We all know that stopping smoking will lengthen your life and reduce your risk of cancer as well as padding your purse out. But did you know smoking is a big no-no if you’re hoping for eternal youth as it reverses all the good work in your beauty regime? Sagging skin, crow’s feet, age spots and the deadly ‘smoker’s kiss’ are all brought on from the fags and should be enough to make you stub out forever. As well as this, non-smoking women get pregnant more quickly according to a cancer.ie. So why wait? Dr Gigi Taguri from Lloyds Online Doctor is sharing her top tips to help you target your smoking addiction head-on.

I smoke in the evenings and especially can't go without one before bed. I still have not got to the stage that I want to give up enough to follow it through. What would you recommend?

Starting to break a long-term habit such as smoking can be very difficult at first, but by taking on-board some of my tips below, you can try and resist temptation and be one step closer to living a cigarette-free life. 1. Picture your goal Try and work out what the main benefit to you giving up smoking will be. Is it cosmetic? Do you want whiter teeth? Fresher breath and glossy hair? Perhaps you’d like to feel fitter, go that extra mile in the gym and breathe more easily. Giving up smoking can do all this and more. If you need any additional motivation, the HSE-run website quit.ie reports that most smokers will lose between 10-15 years of their lives before they die, and that one in every two smokers will die from a smoking related disease. 2. Break the cycle Smoking is a physical addiction and psychological habit which is why it can be so difficult to stop. The nicotine provides a ‘feel-good’ (and some report stress-relieving) effect on the brain which many see as a way to cope with stress, depression, boredom or anxiety. Smoking itself is a habit which may be ingrained in your daily life. To successfully quit, you’re going to have to address both the addiction and habits that accompany smoking. If you’re stressed or having a bad day, ask yourself why that is and what you can do instead to alleviate that stress. If you smoke at the same time every day, try changing your routine as you begin to kick the habit. 3. Stay on track with an app There are loads of great apps out there that can help you resist temptation. My favourite is the Livestrong MyQuit Coach (free) which comes up with a personalized quit plan depending on your lifestyle and number of cigarettes you smoke per day. You can even track your finances to see how much you’ve saved and connect with an online community of fellow quitters. 4. Look for help Now has never been a better time to quit. Along with the HSE website quit.ie which is filled with lots of helpful tips to help you give up, there are apps, medicines and books to help you quit. Allen Carr’s ‘Easy Way To Stop Smoking’ is a bestseller that has worked for many people. If you need medication to help you stop smoking, your pharmacist can advise on nicotine replacement therapies, or at Lloyds we offer prescriptions for Champix, which has been proven to more than double your chances of quitting. Champix has been linked with some side effects including low mood and depression, so may not be suitable for everyone.

I've gained 7lbs even though I work out. I’ve been off the cigs for 5 months it's getting me down. I want to go back smoking as I was thinner.

Some people report weight gain after giving up cigarettes, but it’s important not to let this prospect put you off the idea of stopping smoking. It’s not the actual cigarettes that were making you thinner. In many cases when people give up they replace the cigarette with food, i.e. swapping a fag for a cup of coffee or biscuit. It’s possible that now you could be filling the cigarette gap with snacking again. I know it can get you down, but a 7lbs weight gain is not huge amount so don’t despair too much. Although you haven’t told me details about your general health, the risks from this weight gain are likely to be far less than if you were to continue smoking. Your priority should be to stay cigarette-free and worry about weight gain after you have tackled this addiction. Try and remember that it can take a few weeks to lose 7lbs, but if you start smoking again now, you will undo months of hard work. If you smoke, stopping is probably the biggest single step you will take to improving your lifestyle, and after five months your body will already be in much better condition. Try and think back to before you quit: do you remember how your skin and teeth looked? Have you noticed an improvement? Smoking stains teeth and increases the likelihood of developing gum disease. Smokers also have less oxygen flowing to their skin, which can create a yellow complexion and speed up the formation of wrinkles. How about your breathing and your energy levels? The increase in oxygen in your body will mean you should be feeling less tired. Quitting the cigarettes will have increased your circulation making all physical activity much easier. You will be breathing more clearly as your lung capacity will have improved too. I know it’s tempting to start smoking again so you can look how you did five months ago, but think about how good you’re feeling. I’m sure that on the inside and out, you will be healthier than you have been for a long time.

Will I still feel the benefits of not smoking if I continue to use my e- cigarettes?

Vaping (or electronic cigarettes) are battery powered cartridges filled with nicotine which emit a vapour which is free of the harmful substances such as tar found in normal cigarettes. As a result, they are viewed by many as a less harmful substitute to the traditional cigarette. However, the e-cigarette does contain other chemicals, such as nicotine which is extremely addictive. You should also remember that you are not really breaking your addiction or behavioural habit of smoking so it will be easy to switch back to normal cigarettes. There is also very little evidence to suggest that e-cigarettes actually help people give up smoking, as nicotine addiction can be transferred from real cigarettes to electronic ones. The main benefits of not smoking are that you are reducing your risk of heart disease and cancer and although this risk is likely to be lower with e-cigarettes, you are still inhaling chemicals into your lungs. For this reason the medical jury is still out on the long term effects associated with e-cigarettes. I’d advise you to instead use a nicotine replacement therapy instead such as gum- your pharmacist will be able to advise you on this. If you need help giving up smoking, we can provide prescriptions for a four week supply of Champix the stop smoking medicine which increases your chances of giving up by 300%. After four weeks, our doctors will review your progress and if suitable, issue you with a prescription for a further eight week supply. Remember though: some people report low mood as a side effect and this medication may not be suitable if you have a history of depression. Other common side effects include abnormal dreams, headaches, difficulty sleeping and nausea. Lloyds Online Doctor provides women with consultations for repeat prescriptions for the contraceptive pill or patch, treatment for weight loss, stop smoking and cholesterol for only €25. Launched in July 2013, the service has treated over 20,000 Irish patients so far. To find out more about the service visit https://www.lloydsonlinedoctor.ie