From starting smoking at 13 years’ old to cycling through vaping, illness and relapse, Maxine’s journey shows how hard quitting can be, and how the right support can change everything. With support from the Southern Stop Smoking Service, she finally broke free from nicotine and began to feel healthy, energised and in control of her life again.
I started smoking when I was 13. I’d had a rough childhood and spent about ten years in care, and smoking just became part of my life early on.
I quit cigarettes at 18 and switched to vaping, mostly because my first thought every morning was, I need to get smokes today, and I didn’t like that feeling at all. I’ve always been really aware of addiction, both my parents had addictions, so I knew I didn’t want that kind of hold over me.
Vaping was advertised as a way to quit smoking, so I thought I would vape then quit entirely. Quitting the cigarettes was hard, but vaping did make it easier at first. But when I tried to quit vaping, that was a whole different story. I tried twice. It wasn’t just nicotine; I was craving sugar too. Vapes are so sweet.
I continued vaping, but then I started having reactions. My throat hurt, my lungs hurt, and breathing became really painful. I thought I was sick at first, but it got so bad I ended up in hospital.
While I was in hospital, I wasn’t vaping and I quickly realised that was what was causing my health issues. I started getting better because I wasn’t vaping and soon I found out I was allergic to benzoic acid, which is in vapes. I’d always had reactions to things like lip balms and body washes, but I never knew why. I wouldn’t have found that out if it wasn’t for vaping.
I ended up switching back to smoking, and it was bad. I wanted a smoke every five minutes and went through tobacco so quickly. I smoked for the next year and during that time I cut back to about 15 grams a week. I knew it was still having an effect on my health issues though. I decided enough was enough and it was time for me to quit entirely. I had really low energy, my skin wasn’t great, and I didn’t want to ruin my teeth. I had so many reasons to stop.
I called Quitline and talked through my plan, and then I googled stop smoking support. That’s how I found Rachel, a stop smoking coach from the Southern Stop Smoking Service. She had a clinic at the hospital where I would go and see her and sometimes we would talk over the phone.
Rachel listened to my plan to stop and we talked about everything - why I wanted to quit, what had worked before, and what hadn’t.
She did a carbon monoxide test, gave me patches, and showed me exactly how to use them properly. Once I started wearing the patches, I’d have a smoke and it just didn’t hit the same. I realised I didn’t actually need it. Cigarettes started tasting gross. My last smoke was at 11:30pm on December 2nd.
Rachel’s support made such a huge difference. While I was quitting, I was dealing with a lot including financial stress, housing issues, and my car breaking down. Just being able to talk to her helped so much. She didn’t judge, she just listened. I honestly think I would have quit smoking eventually, but I wouldn’t have quit when I did without Rachel and the Southern Stop Smoking Service.
Since quitting, my health has improved so much. My skin has cleared up, my energy levels are way higher, and my partner says I look healthier. I remember thinking, is this the energy level everyone else has? I’ve got more motivation, I’m walking more, and I’m just doing so much more with my time.
I do miss going outside for a smoke sometimes, but I don’t miss smoking. Getting support made all the difference. I didn’t have to do it alone, and that’s what helped me succeed.
