Sheila Douglas, Charity Shop Volunteer, Edinburgh

After 53 years, Sheila quit because she had “the wish and the will.”

After smoking for 53 years Sheila quit using the help of an NHS stop-smoking support group and as she says, determination.

Sheila started smoking with a pal when she was 13 as an act of defiance and said it was easy not to get caught as smoking was everywhere from the home to where you socialised. She was on a 20 a day habit when she finally quit in 2009 but had at some points smoked as much as 40-50 a day.

Sheila found that as well being unwell, she was also starting to feel breathless when walking a short distance which made her feel panicky. She also has emphysema so thought she would try to find out more information about quitting so attended her first stop-smoking support meeting.

“I didn’t really think I would quit  but I remember really clearly it was the day before my daughter Fiona’s birthday and when I told her where I had been she said it was the nicest birthday present I could ever give her. After that I thought well I better go again! I thought at first I’d stop for a bit and feel better, but I just kept going. Fiona was worried about my health and often encouraged me to try and stop and has been delighted at me staying quit.

“I went to the classes for 12 weeks and that helped make me more determined; I enjoyed them and it was interesting hear how others had stopped and were coping. I knew I didn’t want to take any pills or patches, I wanted to quit without using anything else. I decided that stopping smoking had to be a normal part of my everyday life which might have made it harder but I wanted to have the same routines. The smoking ban helped as I could still go out for a coffee or for a drink as I couldn’t smoke there anyway.

“However I did find it hard and was emotional and unwell at first. Physically my body had been used to smoking for 53 years and I think it had to get used to me not smoking. The nicotine may have gone from my body but I had to get out of the habit and I found that a hurdle. I found it hard for the first month and supplemented with chocolate at first but I didn’t want to substitute cigarettes in my mouth for something else and when I realised that I stopped. I started doing 1000 piece jigsaws instead!

Sheila says the best thing about giving up is that she can breathe again and that she succeeded because she was ready to stop: “I had the wish and the will”.  Her advice to smokers wanting to quit is to be prepared, keep a sense of humour, and see it as a benefit not an ordeal.

“You need to look forward to the benefits and you need to do it for yourself. I look it as a positive experience which I came out of as a happier person.”

What do friends and family say?

Sheila says her friends and family were over the moon that she quit especially as the majority thought she never would. “You’d think I’d won the World Cup, I actually got fed up being praised!”

Daughter Fiona on Sheila quitting: “I really am amazed and quite frankly ecstatic that mum has managed to stop smoking and that she has now been a non smoker for over two years! I was desperate for her to quit and am immensely proud of her achievement and I never stop telling people of her that she’s quit.”