A Tipperary pharmacist says they are there to support anyone who has decided to quit smoking this Ash Wednesday.
Today also marks National No Smoking Day and it was announced this morning that Nicotine Replacement Therapies are now free from local Stop Smoking Clinics in the county through the HSE QUIT service.
NRT are licensed medicines that safely give you lower levels of nicotine to help you get through cravings and withdrawal symptoms that can double your chances of quitting for good.
Jimmy O’Sullivan proprietor of O’Sullivan’s Pharmacy in Fethard says that quitting will only work when the smoker themselves has made the decision to stop.
He also says that while many will need to the support NRTs there are those who go cold turkey.
For those who are starting today Jimmy had this advice.
“They probably are best advised to come down each day over a week, cut down each day – it depends where you smoke. If people smoke in the car when they are driving put the cigarettes in the boot for the week. So that you actually have to stop the car and get out. If you smoke in the home try and say okay I am not smoking the house I have to go out and then you are going out and make sure it is quite uncomfortable when you go out and you are somewhere that is not entirely uncomfortable , maybe it is 9 o’clock in the evening and there is cold breeze and it is raining and you say you know I won’t bother I will skip it.”
Jimmy says the three minute rule is key when it comes to quitting.
He says that employing the three minute rule can be central to kicking any addiction.
“If you can distract yourself for three minutes, if you feel okay I need a cigarette now then distract yourself for three minutes. Go do something if you are at work come away from the area that you would go to that you would usually have a cigarette. Go and do something have a drink of water come back and that craving will have gone will have disappeared until the next one. I know when you stop initially you will have a lot of those cravings and those periods will go further and further apart so you know after about a week they should start to settle.”
Visit www.Quit.ie to find details for your local Stop Smoking Clinics
