Laura’s story
I really loved smoking. But I love my life more, and I can live a longer, fuller life without smoking.
Laura from Bury quit smoking after ten years following a stark warning from her dentist about a lifetime of gum disease.
28-year-old Laura Lewis from Bury began smoking at 18 when at university. The marketing and PR executive loved cigarettes and had no desire to stop but when Covid-19 hit, she started to think about her health.
Laura said: “I read this article about a really young girl in America who caught coronavirus and died. She was clinically obese, and it struck me how young she was, and how age is irrelevant if your body isn’t in peak condition.”
It was around this time that Laura also received bad news from her dentist. He told her that 5% bone density had been lost on one side of her jaw and that Laura was facing a turning point.
I was told if you don’t quit now, the damage will be irreversible. If I continued smoking, I would face a lifetime of gum disease and further loss of bone density. It was this stark warning that finally persuaded me to quit smoking after ten years.
Her worries about the impact of catching coronavirus and the warning from her dentist convinced Laura to make the change ahead of her thirtieth birthday. Previous quit attempts had seen Laura experiment with vaping and going cold turkey.
“I smoked roll-ups, so vaping didn’t replace the rolling action, and going cold turkey was hellish in terms of trying to keep my mind off smoking. I could manage going cold turkey for less time than I could sit on a plane. But I could sit on a plane and not miss smoking because I knew that it wasn’t forever.”
Laura found quitting success with Champix prescribed by her local stop smoking service at Bury Lifestyle Service.
Champix has been ideal for me. Any cravings were curbed and my mood has been unaffected. So much so that my partner didn’t even realise that I’d quit until day 3!
Laura is now encouraging others to quit in light of the pandemic.
“I really loved smoking. But I love my life more, and I can live a longer, fuller life without smoking. There’s so much support out there. To those who are thinking of quitting, I say don’t wait.”
