Ramesh Koppikar, a heavy smoker for 35 years, made several unsuccessful attempts to quit smoking. It finally took a heart attack for him to break the nicotine addiction and kick the habit for good. Read and share his experience.
I started smoking cigarettes at the age of 23 when I was studying engineering at BHU, Varanasi. I was staying in the hostel on campus and my friends and I would go for a walk after dinner. The BHU campus is large and green, hence our walks would be long and replete with lively discussions and debates. In between, my friends would stop for paan and cigarettes. Initially, I would just stand and watch them. Then as the days rolled, my holier-than-thou attitude began slipping. One night I lit a cigarette for a lark to fit in with my friends. Then I gradually moved on to my second and third cigarette, and it kept increasing.
By the time I passed out of college, I would have five cigarettes a day. In 2-3 years, I increased to 10 and then to 20 cigarettes a day.
हिंदी में पढ़े : धूम्रपान छोड़ने के बाद मेरे सांस लेने में और सो पाने में सुधार हुआ है
I enjoyed smoking and looked forward to my cigarettes. I felt my brain worked faster and smarter when I smoked. I was able to focus better and think faster. Interestingly, I always felt the urge to smoke during happy moments, never when I was low or downhearted. So, as soon as I would wake up, I would start the day with a cigarette. Then I would keep puffing away through the day and finally I would smoke just before going to bed.
Although, I was smoking 20 cigarettes day, I did not face any health setback at the beginning. There was no breathlessness, fatigue, lethargy or listlessness. I used to follow some rigorous workouts like jumping, skipping, boxing in my youth and undertook long walks daily. I also had a fine metabolic rate. I think that cushioned me against the ill effects of smoking.
Besides, when you are young, you feel you are invincible and safeguarded from all diseases. With increasing age, I became more and more aware of the harmful effects of smoking. I made various attempts to stop but I had trouble quitting. I tried to give up smoking every year. I made resolutions and vows but never lived up to them. I would declare to everybody that I am not going to smoke from tomorrow, but the next day it would be same story. I would not feel comfortable when I didn’t smoke. My mind would not work optimally. It was as if my battery had been removed. I would get angry and upset. Start blaming others when actually it was my fault. Thus, the next day I would start smoking again. I guess it was withdrawal symptoms and I didn’t know how to handle it.
Then at 40, my health started taking a beating. I was diagnosed with diabetes and blood pressure.
Again, I tried to stop smoking. I stayed away from cigarettes for 2-3 days but there was significant withdrawal symptom. I would get irritable with terrible mood swings. I would lose control of my emotions. I would feel miserable and land up with a headache at the end of the day. Unable to battle anymore, I would succumb and pick up the cigarette again.
I approached my family physician saying that I wanted to quit smoking. He advised that I take the tablet Restyl (a drug used to relieve anxiety) that would keep me calm and composed and overcome the urge to smoke. But Restyl took me to a different zone. I had no desire to work. It was definitely not the solution.
Four years ago, I had a heart attack. There was sudden pain in my chest and I was acutely breathless. I was rushed to the hospital and doctors informed me that my arteries were blocked. A stent was inserted to restore flow of blood.
The heart attack shook the life out of me. My cardiologist refused to meet me till I stopped smoking or brought down the number of cigarettes considerably. It was then that I decided I had to stop smoking somehow or the other to survive.
Once again, I started this whole exercise of wanting to quit. But soon realised that quitting could be tough. It was difficult to break the addiction, manage the cravings, and kick the habit for good.
Finally, my diabetologist recommended that I meet Dr Lancelot Pinto, a respirologist and Smoking Cessation Therapy specialist. The Smoking Cessation Therapy is a multipronged multi-partner approach. You have the doctor, a counsellor, the patient and the family working together as a team. The counselling session benefitted me tremendously. The psychologist helped me fight the trigger points. I was given a combination of medicines, including an anti-depressant. Champix, a prescription medicine that helps adults stop smoking, worked like magic. The family rallied around me and kept my morale up during weak moments.
The best part of the Cessation Therapy is that you have to taper down smoking, not quit overnight. This helps you deal with withdrawal symptoms better. Within a week, the urge to smoke reduced. The number of cigarettes came down. Yet, I was not getting withdrawal symptom like before.
Today, it has been 14 weeks since I picked up my last cigarette. I am grateful that I have given up smoking completely now. I am loving my new life after smoking continuously for 35 years. I feel so much healthier now.
The main difference I have seen in myself is that there is more oxygen going into my lungs now. I walk better without getting breathless. I sleep better. I don’t feel lethargic anymore.
Now I am 61-years- old. I believe that it’s never too late to quit smoking and embrace a healthier lifestyle. If you want to quit smoking you have to be completely resolute and determined. There is nobody who can help as much as you can help yourself – that is my message to those who want to kick the butt.
(Name changed on request)
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