Alex finds Avenues to quit smoking
Alex had smoked for 29 years and had tried vaping on and off for a year.
He attempted to quit several times – including going cold turkey, taking bupropion and even hypnosis. None of it held.
Then he tried the Avenues study. Avenues offers help to those who both smoke and vape to either quit smoking or quit both. They offer:
- Medications—participants get either varenicline or nicotine patch via mail.
- Counseling—participants get either one online coaching session or four online sessions to help them quit smoking.
- Vaping approaches—participants are either encouraged to just quit smoking (and keep vaping) or to quit both smoking and vaping.
Alex said varenicline really helped him.
“I really think that having the varenicline to assist me played a major role in me becoming aware that I could quit smoking without looking back or falling off the wagon,” Alex said. “I must say even with being 100% virtual I still had a great support team. I had people that were there for me through the entire study to give words of encouragement and praise upon making it to certain goals.”
It felt like the motivation to quit smoking had to be within him first. “But I knew the entire time the study team was there if I needed a shoulder or just plain encouragement to keep pushing.”
He recommends the study and that participants know what they want out of it and are willing to put in the work to get it. With that, “the support given by the team is impeccable,” he said.
He added that being 100% smoke free feels amazing. “I have noticed that my breathing problems have started to subside. I don’t get winded nearly as much. I don’t stink like smoke anymore and more people seem to be around me now.”
He no longer watches the clock wondering when it’s time to go out and smoke. “I can breathe much better. I have the desire to want to go and do things that before I would feel intimidated to do as I would always be the first to become short of breath or not be able to keep up with others.”
He has cut his vaping in half, too.
“I would recommend this study to anyone, including friends and family, if they want to quit smoking and have the determination and drive to follow the script.”