Devun, 22 – Thorpe Astley
Devun had been smoking up to 40 a day for seven years, when he got offered a job with QuitReady, Leicestershire’s stop smoking service.
‘I had wanted to quit for a while, I knew it wasn’t doing me any good, and I didn’t even really
enjoy smoking anymore – but I thought it would be too difficult to stop so I just didn’t try.’
Even when Devun started working for the stop smoking service, he had no real plans to quit, but hearing all the success stories of other quitters made him realise it might be possible and he decided to give it a go.
Devun was assigned an advisor who went through all the different support available. He chose to quit with Champix – a medication that works by blocking your nicotine receptors. When you first start taking it you can carry on smoking for up to two weeks, but within a week Devun noticed that he no longer wanted to smoke, and he actually stopped smoking early.
‘It was so much easier than I expected and I’m already half way through my quit programme.
Even though it has only been six weeks, I can already feel a big difference in my health.
I don’t get breathless when I walk and generally have more energy, feel fresher and more awake.’
One unexpected benefit for Devun has been the extra free time he has. Now he doesn’t have to spend his lunch break smoking he has time to go for a walk. A keen musician, he can now sit and play his guitar for much longer periods of time without having to stop and go for a cigarette.
‘I just hadn’t realised how much smoking was affecting my focus and concentration.’
Devun has been so impressed with the support he’s received, he recommended the service to his partner and after contacting QuitReady, she has quit too.
‘My advice to anyone thinking of giving up is to just do it. Don’t think about it too
much, just go for it and with the right support it might be easier than you expect!’
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