Stress In Nigeria, Harmattan Affecting Our Health, Asthma Patients Lament

Asthma patients are going through a lot of asthmatic attacks due to cold and dusty harmattan weather.

But for many, especially Asthma patients, the stress of making a living in Nigeria is taking its toll on their well-being.

Some asthma patients who spoke to THE WHISTLER lament difficult work conditions and the general dusty environment as major triggers of asthma attacks.

Mrs. Ladi Musa Kwajjafa, a primary school teacher at LEA Mopol Barracks, Bwari Area Council, said she survives due to taking regular medication to fight asthma attacks.

She said when she got the teaching job, she was skeptical about taking the job for fear of inhaling chalk dust.

But luckily for her, the school uses markers, not chalk. Recounting her trauma, she said, “There was a day when I was taking Aminophylline for almost two days, which is not supposed to happen.

“I go out early in the morning and it’s affecting me. Although, in the school where I work, we use markers not chalk, and this helps me at not to have many health challenges at work.

“But the challenge is, you know there’s something with when you talk too much or are stressed up, it leads to an attack. Stress particularly triggers my asthma attacks.

“Apart from stress, other triggers are dust, strong perfume, if I’m too excited; as in sometimes I may just be chatting with people around and if I laugh too much, it triggers an attack. Then sometimes anger too. I get attacked when I’m angry. Even fried foods too trigger my attacks. “

The harmattan cold and the dusty environment are also affecting Mrs. Kwajjafa’s health and make her vulnerable to asthma attacks.

Mrs. Kwajjafa who lives in Suleija, Niger State said, “Nigeria is dusty during this moment, even doing house chores during these moments is difficult. You’ll notice that you have the zeal to do work, but the strength is not there.

“My environment is dusty because it’s not everywhere that the roads are tarred, it’s recently that they tarred the major road around us, but the streets are not tarred. This triggers the attacks.

“These attacks affect my daily life because for instance, if I have an attack, I won’t be able to do anything again, and have to abandon anything I was doing to rest. So, you see, these affect my income and other things.

“There are some work an asthma patient cannot do. Aside from my teaching job, I also do tailoring, and so, even some house chores, sometimes if there’s no one around to assist, I will just lie down and be looking helplessly.

“Even when I do them, at some point when I start feeling the pains, I just have to abandon them. And you know Ventolin, once you take it, it makes you weak. So. I just made up my mind that whatever work I can do, I will just do them, the ones I can’t, I let go.”

Michael Udoh, another asthma patient who lives in Dutsen Alhaji, Abuja also says he faces daily health challenges.

“But the challenge is that every day I wake up, I must have inflammation. However, my office is always considerate about my health,” he said, adding that “I don’t wear clothes that I wish to wear, and it always makes people look at me differently and always ask ‘why are u always on Cardigan?’

Aisha Abdullahi, who runs a private textile business online in Kaduna said she’s most traumatized in the early mornings and nights, adding she only goes out when its important due to the harmattan cold.

Whenever she suffers asthma attacks, she usually reaches for a Ventolin inhaler and takes the Ventolin tablet later.

“My family knows they are to rush and provide me with my drugs and make sure where I am is well-ventilated, so I can get fresh air that will make me become stable.

“My husband also helps a lot by rushing to get my drugs, and if it requires going to the hospital, he’ll take me on time,” she explained.

For Mrs. Kwajjafa, her attacks usually occur at midnight after her activities in the daytime. She said, “Due to this, I find it difficult to sleep well at night. So, I developed a habit that before I go to bed, I take my Ventolin drugs with or without attacks.

“I have already let my kids know where my drugs are in case when I have attacks and I’m not close to my phone to place a call, they know where to pick them up.

“There was a time I had an attack when no one was at home, my kids and husband were all out, I had to manage myself to a chemist, and that time I couldn’t even talk, I only managed to text my husband a message in order to communicate.”