Mandy Tillotson

I first started smoking when I was 14, and over the last 24 years I have managed to stop just once for any decent length of time (4 years). Not even pregnancy or the death of my mum from lung cancer in 1993 (she never smoked in her entire life) was enough of an incentive for me to stop for good.

I have always smoked approximately 10 - 15 cigarettes a day, and enjoyed every one of them, but 2 and a half years ago I changed my job and became a sales rep travelling up and down the country 5 days a week. My nicotine intake had always been limited to break times but now I had the freedom to smoke whenever I wanted . . . and I did just that.

It was normal for me on a trip of maybe 1 hour 20 minutes to Liverpool to smoke between 8 - 10 cigs which looking back was quite horrendous, but at the time was the norm. My intake slowly crept up and before seeing Julie I was smoking 40 + per day.

The first turning point for me came when my children stated that they didn't want me to die and leave them like MY mum had left me and I realised just how selfish I was being. I didn't enjoy smoking anymore it had purely become a habit and if I carried on not only would it probably kill me, but seriously damage the health of my husband and my children.

The second turning point was a trip to the dentists where my daughter saw a Break the Habit leaflet and gave it to me. I read it with interest but not convinced that it would work, and decided to give Julie a call when I got home. I didn't . . . it stayed in my van for another 3 weeks before I made the decision that started the chain of events that changed my life.

On the day of my appointment I smoked myself silly counting down the cigs in my packet along with the hours/minutes/seconds until I was to meet Julie. I did this with both excitement that it just might work and dread that I would be losing something that had been in my life for 24 years. I must confess that try as I might I couldn't quite see how someone talking to me would literally "Break the habit of a lifetime". But I was willing to try anything and the testimonials on Julie’s website were encouraging, so, with mixed feelings I went to meet, as it turned out to be, my saviour. . . . . .

I didn't know what to expect and willingly admit to being very nervous, but Julie instantly put me at ease and for the first 30 minutes we chatted about when I smoked and how many etc, all information that would be used whilst I was under a state of intense relaxation. Even whilst I was hypnotised I still couldn't see how this was going to work as I heard everything that was said to me and didn't feel any different.

When Julie finally told me to open my eyes, I still didn't feel any different and remember thinking what a waste of money that was. I said goodbye to Julie and headed back to my van and then the weirdest thing happened, I went to get a cigarette from the place that I always kept them and it was as if someone knocked my hand away, and at the same time I thought to myself I DON'T DO THAT ANYMORE. It was the strangest thing that has ever happened in my life and I can't fully explain the feelings I had at that time. I hadn't told my family about my visit to Julie but within 2 hours of being home my children were asking why I hadn't had my normal 5 million cigs and it was then that I realised that I hadn't even thought about having one in all that time, which for me was an absolute miracle.

In the last 8 months I can honestly say I can count on one hand the number of times I have thought about having a cigarette, and even when I have thought about it, the thought enters my left ear and exits immediately from my right ear, and I don't miss them at all. The other day I was standing outside a customer’s shop with him whilst he had a cig when his phone rang. He handed his cig to me and told me to "just hold this for me". When he had gone inside I just looked at it then let it fall to the ground and stood on it, I couldn't even associate myself with holding a cig. He was fair miffed off when he came back outside as it had been his last one, but never mind J. 

Seeing Julie has literally been a life changing experience as, I feel better, have lots more money to spend, but best of all I have given my children peace of mind that their mum isn't going to die through putting those cancer sticks in her mouth all the time.

Please feel free to contact me if you would like to chat about my experience (you can't write everything down) but PLEASE don't email or phone me as a way of trying to find out the cost. It is not my business to discuss Julie's fees and it is not fair to ask me. You must contact her direct, as I did to find out her charges. 

My phone number is 01484 400780 or email me at mandyt12@sky.com 

Mandy Tillotson