Smokers tell their tales of quitting

Readers share their experiences in a bid to help others give up smoking

It broke his heart. His two-year-old daughter turned away when he went to hug her. She wrinkled her tiny nose and ran to her mother. She complaind that his mouth was smelling bad. He was a chain smoker.

That was the day Shadab Ahmad, 36, working in property investment in Dubai, stubbed out his cigarette for good. That was in 2009. It’s been nearly six years, but he has not relapsed.

Gulf News spoke to readers who described their individual battles with the “cancer stick” to mark United Nations World No Tobacco Day on May 31, which primarily focuses on illicit tobacco trade.

Following father

Syed Azmat, 34, said that he started experimenting with cigarettes in his school days. “My dad used to smoke. I was intrigued by the smoke that came out of his mouth. I used to take the butts that my father stubbed and smoked them.”

He recalls having his first proper smoke with his best friend after a grade 10 exam, which had gone very well. However, it was only at college that he became a smoker.

Azmat said: “I was reaching manhood and it was that phase where you sped up your bikes, bunked classes and smoked. In 2008 I was at my peak and smoked 20 cigarettes a day.”

According to a study by the World Health Organisation (WHO) in 2007, the examples set by adults, parents, older siblings and children are the most powerful influences shaping a child’s behaviour and personality. By watching and imitating others, young children learn how to interact socially. They learn acceptable and unacceptable kinds of behaviour.

It was not easy for Azmat to break the habit. He said: “Eight cigarettes became five a day, then three a day to two a day and then alternate weeks and once a week to nil now.”

Having quit completely since last Ramadan, Azmat says his motivation came from his mother and his better half, Aisha Azmat. He advises smokers to break the top half of the cigarette in case the urge to smoke is too overwhelming.

“That way, the person smoking will feel he is consuming the whole cigarette while less nicotine is entering the body,” he said. “Drink a lot of water and take pineapple or orange juice, both of which reduce nicotine in the body. Also, try not to smoke. I am sure you’re better half will like that.”

Emily Kelly, a resident of Abu Dhabi, posted a comment on the Gulf News Facebook page stating that she read Allen Carr’s Easy way for Women to Stop Smoking and found it very helpful to quit.

“It has been nearly 10 years since I smoked. One simple advice I have for people to stop smoking is taking a bit of the money that will be used for purchasing cigarettes and save it every day. At the end of the month, use that money to treat yourself,” she said.

Children show the way

An employee at a UAE telecom company for the past six years, Gaurav Singh, 34, said that he gave up smoking only five years ago, nearly 12 years after falling prey to it.

“It started in my college days. I went to a hostel away from home in Indore, India, and got into company that smoked. I was a moderate smoker till then. It was only in 2000 that I became a chain smoker, smoking two packs a day,” he recalled.

“It did not hit me then. I got married and was blessed with a daughter. The responsibility I carry dawned on me,” Singh said.

“Reading a lot of articles containing horrific facts was really an eye-opener. Heart diseases and lung cancers that sprouted because of smoking really scared me.

“I am glad I quit smoking when I was 30. My body was young enough to take it. Smoking affected my mental health. Now I find myself composed.”

With nearly 1.1 billion tobacco users in the world, it is the biggest health threat faced, killing nearly six million people each year. More than five million of those deaths are the result of direct tobacco use while more than 600,000 are the result of non-smokers being exposed to second-hand smoke. And 165,000 of these deaths are among children. Unless urgent action is taken, the annual death toll could rise to more than eight million by 2030.

In the context of children inspiring their parents to quit smoking, Sanjana Raheja mentioned on the Gulf News Facebook page that her father quit smoking without resorting to nicotine tablets or chewing gum.

She said: “My younger sister prepared an ‘agreement’ obliging my dad to sign it and agreeing to the terms and conditions of quitting smoking. She even made him trash the cigarette pack he had with him. Since then, he hasn’t touched a cigarette.”

Ramadan helps

For another it was during Ramadan. Ubaid Bhat said: “We were all fasting and I reminded my dad, who is a chain smoker, and usually smokes a packet of cigarettes from dawn to sunset, that he didn’t smoke a single one since his fast began. That meant it’s not that hard if you can just control it a bit more.

“On Eid, my sisters and I confronted him and requested him to stop smoking. We said that if he could avoid smoking for the whole month of Ramadan, it was not impossible to quit for the rest of his life.

“Now, by the will of Allah, it has been 15 years since dad smoked. And Inshallah, he won’t ever again.”

Free medication is rendered to Emiratis while 40 per cent of the charge is levied on expatriates. Hassan said she has been successful in her attempt.

“In my knowledge, I have seen some people undergoing a transformation. On an average, 10 people have quit smoking in a month in Sharjah, while in a year 130 persons or more quit. We give them awards as incentives to continue,” she said. As of 2010, Hassan recalls that around 15 per cent of smokers in the UAE met a fatal end.

Dr Ameena Al Hashimi, an oncologist at the Sharjah Preventive Medicine Department, said: “Studies have proved smoking to be associated with cancer diagnosis. Majority of my patients in the UAE suffer from lung cancer while heart diseases and bronchitis are also common. When a person quits, the lungs are immediately cleared of carbon monoxide, which is detrimental to the human body.”

Padmaraju Varrey, senior psychiatrist at The New Medical Centre, Abu Dhabi, said: “Smoking can be ceased only if there is motivation from within an individual followed by family and peer support. Nicotine is an addictive substance that is way more harmful than caffeine. When a smoker is forced to quit his intake of nicotine, he generally feels what we call ‘withdrawal symptoms’, which include lethargy, irritability while chronic smokers feel headaches, trembling of hands and lack of focus at work.”

Further, Varrey specified that it is good to take aid from government schemes and doctors while trying to change such a lifestyle.

He suggested nicotine lozen-ges, gum or nicotine patches to apply on the skin that slowly release a chemical into the body for a short duration of one to two months.

He also emphasised that a relapse is common among people who are trying to quit the habit.

“In such a case, as family and friends, do not shun that person. Rather, be understanding and encouraging towards them,” advises Varrey.

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