What Happens When You Quit Smoking Cigarettes

Quitting smoking will probably be one of the hardest things you will ever have to do, with the support of your friends and family it can be much easier to quit smoking than you think. Smokers will be surprised at the length of physical withdrawal of smoking lasts only around 5 days, the physical cravings for a cigarette will peak to be their worst at around 3 days and each craving will only last around 90 seconds. When you put it like that it doesn't sound insurmountable. As an ex smoker I found that quitting smoking I had to have the right attitude towards my quit, I could have relapsed quite easily but I kept going because I knew that I only had 5 days and the cravings would ease. I found that breathing techniques and coping techniques helped me through my quit, and I knew after a week that any pangs or cravings I felt for cigarettes were not a physical craving but it was a mental dependence on cigarettes. I still experience cravings occasionally but I am 2 years into my quit and I know that I can never go back to smoking cigarettes. I found that learning about my addiction and reading the facts about the damage I was doing to my body really helped me to keep going with my quit.

If you are serious about your quit its important to understand how smoking has affected your body and what happens when you quit smoking.

What happens to your body when you quit smoking?

When you put out your last cigarette, just 2 hours after putting it out your blood circulation will start to improve, and your heart rate will reduce to normal levels. After 48 hours your carbon monoxide levels will decrease and risk of heart attack will also decrease. At 72 hours your physical withdrawal cravings of nicotine will peak, remember just 3 days to reach the peak of your cravings then they will start to subside and reduce until the nicotine is out of your body. Once the nicotine has left your body you will not have any more nicotine cravings.

At 10 months your lungs cilia will start to repair itself and you will feel the difference to your lungs as you become less breathless and physical exercise will be easier to cope with.

After 1 year your risk of heart attack is halved, after 10 years your risk of Cancer is greatly reduced, and at 15 years your risk of Cancer is reduced to around that of a non smoker.

As you can see, the longer you quit the more your health will benefit, the actual physical withdrawal lasts less than a week, when you put it like that it makes quitting smoking seem much more manageable.