Quitting smoking, a fight against COPD
Published 8 Nov 2018 • By Louise Bollecker
Living with emphysema and severe stage 4 COPD, Carenity France member ledalle managed to quit smoking 6 years ago, without relapsing, even though he had been smoking since he was 16.
He has agreed to share his journey to quit smoking, thanks to nicotine patches, mental support and a good dose of willpower!
Discover his story below!
Hello ledalle, thank you for agreeing to share your story with us on Carenity!
First of all, how did you find out you had COPD? How much did you smoke?
After repeated bouts of bronchitis, I was diagnosed with stage 2 COPD. When I started smoking I was 16 years old; when I was diagnosed I was 54 years old and I was at one pack of 20 cigarettes a day.
[Smoking is the cause of 90% of COPD cases]
Photo courtesy of ledalle
Did your doctor advise you to stop smoking when you were diagnosed? What kind of care did you receive?
A lung specialist advised me to stop and had me follow up with my GP. The decision to quit was not immediate for me, because I did'nt take it very seriously... But I was still worried by the pulmonologist's warnings. So I spoke to my doctor, who helped me to start trying to stop smoking.
How did you go about quitting smoking?
I started with nicotine patches, for a 6-month programme with follow-up and advice from my GP. At the end of my treatment with the patches, I was still smoking 4 cigarettes a day, so I went to see my pulmonologist again, all pleased with myself... Only, after the diagnosis, he told me that I should not smoke even a single cigarette ever again because my COPD was at stage 4 severe and that there was no other solution to stabilise the disease, which was now very severe.
So I opted for the e-cigarette, with zero nicotine. The advantage is that the taste isn't great so you don't become as addicted. No more ashtrays, lighters or cigarettes at home. The taste being unpleasant and having nothing else, I vaped less and less and I avoided smoking areas. I started cycling. My GP gave me some painkillers to help me and I only had the bike to let off steam in the wild.
Have your friends and family been supportive of you along your journey?
At home, no one smokes and everyone has encouraged me. It has been great to help me. I also told my work colleagues that I was quitting smoking and not to tempt me. I refused coffee breaks with smokers.
What was the hardest part of quitting smoking? Did you face any obstacles?
The hardest thing was holding out for the first 6 days, so I kept myself busy with different things. It started to get easier after 1 week of staying on my guard. After stopping the electronic cigarette, I had nothing left, and then I felt stressed. My GP helped me with some remedies to stay calm.
Have you gained weight after quitting smoking? Many patients are worried about this.
I didn't gain a kilo! I must say that I substituted my smoking with cycling.
How long has it been since you quit smoking? How do you feel physically and mentally?
It will be 6 years on 23 November since I stopped smoking. That's right, I remember the exact day I didn't pick up a cigarette! Today, I am truly living again! Even though I still have COPD (which has really improved since quitting smoking), I can smell perfumes again, I have rediscovered my taste because I no longer had a palate with tobacco, I appreciate all the good smells that I had forgotten... On the other hand, cirgarette smoke now bothers me and I can no longer stand a person who has tobacco breath!
What advice would you give other members who would like to quit smoking?
To stop smoking, you must first of all truly, deeply want to quit. Then it's important to have mental and moral support from friends and family. Above all, you have to look at the advantages and disadvantages of quitting because... there's no contest!
Many thanks to ledalle for sharing his story with us on Carenity!
Was this testimonial helpful to you? Have you tried quitting smoking yourself? What kinds of obstacles have you faced?
Give it a like and share your thoughts and comments with the community in the comments below!
Take care!
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10 comments
I have smoked FROM THE AGE OF TEN MY CHILDHOOD WAS A LIVING HELL
NEVER WHENT TO SCHOOL ENDED UP IN CHILDREN HOME THEN BORSTAL THEN PRISON MANAGED TO BRAKE THE CYCLE BUT I STILL FIGHT MY DEMONS
OF MY PAST IAM SEEKING THERAPY AND THE ONLY CONSTANT IN MY LIFE THAT KEPT ALIVE BUT KILLING ME IS SMOKING WHEN ALL HOPE WAS GONE HOMELESS STARVING I COULD Have A CIGARETTE AND A MUG OF TEA AND I Could TAKE ON THE World YES I AM A HOPELESS ADDICT PS I HAVE TRIED ALL THE ALTERNATIVE BUT TO NO AVAIL
@Chasblundell Thank you for sharing your story and welldone on breaking the cycle.
I smoked from the age of 11 years old, I started at senior school and travelled to school on the school bus, to get in with the older boys I would have a few puffs on a cigarette on the way to school and again on the way home in the afternoon. As time went on and I got older I would buy a pack of 10 cigarettes and they would last me till the middle of the week then buy some more. When I left school at 15, I was told by my step father that I was old enough to leave school and get a job. I finished school on a Friday and started work on the following Monday.
That was it I was an adult???? or so I thought. I moved into lodgings in a nearby town and settled into work. I smoked as and when I felt like having one. As time went on, I smoked more and more until I would smoke a pack of 20 in a day easily. Sometimes when I was 'legally' old enough to drink alcohol I would go out on a Friday and Saturday night and go through 40 cigarettes each night. 'MADNESS'. That was back in the early 1970's. Life went on and I had a few different jobs 2 wives then single for quite a while.
I wanted to earn 'big bucks', so I took my HGV group one licence and drove an Arctic Truck all over the UK and then it was off to France, Spain, Portugal and Morocco. It was great, but I SMOKED MY HEAD OFF, cigarettes were so so cheap that I could go through 2 or 3 packs of 20 a day. I found that if I was in a large city like London or Madrid that I would concentrate on where I was going much more and as a consequence I smoked 'like a trooper'
In 2003 I met who turned out to be my soul mate, and in 2009 I decided that after having a second heart attack I was going to give up smoking. I went to the GP and had the usual talk on How its damaging my health etc, etc. I went home and set a date that I was going to stop smoking which was 30 days’ time I would get up in the mornings and say 'Well it's 10 days or look it's only 7 days to go and so on. On the 27th morning I went to the back door to go outside for a smoke, I looked at my Tobacco tin and said, Nah I don't want this, and believe me or believe me not, I haven't touched a cigarette since. That was 9 years ago. No medication, No Patches, No Vape's NO NOTHING just WILL POWER.
IF I CAN GIVE UP THEN ANYBODY CAN.
I have never smoked as my dad put me and middle sister off smoking when we were little as he would pretend to offer us a cigarette and say "come on have a try it will only make you cough (or something along them lines anyway)" and me and my middle sister would say ",no daddy. No daddy". My mum sort of blames our dad for our youngest sister and brother smoking as he didn't put them off smoking like he did with us older two.
Myself, my middle sister and our mum got asthma through passive smoking off my dad. My middle sister's asthma has cleared up, but me n our mum have still got asthma.
@sophiesmum @richard0804 @Katieoxo22 @Chrissie @gina66 @Johnt1
This recent article that we published about smoking and e-cigarrettes could be of interest to you, check it out by clicking here !
