Kurt Scriven - Oamaru

I’d been smoking 20-30 cigarettes a day for 48 years; a habit I started in my teens and never tried to stop. Everyone smoked in those days, it was normal, and it just became ingrained in my lifestyle.

It wasn’t expensive to smoke back then. In those days’ smokes were 30c for a packet of 20 and once I started working it was easy to afford.
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I knew it wasn’t a great habit and eventually I started to notice I was feeling tired all of the time, I was coughing often and throughout the years I lost all of my teeth due to gum disease, which I was told was caused by smoking.

I hadn’t tried to stop in the past. There was the odd day I’d think about stopping but I never did. In fact, I didn’t think I’d ever be able to.

I ended up with a bit of a health scare (not smoking related) and visited the doctor. He mentioned I should probably stop smoking and I agreed, so I got on to Quitline but that didn’t work for me.

That’s when I googled stop smoking help in the Southern District and found the Southern Stop Smoking Service. After contacting them I was referred to the stop smoking coach here in Oamaru.

I met with the coach who gave me patches and lozenges and three days later I stopped smoking. That was about 20 weeks ago.

Liz has been a great help. She is non-judgmental, she listened to me and gave me ideas and showed me how to use the NRT. She has given me the confidence to kick the habit and I certainly noticed that being able to see the person made a huge difference.

I’m 63-years-old now and I feel great. My cough is gone, it cleared up quickly, and my smell and taste has changed. I enjoy making curry and I used to love it spicy but now I’ve had to cut back on the spice because it’s too hot! Smoking must have numbed my taste and smell!

I had been spending about $100 a week to smoke, but since I’ve stopped I’m able to spend my money on something that doesn’t damage my health – I bought myself a brand new Audi! I would never have bought that if I had still been smoking. It’s my reward.

My wife and I have been getting out and doing the gardens and taking the dogs to the beach for a walk daily, which we really enjoy.

I don’t miss smoking and I’ll never start again. That chapter of my life is closed, done and dusted.

Stewart Whittingham - Manapouri

When everyone told me I would never stop smoking, I set out on a mission to prove them all wrong. And I succeeded.

I had been smoking for a long time. I started when I was just 13 because a friend gave me a cigarette. It had a funny taste but I kept smoking anyway. It was normal back then, everyone smoked. People would smoke on the bus, on the train, on the plane and even in supermarkets.

I could buy a single smoke and a match for two pence from the local dairy. In England, the legal age to buy cigarettes was 16 and by the age of 16 I was smoking a packet of 20’s a day.

I was working so I could afford them. Money was never a problem. But, really, when you smoke you can always find money for cigarettes.

I don’t know why I continued the habit. I knew though that I would get a break at work if I smoked, if I didn’t smoke I wouldn’t! I actually enjoyed the habit. I enjoyed going to the pub after work and joining the crowd of people smoking.

I hadn’t realised it but it had become ingrained in my lifestyle, and I would often use it as a reward – if I just finish this I can have a cigarette.

I’ve lost count of the amount of times I’ve tried to stop. I started trying at 20-years-old but nothing ever worked. I would cut down, then stop, then start again. I would use patches and gum, and sometimes I would just stop cold turkey. It was like a revolving wheel. My longest attempt was 6 months but something would always lead me back to it.

I knew I needed to stop for more reason than one. I was working extra to pay for my cigarettes, I was worried for my health, and I was constantly nagged to stop by my parents.

Then in December I got a text message from my doctor advising of the Southern Stop Smoking Service, and then Debbie Swain-Rewi contacted me. It felt like the perfect timing for me.

I had a meeting with her at the Community Centre and that day I went home, smoked the rest of my pack of cigarettes and haven’t touched one since.

Debbie showed me how to use the patches properly and instead of a cigarette, that day, I had a cup of tea and a chocolate bar instead.

I continue to wake at 2am every morning, which is when I’d usually go outside for a cigarette, but I’ve changed my habits and now I’ll sit down and turn the TV on.

Everyone told me there’s no way I would do it. I would never stop smoking. Well, I proved them all wrong and so far I have saved $30 a day! The money that I’ve saved has been spent on paint for my house.

I haven’t even felt like a smoke! I enjoy having more time now, I don’t smell, I can walk further and my lung capacity is greater, and I’m saving lots of money!

I don’t miss smoking at all. I’m never going to go back now, and if I even thought about it I’d just give Debbie a call!

