Skip to main content

Matthew O’Donoghue At the age of 30 decided it was time to stop smoking and take back control.

Quit smoking today with our help:


Sign up to the Quit plan

Freephone

1800 201 203

Already have a Quit plan? Sign in

 photo quit

I am 30 years old and I started smoking when I was roughly 18. I started smoking mainly due to college nights out and just joining in the crowd I suppose, and it kind of progressed from there. I tried to stop multiple times before but each time it kind of felt like something was holding me back and this in turn just lead to relapses. When I turned 30 though I decided to take a long look at myself and more importantly how I was going to be 5/10/20 years down the line. I used to be very athletic and really into sports which significantly declined since I started smoking. When I looked at myself down the line I saw cigarettes stopping me from where I wanted to be.
I met my QUIT advisor Susan, having tried to stop on my own multiple times before. Susan was brilliant, she gave me accountability for my smoking and that extra bit of emphasis to keep off the cigarettes. Without putting on any pressure I knew that she would call twice a month and that accountability really made me think about having a smoke when I had the urge. Susan provided Nicotine Replacement Therapies in the form of inhalers and smokeless cigarettes with replaceable capsules, which were fantastic, especially on nights out. I even found that once I got past that original first stage, my body started rejecting the replacements and I’m happy to say I’m off all nicotine now.
I firmly believe that sitting down and thinking about your reasons to QUIT is a fantastic way to start, there are thousands of negatives from smoking and no positives which puts you in a great mindset early on. I would advise anyone who is considering giving up cigarettes to contact a QUIT advisor and just try it, if I can QUIT I believe anyone can.

To start your own QUIT journey sign up for a QUIT plan and call 1800 201 203
To find out more about free Nicotine Replacement Therapies contact a Stop Smoking Advisor in your area here.

page last reviewed: 16/01/2023
next review due: 16/01/2026

Find us on X (Twitter)

@HSEQuitTeam

Find us on

Facebook