has tried to give up many times before with varying degrees of success.
"I've been off them for a week three or four times since Christmas. Two years ago I was off them six months, three years ago I was off them six months too, and 10 years ago I was off them for about two years, but I don't know why I went back really. Sometimes it was just being on a night out."
Garvey is determined this time he will quit for good, and will use patches to kick start his first week off cigarettes. He says that because both he and his wife are stopping together, it should help.
DAMIEN MURPHY, from Louth, is also attempting to give up this Ash Wednesday after smoking about 20 a day for eight years. He says he is giving up for a combination of health and financial benefits, but the longest he has ever managed to kick the habit for is 11 days.
"I've tried the patches, chewing gum and doing exercise to distract me. If I don't succeed this time, I'm going to give up giving up."
He is going to try a rather unique approach this time round.
"My granny gave up after smoking for 40 years by using celery sticks. Every time she had a craving she ate a celery stick, so I'm not sure if it's going to work for me but I'm going to give it a try."