Liz Dickey, Balclutha
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Impressing a guy as a teenager led me to start smoking, but it’s taken me a lifetime to give it up!

I had my first cigarette at about 14-years-old. Friends and I would steal tissues from our parents and we’d roll grass and smoke it. It made us feel sick but we kept going back. At 15 or 16-years-old I had my first proper cigarette because I was trying to impress a guy I was dating. He asked if I wanted a smoke and I remember thinking, I had better if I want to impress him! I remember coughing and feeling sick and my throat was burning. That should have been my warning! But instead, I never looked back.

Back then, smoking wasn’t a bad thing and it quickly became a part of me. It was ingrained in my lifestyle. It was like breathing! 

I would never count how many cigarettes I was smoking or how many times I would empty the ashtray during the day. I didn’t really think about the money I was spending either while I was smoking, but of course I noticed the increase. When I first started they were about $.50c a packet for 20, now they’re $30! I would go through a packet a day usually, sometimes I would have a couple left over.

I gave up once for about three years. My son was shifting away and everyone in the family had a phone, but I didn’t. I was desperate to stay in touch with my son. I remember there was a sale on at the Warehouse for a phone. I had a decision to make – do I buy a phone or another pouch of tobacco? I decided the phone was more important and, after years of smoking, I quit cold turkey. I remember contacting Quitline and they referred me on to the Southern Stop Smoking Service. That was about six years ago now. (It may be a “brick” now, but I still have the phone!)

Three years later, a series of traumatic events sprung up in close succession in my life and so, as a way to deal with the stress, I started smoking again. But a year or two later I was getting sick of smoking again. The smell of dirty ashtrays and having to constantly empty them was becoming too much. I knew smoking was my life but that wasn’t what I was put on this earth for.

I remembered the support I received from Anita Clouston the first time I stopped so I decided to get back in touch. One-on-one contact is much better than a phone call and I found the Co monitor to be a real eye opener!

I used patches and they worked for me and I chew chewing gum (not nicotine gum). I have been smoke free for about two months now and I’m loving it!

I am starting to notice the extra money – bills are getting paid off faster! My teeth are still stained, and I will leave it that way for the moment because they are a constant reminder not to start smoking again! Eventually I will have them cleaned professionally – I never thought about white teeth before but I do now.

I don’t miss smoking and I’m definitely sleeping better. I will continue to do my best to stay off it. I am taking it day by day and trying not to put pressure on myself. I haven’t promised anyone anything, I am just doing it – the worst person you can break a promise to is yourself!

The pressures of starting a business led Owaka local Tarran Kristel to start smoking.

I started my business, TK Repairs Ltd, in 2015 but the second year became stressful and I started smoking in 2017.

I had only ever smoked socially in the past but now I was smoking about 30 cigarettes a day and I really enjoyed the habit, although I always found the price tough. It cost $30 a day, which was $200 a week.

I found myself taking a lot of breaks at work and not getting as much done as I used to, and I knew that I needed to stop smoking.

A pretty big wakeup call came when a friend of mine passed away from smoking-related health issues and I became worried for my own health, as well as my finances.

Luckily, I had the best support as my partner is the Southern Stop Smoking Service coach for South Otago Anita Clouston.

I knew I couldn’t quit cold turkey – I would not have been a nice person to be around! So instead I switched to an electronic cigarette and have weaned myself down to 6mg. I found the switch really easy, it only took about a week.

The last time I had a cigarette was 24 April 2017.

I don’t miss smoking. I am finding it easier to breath, I sleep better, I’m not wheezy, I can taste again and I have more money. I’m always finding other things to spend my money on though – mainly car parts.

I get more done at work and I’m enjoying not seeing the butts lying around the floor and outside the building – I was getting sick of constantly picking them up.

I intend to continue vaping in the meantime and will keep trying to convince my friends who smoke to make the switch!

This South Otago client wishes to remain anonymous
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I have tried to stop smoking several times, but this was the first time someone actually made sense!

I didn’t realise how much of a difference it would make to have someone explain to me how to use the patches properly, and once they did I never looked back.

I started smoking at a very young age because my grandfather would give them to me. I was probably only 5-years-old. I was smoking full time by the time I was about 14. Back then, it was normal and it was advertised everywhere.

I have an addictive personality so for me, the addiction to nicotine kept me smoking. Nicotine is the worst addiction out there. I gave up alcohol for 12 years and it was hard, but nothing compared to cigarettes.

