Feb 1999

Dear Mr L,

Thank you for returning the smoking questionnaire.  I am pleased to hear that you intend trying to stop smoking in the next six months.  I hope this letter can help you prepare for that attempt.

The most important factor in successfully stopping smoking is really wanting to stop.  To get to that point, the things you don't like about smoking have to become more important to you than the things you do like.  From your answers, there are more bad things than good for you about smoking, so you may not be far from making that successful attempt.

The things you like about smoking are that you enjoy it, it helps you to relax, and it helps you break up your working day.  Certainly many people enjoy smoking, and there is no easy answer to missing the enjoyment of smoking.  Perhaps you could use some of the money you save to do something else you enjoy.  But you may simply have to accept giving up the pleasure of smoking as the price to be paid for the benefits of stopping.

Smoking helps you relax, but there are other ways to relax.  There is some information about this on the back page.  Stopping smoking might also involve finding other ways of breaking up your working day: try chewing gum, or going for a short walk, or whatever else your working situation allows.

You don't like that it's unpleasant for others, and it's bad for other people's health. You also have some concerns about the effect on your own health and fitness.  You are quite right to be concerned about the health risks of smoking.  Smoking is almost certainly contributing to your cough and your frequent chest infections.  It is likely to cause other health problems in the future, and you are already aware of the increased risk of developing  heart disease, stroke and lung cancer.  Stopping smoking will begin to reduce your risks of these illnesses, and will also lead to an early increase in your physical fitness.

You are fairly confident of managing to stop smoking when you do make the attempt.  You are right to feel this way, because you have several things in your favour.  Your partner doesn't smoke, you expect a lot of support from your partner and friends, and you have good reasons for wanting to stop.  These things are all known to increase your chances of success.

You smoke 11-20 cigarettes a day, and smoke your first cigarette within 30 minutes of waking.  These facts suggest you are moderately addicted to nicotine, and so you might get withdrawal symptoms for a time on stopping.  It would be worth considering using nicotine patches when you stop: these double the chances of success for moderately heavy smokers such as yourself who make a determined attempt to stop smoking.  Your pharmacist or GP can give you more information about this.

I hope this letter has been of use to you.  Good luck when you make that attempt.

Yours sincerely,