Health Notes, December 28th 2008, by Sarah Stacey

Stub it out!
Kerry Fenton, 39, housekeeper manager at a hotel in Lancaster, has smoked ‘way too many cigarettes’ for 18 years.   Previous efforts to give up have been unsuccessful. This autumn, she tried Allen Carr’s Easyway to Stop Smoking method. Here’s her diary of the first month.

‘It’s the day of my Allen Carr session; it lasts five hours, starting at 1pm in a hotel in Preston. I feel like I’m going for an interview. I can’t concentrate, nipping off for a cigarette every 30 minutes. I can’t eat anything although I know food isn’t provided and I wont get home ‘til 7.30.  As I’m driving there, I think this could be the last time I smoke in the car.

Five of us attend the session with Mark, a councillor.  He suggests we have a cigarette before we start. We then fill in a form about ourselves, how many cigarettes we smoke and what we want from the session.  We introduce ourselves and then Mark begins with a 10 step journey of information.  He tells us we must be strong to smoke, because of the taste and the 4,000 chemicals we put in our bodies - many of them toxic or carcinogenic. So we’re definitely strong enough to beat the addiction. We need to get to feeling “normal” without nicotine, instead of only feeling normal with it.

I thought I’d get a light bulb moment where everything suddenly made sense, but it was much slower.  My mind wandered at times, and I felt a little patronised but it gave you the tools to beat the addiction in a quick, thought- provoking way without the usual ‘you’ll die” threats.

At the end, we all voluntarily throw our cigarette packets away. I feel a sense of triumph.  It’s not me that needs the nicotine but an annoying monster inside; if I ignore it, it will eventually disappear. Mark says we can call him if we wobble. It’s going to be easy!!!!

Driving home with the stereo blasting,  I think “wow I’m a new person”.  I walk the dog with a spring in my step, saying to myself “it’s easy, I can do this – I am a non smoker now”. I tell my husband what happened and ask him - as Mark advised - not to talk about it or ask if I’ve had a cigarette. But he’s asked me every day since… Men!

Over the next two days I’m fine.  When I feel like smoking I look in my purse and count the cash! I don’t start snacking but I eat more slowly to fill up my lunch break. 

On the fourth day, I wake at 4am absolutely delirious about cigarettes. I can’t get back to sleep so eventually go to work early.  I have a thing in my stomach screaming at me – it’s like having terrible PMS. I cadge a cigarette and go to the smoking area. It made me dizzy, happy, sad, elated, sick – and annoyed. I actually thought of buying a packet – and I couldn’t believe just one cigarette could make you want to start again.

The big addiction really does go within a couple of weeks or so.  Over the third and fourth week, I just have moments of agitation - so I make biscuits, walk the dog, or switch on the play station and kill things!  The craving vanishes as quickly as it came.
 
At work, I still go into the smoking area for a chat and the fact the team are all puffing away doesn’t bother me. I  actually find myself wondering what I’m doing standing in the cold. But that’s where the gossip is, so I stay!

It’s not easy. I still have days when I really, really want to give in and, yes, I have done very occasionally.  But for me to go from smoking massively to almost nothing is absolutely amazing. I would recommend this method to anyone. 

A session costs £220 (with money back guarantee).  Contact your local Allen Carr's Easyway To Stop Smoking Clinic (tel: 0800 389 2115, www.allencarr.com).

Herbal cure for catarrh
Catarrh sufferers could benefit from taking Ivy Thyme complex Tincture, by A Vogel (£7.49 for 50ml, from Victoria Health, see below) advises pharmacist Shabir Daya.  Take 15 drops in water, three times daily.  Add the same amount of Plantago Tincture by A Vogel (£7.99 for 50ml) if you also have sinus congestion, including post nasal drip.  NB do remember your 5% discount and free p&p in the UK.

Be a gal who wears gloves
With the bug season in full swing, may I suggest buying and wearing gloves?  As well as keeping hands warm, gloves help protect you from germs that cling to surfaces like strap handles, doors and those push pads in train lavatories….

Website of the week: www.contact4me.com
This subscription service notifies up to ten numbers (family, friends, colleagues) in an accident or emergency.  Very helpful for elderly people, those with dementia and other medical conditions.  Subscription costs £16 in the first year, with an information pack, key fobs etc, £12 annually thereafter.