“I regret having dived again, I was off to a good start“says Florence, 59 years old, including four decades smoking about a packet of cigarillos a day. This resident of Monts, in Indre-et-Loire, has agreed to give her testimony to France Bleu Touraine for the Tobacco Free Month, launched on November 1. Florence evokes the difficulty in stopping this gesture which has become a reflex. “I am all alone, I live alone, I have a lot of trouble. Sometimes I crack. I smoke two or three a day, that’s already too much. I must have 30% lungs left, I know I’m playing with fire. And there’s the cost, too. “
When we’re the least well, that’s where we have to stop, that’s what my little sister told me – Florence
However, Florence had recently managed to quit smoking, as she separated from an abusive partner. “When we’re the least well, that’s where we have to stop, that’s what my little sister told me “ tells the fifty-something. “I think separating from this spouse has helped me. Because smoking cigarettes was a time together, we were going downstairs. I didn’t want to anymore. “ She stops smoking her cigarillos, associated with this spouse and “the smell of cold tobacco“of the apartment. And holds out until May 2021.
At the slightest emotional shock (…) you can relapse – The pulmonologist from Florence
“The pulmonologist told me, at the slightest emotional shock, beware, you can relapse “ continues Florence. This shock was the hospitalization of his father, 92, last May. “The hospital contacted us telling us to expect the worst, that it was going through its last hours (…) I had two, three cigarillos left in a box and when I had this phone call in the evening, very late, I had the cigarillos and off we went. “ Florence’s father finally made it. Her situation is now stable, the fifty-something has once again launched this great challenge: quit smoking before the end of the year.
We tell ourselves that tobacco is a little escape – Florence
If quitting smoking turned out to be easier than expected the first time, this second challenge is much more complex for Florence, that the nicotine patches do not help. “They don’t cut off the urge. If I’m not feeling good, if I’m bored, I’ll smoke a little. We tell ourselves that tobacco is a little escape. It’s very hard” Florence admits. “We have knots in our stomachs. We feel guilty when we smoke our cigarettes, we say to ourselves ‘thin, we are not even good at quitting.’ That’s what I feel.“
To avoid smoking, Florence drinks a lot of water, sparkling too, to please the taste buds. She does sports with a physiotherapy practice specialized. “Sometimes a little chocolate is good for your morale. But not too much, because putting on pounds is something else!she smiles. “I have to get into the idea that I have to stop. It’s poison, I know for a fact that if I continue, I will die of suffocation. And I don’t want to.”
52,000 people have registered for the 6th edition of the Tobacco Free Month on the Public Health France platform. The Tabac info service website or the number 39 89 are there to help you.