A 38-year-old woman who recently quit smoking said it has been hell since she stopped.

The woman, who preferred not to be named, said the she had been smoking regularly for 14 years.

This was not the first time that she had tried quitting and in the past she had tried numerous methods. "I tried acupuncture, hypnosis, the patch and the gum, but it just didn't work," she said.

"This time I have gone cold turkey and the first day was really difficult.

"At night it is difficult to sleep and I find that I just keep tossing and turning - my body is trying to adjust.

"Many people who had stopped for longer have asked me am I beginning to sleep now, but I haven't yet.

"I find that I am moody, as well."

The one-pack-a-day ex-smoker said she had found it hard to enjoy a coffee or relax on the phone, without having a cigarette.

"Previously I would have a cigarette and a coffee break and relax for a chat outside," she said. "In the evenings I used to talk on the telephone to my friends and always light up during the conversation.

"A lot of it was habit more than wanting a cigarette." One-week-and-two-days into quitting she said she looked on a website and it explained the changes her body would go through, during withdrawal. "I had no idea before about all the changes my body would go through," said the so far successful quitter.

"I get headaches at the moment and my breath smells.

"The website talked about my lungs releasing the mucus that was held and the acid balance."

She said two years ago she went and had an x-ray taken of her lungs, as she was concerned about what state they were in.

But surprisingly, she said: "My doctor told me that I do not have the lungs of a smoker and told her that perhaps she doesn't inhale as deeply s other smokers."

One person told her, "now that you have stopped smoking, all of your health problems will begin." But she said: "Sometimes people just have to say something negative."

And every morning as she enters her workplace, she is greeted by a co-worker who offers her a cigarette, but she said: "People feel that you have left them behind and they don't like that. "It is a challenge to quit - you have to like a challenge.

"Previously I stopped smoking and began again, but I am trying hard to do it - and this time, I will succeed."