Colds are common, some breaking out into a heavy flu. I got a bout of sniffles that I put down to the weather, but when I looked up on the NHS website why my mouth was also suddenly full of ulcers (to the point of being mute), I was surprised to read that a likely cause was my health kick: “When you first stop smoking, you may find you develop mouth ulcers (as a result of your body dealing with the change in chemicals in your body).” Further reading on smoking forums found that some people find the withdrawal effects so awful that they sadly return to the fags. I won’t be doing that, but a friend insists that occasionally sucking on a pipe might make the problem go away. “It’s also good for stress,” he notes.