How a wonder pill helped break Will Hosie's years-long smoking habit

Will Hosie has been smoking since he was 14. With the new anti-smoking pill, he’s finally kicked the habit.

Transcript

00:00Can this miracle drug really help you stop smoking?

00:04Hi, I'm Will Hosey, and I started smoking when I was 14 years old.

00:08It was unfortunately a prerequisite for being cool where I went to school in central London.

00:12I probably hated it at first, but I got used to it and learnt to love it, which I'm sure is most people's experience.

00:17When I turned 26 in November, I decided I needed to drop the habit.

00:21You often get told that 30 is the cut-off point, but to alleviate pressure on my future 29-year-old self,

00:26I decided I would quit now while I was still ahead.

00:29So the treatment I've gone for is a pill called varinicline.

00:32The GP can prescribe it for you on the NHS.

00:35Traditionally, they'd have offered you nicotine patches or vapes, but I find vapes unsightly.

00:40So for me, that was never going to be an option.

00:43Varinicline is a bit like ozempic for smokers in that it's designed to make you feel ill when you do smoke,

00:48and that's what puts you off. It basically ensures that smoking is no longer a pleasurable experience.

00:54When I had my first cigarette on the pill last week, I felt a bit woozy,

00:58but I thought that might just be the placebo effect.

01:01By the end of the second cigarette, however, I was feeling practically high and in a bad way.

01:06And that feeling ended up lasting for hours, and it put me off there and then.

01:10It's unclear to me whether the pill reduces cravings.

01:14I don't think it's meant to work that way, but maybe my brain has convinced itself that it has.

01:19Either way, I'm not feeling much of a craving for a cigarette.

01:22It could also be because varinicline has side effects, including nausea and constipation,

01:26which would put you off smoking anyway.

01:28It's been five days now, and I've got no desire to smoke.

01:31Obviously, though, this is a very personal experience, and other people have a different one on the drug.

01:36So whatever the effect that it has on you, it's sort of up to you to interpret that as part of your quitting journey.

01:43So say varinicline made me feel great, for example.

01:46I would tell myself, this is what I feel like when I don't smoke.

01:50At the end of the day, the most important thing the GP will tell you is willpower.