Anar Chaudhari, 40, who quit smoking after nearly 20 years, says it requires immense willpower and resolve to kick the smoking habit and shares her journey of quitting smoking and the benefits she has observed.
Smoking on an Impulse
I started smoking when I was 22. It was out of sheer curiosity. There was no peer pressure. I didn’t have anyone compelling me to try. Nor was there any stress in my life. Actually, I used to really love the smell of tobacco and cigarette smoke. It held great fascination for me. Probably because I had grown up in a smoking household. My father and other family members used to cherish their cigarettes. It was a very liberal atmosphere at home where smoking and drinking were not taboo, not even frowned upon. Similarly, I was exposed to an equally permissive environment in the fine art college I attended. Girls and boys smoked openly. But it was after college, when I was in Pune for two years, that I tried my first cigarette. I remember I blurted out a random dialogue to my friends that I wanted to try out everything, and impulsively lit a cigarette. Surprisingly, not once, did I cough or gasp. I took to it like fish to water. I felt great. Thus I began smoking.
I was never a heavy smoker. After my Pune stint, I went to the UK and cigarettes being so expensive there, I didn’t smoke much. I smoked very, very less. I would have one in five days. Earlier too, I was not smoking much.
My smoking increased after my marriage. I got married in 1994 at 26. My husband being a smoker was reason enough for me to continue. Now I was no longer smoking alone; I had company. Besides, as I was staying in a nuclear family, there were no restrictions. I didn’t have to hide and smoke. There were no issues about my smoking.
My addiction to nicotine
In this conducive situation, I was slowly getting nicotine addicted. I was having 7 to 8 cigarettes per day. I started with classic ultra mild, then moved to the stronger classic, and finally to the premium brand Benson & Hedges. As my husband was a smoker, there was always a cigarette packet lying around in the house. The desire to have one and then another kept growing. After a point it became so bad that as soon I would wake up in the morning, I would need a cigarette to go to the toilet. Fortunately, I was working in a very conservative office where smoking was not allowed. But the moment I got back home, I would start smoking with a vengeance - late nights, early mornings, odd hours.
The only time I stopped smoking was during my pregnancies. I have 2 daughters. One was born in 2007 and the other in 2011. So I made it a point to quit for some months before I had a child and continued not to smoke during feeding. In hindsight, I should have quit smoking that time, but the urge was overpowering and I needed to smoke.
Onset of Smoker’s Cough
About 15 years into my smoking, a worrisome cough set in. It began as a mild cough, but worsened over the months and years. Cough syrups would suppress it for a while, but it would surface again. I realised I had developed the smoker’s cough. It was a nagging, persistent cough that emerged from deep inside my lungs and chest, not the throat. It was extremely irritating. The moment I would lie down, my cough would start. My sleep would be constantly disturbed. I would get up frequently at night because of the cough or because I needed to drink water. My throat would be parched and hurting. I realized that when I had stopped smoking temporarily during my pregnancy, my cough had disappeared. The only way to get rid of my cough was to stop smoking, I reckoned. After my second child was born, I tried to quit smoking cold turkey (giving up smoking all at once). My father had quit smoking cold turkey. Maybe it will work for me too, I thought.
But the effects of quitting cold turkey were disastrous. After 3 days, the urge to smoke again drove me crazy. I began to lose my temper, get angry and irritated at the smallest provocation. It was like having continuous menopause. Something as casual as my husband drinking water directly from the bottle would blow off my fuse. I would explode. It was an old habit of his, but now it irked me no end. Unfortunately, my ire and exasperation were all directed at him. One day my husband finally burst out: ‘This is not how I can live with you. You please go back to smoking.’
Tobacco Cessation Clinic
Many years later, in 2017, I was passing by Hinduja Hospital, and I saw a big ad for tobacco cessation. I had wanted to give up smoking, but didn’t know what to do. I needed help. I had tried cold turkey, but that failed. Maybe Hinduja could offer something useful.
At the Hospital, I met respirologist Dr. Lancelot Pinto, who runs a Tobacco Cessation Clinic. He gave me a comprehensive overview of the cessation programme, explaining the most effective way of quitting. He developed a plan to help me successfully quit smoking. He told "please have as many cigarettes you want for the first two weeks". You won’t believe it - on day four I threw the cigarette.
He put me on Champix(varenicline) medicine for a month. It is a medicine to help adults stop smoking. It can help to reduce craving and withdrawal symptoms that may happen when you stop smoking. Along with it, he also gave me a small dose of anti-depressants. Some of the common side effects of Champix(varenicline) include blurred vision, nausea, vomiting, trembling hands. Many people are not able to endure the side effects and quit. But I didn’t give in. I said I have to go through with it. Dr Pinto had alerted me about these. Many people quit. They begin to panic. But I pulled on.
The Tobacco Cessation Clinic was the best thing that ever happened to me. Within a month or so after meeting Dr Pinto, I stopped smoking completely. Nor do I get the urge to smoke. I have discovered that the desire to quit smoking has to come from within. You have to be convinced and absolutely determined to give up the cigarette. You have to be mentally prepared; you have to be ready to give up. You have to have immense power and resolve to kick the habit.
Benefits of Quitting
I have been smoke free for one year three months. I can see and feel the wonderful change in me.
- My cough has completely gone.
- My appetite has improved. I have gained 5 kgs since I quit.
- I look healthier now.
- I sleep better.
- I see a change in my complexion. I used to look haggard.
- I don’t have dark circles under my eyes.
- My stamina has increased substantially. I play tennis. In less than 2 months I could see the change. Earlier, I would start panting and puffing in 20 minutes. Now I can play for 40 minutes at a stretch without running out of breath. And it continues to improve.
Advice to Smokers
No one can push or coerce a smoker to stop smoking. It has to be strongly felt and desired by the person herself/himself. All addictions are difficult to quit, but not impossible. I would strongly recommend a cessation programme to all. It helps bolster willpower, and makes the journey easier. Today, even if am surrounded by friends, all of whom are smoking, there is not a flicker of desire even for a single puff. I am happy!
(Name changed on request)
