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SMOKING CESSATION UNIT
Query Support Smoker Cova da Beira Hospital Centre
We know that quitting smoking can be difficult, but is much easier with support, counselling, and treatment. Nowadays there is effective treatment to help a smoker to quit smoking with ease and confidence. Most smokers would like to quit smoking. There are several failed attempts to quit the habit in their history of smoking, feeling, therefore, disappointed and with little confidence. Quitting smoking is however possible!
Welcome to the smoker support consultation.
Congratulations on your decision!
Some smokers can do it alone, but most will need help from an experienced health worker, normally a physician and/or psychologist, integrating an interdisciplinary programme. Quitting is a long-term learning process, which involves determination and persistence, the willingness to follow a programme of assistance that has its own strategies and steps that must be respected, and whose aim is to maintain abstinence. No smoker quits smoking from one day to the other, the decision to quit smoking usually takes months or even years and during this time the smoker will be preparing himself to abandon the use of tobacco.
And you're a smoker? Do you feel unhappy with your addiction, do you dislike the smell of tobacco that has infiltrated your life and habits, robbing you of the pleasures of the senses and healthy living and money in your wallet? Are you aware of the dangers of smoking and do you grieve from the consequences to your health and you family? If you answered yes, I want to tell you that you are on the right track: you are already a dissonant smoker, who does not like smoking and is thinking of quitting.
You may think that it is not yet time to stop smoking, because you have a problem in your life. However, continuing to smoke does not solve your problem and will lead sooner or later to much illness and suffering, for you and your family. So do not wait any longer: Ask for help at the smoker support consultation at CHCB. How does one stop smoking? The treatment for smoking (counselling and specific medication) is effective and safe and makes the process much easier. The smokers I help to quit smoking teach me a lot: that it's never too late to try, that persistence and determination lead to success, that the treatment is a very important facilitating driving force, that the satisfaction and well-being they feel are an asset that overcomes the difficulties, that support from family, friends and colleagues and the encouragement of other smokers who have succeeded are worth gold, that children help parents to quit smoking, that parents can help their children not to start, and that it is possible to teach someone to be healthy and to prevent illness and suffering, instead of only remedying the situation. The doctor who specialises in treating smokers can enlighten you about the evils of tobacco, your personal risk of illness, the benefits of quitting and the appropriate strategy to do so, in addition to prescribing treatment with the appropriate medication for you. The psychologist can support you and help you overcome the difficulties of day-to-day stress and anxiety. What about weight? Is it possible to quit smoking without putting on weight? Most people put on between 2 and 5 kg which corresponds to the weight they would have if they had never smoked. Only a minority increases excessively in weight. Treatment with tablets and nicotine gum can help to minimize the increase in weight. It is also very important to do regular exercise, e.g., walking half an hour a day. Eat 5 to 6 times per day, avoid not eating for more than 3 hours and drink plenty of water during the day. Sometime after overcoming the challenge of quitting smoking, your dietician can help you eliminate unnecessary kilos without difficulty.
If you've tried to quit smoking and failed, if you've experienced a long period without smoking and relapsed, do not be discouraged; Smokers that have failed before are more likely to succeed: Don’t give up!
- Quitting smoking can be difficult, but it is possible! Millions of smokers have already succeeded and they can testify.
- It is never too late to quit smoking, it is always worthwhile and there are always benefits, both health and economic - see what you can save and earn!
- If you have tried and failed, do not give up, ask for help! Most ex-smokers had to try several times until they succeeded!
- If you are already sick, quitting is the most important treatment of your illness. It is the only way you will be able to live better and minimize your suffering
To help you quit smoking, we ask you to complete a questionnaire in order to have the necessary and useful information to guide our counselling and treatment. One questionnaire is to be completed in full, the other is to be completed until the indicated arrow. We ask you to bring the completed questionnaire on the day of the consultation. So, at home, please read the leaflets: Guide on How to Quit Smoking, 15 Steps to quit smoking and set yourself free.
If you cannot come on the day of consultation, telephone and warn us in order to reschedule to another day or time. Thank you for your cooperation and please do not hesitate, go ahead, come talk to us!
Telephone the Quit Smoking hotline 808 208 888 - information on smoking, counselling and support to quit smoking. From Monday to Friday from 1h00 to 9h00. Cost of a local call.
www.parar.net - Smoking portal of the National Public Health School - interactive site about smoking, information on smoking and resources for quitting smoking.
Person in charge
Responsible for the Smoker Support consultation
Dr. Sofia Belo Ravara - pneumologist, specialist in smoking prevention and treatment of smokers.
Contacts:
Phone: (+351) 275330 000 / 961 322 963
Email: apoio.fumador@chcbeira.min-saude.pt
Operating hours
Flexible, evening classes available: Mondays and Wednesdays from 8:30 to 21h00.
For further information see the PDF documents below:
