Pam's Full Quit Story

I am almost 70 years old and vape for my mental health. I tried, without success, almost every available method to stop smoking permanently over many years since I started at 16. I suffered a four year long clinical depression from age 28 to 32. Around 14 years ago, as I had developed mild COPD, I decided to stop smoking so it wouldn’t get worse. I began to feel the early symptoms of depression and was terrified of another episode. I didn’t think I would survive it at my then age. Life wouldn’t be worth living, as it was hell. It would have been very hard on my partner as well. I rang Quitline to ask whether stopping smoking could trigger a depressive episode. I was told, yes, it often does cause depression and it’s particularly likely if a person has had a previous episode of clinical depression. The person at the end of the phone advised me to see my GP and get onto antidepressants before quitting smoking. “Too late”, she cried!

I’ve done my research and I know that even the latest antidepressant medications don’t have a high degree of success. (They failed me previously.) I wasn’t prepared to gamble (I would rather have COPD than depression) so I started smoking again and the symptoms went. Shortly after I resumed smoking I discovered vaping on the internet. I tried many different types, some more satisfying than others, but as the industry developed the products improved dramatically until, around 8 years ago now, I found the perfect device and flavoured e-liquid for my needs. I am convinced based on research I’ve already done that the available vapes and liquids under the proposed policy will not match these – even if I could afford them along with the cost of GP visits and prescriptions. I am an aged pensioner. 

My lung function also improved dramatically after I’d been vaping for a while. The clear evidence of this was that, as a person who sings in a group for three hours every week, I could sing very long lines in songs without having to take a breath where previously I had needed to. Despite some COPD my most recent lung function test result was within the normal range.