Quitting smoking isn’t easy and it can take multiple attempts before you conquer your habit.

The reason why it’s so hard to quit is nicotine.

Nicotine is found in tobacco products, including cigarettes, vapes, cigars and smokeless tobacco. It is highly addictive.

“From a scientific standpoint, nicotine is just as hard, or harder, to quit than heroin…but people don’t recognize that,” this quote from Dr Neil Benowitz, a nicotine researcher at the University of California, San Francisco – highlights just how insidious nicotine is.

Many ex-smokers say quitting was the hardest thing they ever did. Yet millions of people have been able to do it – and you can too.

This year Feel Good Suffolk are working in partnership with Ipswich Town Football Club to bring you the ‘Never Stop Trying’ campaign.

The new campaign follows two Town footy fans, James and Eddy, through their journey.

The campaign draws parallels between Ipswich Town Football Club’s long journey to the premiere league and James and Eddy’s long quit journeys.

One of the first steps in any quit journey is to learn why you feel like you need to smoke. Once you understand why you smoke, you can prepare yourself to find the best ways to quit. The team at Feel Good Suffolk can help you unpick your reasons and begin to look at strategies to hit your addiction head-on.

The main reason it’s hard to quit is that your brain gets used to having nicotine and the more you smoke the more you need to feel normal. When your body doesn’t get nicotine, you start to feel uncomfortable and crave cigarettes, this is withdrawal. Withdrawal can leave you feeling depressed, anxious, irritable, restless, and unable to concentrate; it can lead to problems sleeping and increased appetite leading to weight gain. So, no wonder many fail to stick to the course and reach for a cigarette. Dr Benowitz explains,

“There’s this real roller-coaster ride of not feeling well and being irritable and having cravings. The first few days might be very intense, then it might level off and return. But the longer you are off cigarettes, the more your brain goes through the process of neural adaptation, and the more you recover. And eventually, the ride subsides.”

We are often triggered by certain situations and activities to smoke. Our Feel Good Suffolk Advisers discuss your triggers and put in place some strategies to help you through those first few weeks of withdrawal increasing your chances of success.

Did you know you are three times more likely to quit with programmes like Feel Good Suffolk?

The team have a wide range of support to fit every preference, from Allan Carr sessions to Nicotine Replacement Therapies.

The power of the ‘Never Stop Trying’ campaign is that it is about real people who have been there – it’s not easy but by keeping at it you can reach your smoke-free future.

For more information on the campaign click the link below.

And a huge thank you to James, Eddy, Teddy and Serena for being part of the ‘Never Stop Trying’ team.

We’ll leave you with the words of Thomas Edison,
“Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is to try just one more time.”

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