Giving up Smoking

Time to Stop Clinics

These clinics offer one to one advice and support.  The 20 minute sessions are weekly for six weeks. Topics include:

• Preparing to Stop
• Using Nicotine Replacement Therapy
• Diet and Exercise
• Coping with stress
• Staying stopped

Smoking Cessation Service

BodyZone provides a service to help people give up smoking, at the Magnet and Windsor Leisure Centre.  It is free to use and is sponsored by the NHS.  For more details see Smoking Cessation.

Stop Smoking Kiosk

Every Saturday in the Slough Observatory Shopping Centre, running from 11am-4 pm there is a Stop Smoking kiosk run by the Cardio Wellness Charity and Berkshire East Primary Care Trust.  Languages spoken are English, Polish, Hindi, Punjabi, Gujariti, Urdu, and Swahili.

Tips to plan to be a non-smoker

• Pick a date and mark it on your calendar
• Tell friends and family and work colleagues about your Quit Day
• Stock up on sugarless gum, carrots, hard candy
• Set up a support system

The day you quit 

• Do not smoke
• Get rid of cigarettes, lighters, ashtrays etc
• Keep active
• Drink lots of water and juices
• Begin using nicotine replacement and/or attend stop smoking class
• Avoid smoky situations
• Reduce or avoid alcohol
• Use the four 'A''s (Avoid, Alter, Alternatives, Activities) to deal with tough situations

Be prepared for withdrawal symptoms. Getting these symptoms show your body is starting to recover.  Think of the improvements  -

• 20 minutes after quitting: your blood pressure drops to a level close to that before cigarettes
• 8 hours after quitting: the carbon monoxide level in your blood drops to normal
• 24 hours after quitting: your chance of a heart attack decreases
• 2 weeks – 3 months after quitting: your circulation improves and your lung function increases by up to 30%
• 1 year after quitting: your stroke risk is reduced to that of a non-smoker 5-15 years after quitting
• 10 years after quitting: the lung cancer death rate is about half that of a continuing smoker. The risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, oesophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas decrease.

For more information see Time to Stop Smoking

Information provided by the Berkshire East Primary Care Trust