I was smoking about two 50g pouches of tobacco a week and at the end, about 30 taillies a day.

I had a lot of fluid of my lungs and I couldn’t have a puff without coughing! I was getting older and I knew it was time to stop. I wanted to stop mainly for my health but also because of the cost.

I noticed the Smokefee South Facebook page and I reached out. I was referred by them to the Southern Stop Smoking Service and sent out some patches.

One of the stop smoking coaches visited me and showed me how to use the patches properly. I have been smoke free now since just before Christmas! 

My lungs are much better and I’m eating a lot better - my taste buds are back. I can take a breath without hearing a rattle and I’m enjoying having a lot more time on my hands. When I was smoking I also had high cholesterol but since I’ve stopped it’s gone back to normal.

I’m so pleased that I reached out to the Southern Stop Smoking Service and to have finally stopped smoking!

​I am the man who could beat all stop smoking plans.

I started smoking in 1965 when I was 15. It was the cool thing to do! I enjoyed cruising around with my mates, one arm out the window and a smoke in the other. Perhaps it was an image thing, I don’t really know. My parents smoked, most of our friends smoked – it was normal back then and no one would tell you to stop.

I enjoyed smoking. It gave me a feeling of calm. I remember once sitting on the side of the Remarkables in Queenstown after finishing work on a fence. I was looking at the fence and the lake below and having a cigarette. It was a great feeling.

The habit started to increase for me, and at one stage I was smoking up to 40 a day. I have always had good paying work so the cost of smokes was hidden in the food bill each week. I was buying 14 packs a week. It’s frightening when I think about it - that’s $420 per week and $21,840 per year!
I smoked away being a millionaire! That could have been handy now that I have retired.

I knew it was becoming too expensive and I was getting fed up with constantly defending my choice to smoke. So, I decided I would try to stop. Quitting couldn’t be that bad.

How many times did I try? How many ways did I try? It really did become a running joke that I was the man who could beat all stop smoking plans.

First, I tried going cold turkey. That lasted two days.
I tried patches but I didn’t know how to use them properly so that didn’t work.
I tried hypnotherapy and that worked for three months. But I started smoking again.
I tried a programme through the Oamaru Hospital where I was asked to nominate places I wouldn’t smoke. I picked my work ute but found myself stopping to have a cigarette outside of it and it was taking all day to get my job done. So that didn’t work.
Then I tried Champix. Twice. It didn’t work.

Looking back, they were all great ways to stop smoking. I realize the problem was me, I just wasn’t ready to stop. I was fit and healthy and smoking was doing me no harm. But eventually some health issues started to arise, and by the time I was 68 I’d visited the emergency department twice because I couldn’t breathe.

Then one day, out of the blue, I had a stroke. The doctor told me I was lucky because it could have been worse. But I figured stress causes strokes, so I wound up my business and retired and continued smoking. I have made some very good decisions in my life. That was not one of them. The health issues continued to pop up.

Then along came Liz from the Southern Stop Smoking Service. Best thing that has ever happened to me!

There were no hard and fast rules, just someone who would listen and encourage and pass no judgement. Sometimes I would fall off the wagon, but we would talk about it and about why I’d done it and how I could overcome it next time. She was so supportive that when I did slip up and have a cigarette I felt like I was letting the both of us down! If it wasn’t for Liz and her help, I would not be where I am now.

It’s been five months now and I’m not missing the cigarettes. I haven’t had a patch on for a while but will have the odd lozenge when needed.

What will I do with the money I’m saving? I’ve already done it! I loaded the van onto my ute and away I went, just cruising around the South Island. I’m spending time doing things that I never had time for before, and enjoying the simple things in life.

Thank you to Liz and the Southern Stop Smoking Service team. Life doesn’t get any better than it is right now! 

An Alexandra couple in their early 80s who had each been smoking for a “lifetime” have each kicked the habit and say it was easier than they thought it would be!

Both had tried to stop smoking in the past but were unsuccessful, and recalled an occasion where one of them was caught smoking in the garden, so the other decided they would too!

“You’ve got to do it together, or it’s not going to work.”

Through a GP referral, both were enrolled in the Southern Stop Smoking Service.

Groceries were, on average, costing them about $160 per week, and $60 of that would be spent on cigarettes. “I realized I could be doing better things with my money.”

Stopping smoking this time was a lot easier than they thought and the spare money is now going towards eating better.

“The motivation from Alison makes it easier. It’s much easier than doing it on your own.”  ​