Quitting smoking is not always easy. In Liège, there is a program which is spread over 5 days. Our journalist Guillaume Fraikin, tested it for RTL INFO, to see if it is really effective.
“If someone tells you it’s easy to quit smoking, they’re lying”. Guillaume Fraikin, 29, is a journalist at RTL INFO. For 10 years, he has exhausted a pack of cigarettes a day. A few times he tried to quit smoking. But in vain. “At the beginning, it starts with friends to show off, with friends, when we are young. Very quickly, we realize that it is a habit that we take and which ends up not letting go” , he confides.
In order to put an end to his addiction, Guillaume Fraikin embarked on the experience offered by the hospital of the citadel and the province of Liège called “Plan de 5 jours”. This plan has existed for 40 years and aims to support people who want to quit smoking. Exchange meetings are thus organized in order to inform, but also to exchange with the participants.
For his part, every day, on the social networks of RTL Info, Guillaume Fraikin takes stock. As the days go by, he gives an account of his state of mind.
Tobacco, a self-service product, kills one in two smokers. It contains 4,000 toxic substances and is extremely addictive. “It’s a hard drug, and it’s a product that continues to evolve as tobacco companies manipulate tobacco plants and add lots of products that make you more and more dependent. It’s no longer the same tobacco as 5 or 10 years ago”explains Marie-Christine Servais, tobacconist nurse.
I think about it constantly.
“I realized that there was a pack of cigarettes that I had forgotten in the armrest of the car. It was very difficult to tell myself that I was not going to smoke when he was so close of me and that no one would know in the end. I resisted and I did not smoke it”, he breathes. Smoking causes many symptoms. Irritability, constant urge to snack, headaches, sleep disturbances, sometimes cold sweats, and even tremors.
On the 5th day of the experiment, Guillaume goes to the Liège hospital for a final consultation. The urge to smoke is still present. “It’s an ongoing struggle. I think about it all the time,” he testifies.
Manage your stress, relearn how to breathe, change your behavior, understand and replace what cigarettes bring. Guillaume leaves the hospital with a full toolbox. 37% of 5-Day Plan participants are still abstinent after 3 months.