Betty’s Story

I’ve smoked since I was 13 years old. At least a pack a day for over 30 years. I’ve tried to quit a bunch of times. I’d usually just quit cold turkey for a day or two, and then I’d have to start up again because I would be too cranky with my kids or to do my realtor job.

I have to be able to be pleasant to sell houses. I got more serious about quitting when my kids were teenagers and they started messing around with smoking. What could I say to them, when I kept smoking? I was also getting more and more tired, and the smell of smoke and my coughing was making it harder to sell houses, too.

Betty’s Story continues:

So I gave it a couple of more serious tries, and even managed to quit once for a month. That time I used some nicotine gum I bought at the store. It helped a little bit. But I was still struggling with strong urges. I only used it a couple times a day when I was getting desperate, because I was worried that the nicotine could be bad for me.

Just one month after quitting, I was having a drink with a friend on a Friday night, and when she offered me a cigarette, that was it. I smoked it. Since I’d smoked a cigarette, I figured I should stop using the gum. I had failed. I was back to smoking again.

Betty’s Story continues:

So I really wanted to quit and stay quit. I was seeing my doctor for a bad cough. She told me she thought it was related to my smoking. She was worried I might be in the early stages of getting COPD, where breathing would get harder and harder. That really woke me up.

She asked if I was interested in quitting, and I got tears in my eyes. I told her how many times I’d tried to quit but started up again and about my kids who were starting to mess around with cigarettes. I told her that I really wanted to quit, but just couldn’t do it no matter how hard I tried. Well, she didn’t start scolding me like I expected. She said quitting can be hard. But she was sure I could do it if I just did a couple things differently.

Betty’s Story continues:

After talking with her doctor, Betty decided to try quitting again. She got a prescription for varenicline and took it for 12 weeks. She also called 1-800-QUIT-NOW and got some coaching over the phone. Her doctor saw her once a month to check in on her progress. She did smoke one cigarette at 3 weeks, but she kept using her medicine, called her quit coach, and then stayed quit after that. She has been smoke-free for 6 months!