How Long After You Quit Smoking Does Healing Begin?
Healing from the effects of smoking is possible, but it does take time.
The following is a guideline to give you an idea how your immune system kicks in to clear the effects of smoking from your system and promote healing.
We know it is wise to give your system additional nutritional support when smoking, but don’t forget that after you quit you want to support your body with nutrition to help support physical healing.
Effects of Quitting Smoking – After Eight Hours
- Carbon monoxide in your body drops.
- Oxygen level in your blood increases to normal.
Two days After Quitting Smoking
- Your sense of smell and taste will improve.
- You will enjoy the taste of your food more.
- Your risk of heart attack begins to decrease.
After Three of Four Days
- Bronchial tubes relax.
- Your lung capacity will have increased.
- Breathing becomes easier.
After Two Weeks of Not Smoking
- Blood flow improves; nicotine has passed from your body.
Two Weeks to Three Months After Quitting
- Circulation improves.
- Walking and running are easier.
- Lung functioning increases up to 30%.
Six to Nine Months After Stopping Smoking
- You’ll experience less coughing
- Less sinus congestion
- More energy (less tiredness and shortness of breath).
One Year – Happy Anniversary! Mark Your Calendar
- Your risk of heart disease will be about half of what it would have been if you continued to smoke!
Five Years After Stopping Smoking
- Your risk of stroke will be substantially reduced and you have a lot to look forward to. You are well into your recovery from the effects of tobacco addiction.
- Within 5 to 15 years after quitting, it becomes about the same as a non-smokers.
After Ten Years Free From Addiction
- Your risk of dying from lung cancer will be about half of what it would have been if you had continued to smoke.
- Your risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney, and pancreas will also decrease.
After Fifteen Years – Congratulations
- Your risk of dying from a heart attack is equal to a person who never smoked.
Yes, it does take time, but where will you be in fifteen years if you don’t stop smoking now? You may be one of the lucky ones like George Burns, but what are the odds of that?
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I recently quit smoking and am enjoying breathing better but the hardest thing is when I go out on the town with friends. I drink one glass of wine and the cravings are very strong. Is there any way to make the cravings less when drinking alcohol? Besides the obvious of not going out at all.
Hi Nichole, Congratulations are in order on your progress. Keep focusing on the benefits when your cigarette cravings come up. Also, if you drink alcohol, try drinks that contain milk because milk can make the taste buds reject the taste of cigarettes and perhaps you might want to stay away from environments that tempt you a bit longer till you are stronger. There are also aids that you can take with you. One we have heard of is NicoDrops which is an herbal product.
Hi! I just quit 11 days ago…I just won’t pay $6 for a pack, and that was the excuse I needed. I used the nicotine patch every day for the first week, and now I ALWAYS keep one with me. If I’m in a situation where I’m craving, especially involving drinking, I slap on a patch and it gets me through the evening with enough willpower to NOT hit up my smoking buddies for a butt, and keeps me from being irritable. I know it’s still a crutch, but it lets me continue to enjoy my social life.
Pauli,
Thanks so much for your post! Congratulations on your choice to beat this habit. Please stop by anytime you need a little boost or reminder of the dangers of nicotine or big tobacco’s manipulation to keep smokers addicted. Eventually you will be able to get off the patch when you feel strong enough. Now go enjoy knowing you are a great example for others.
I am at two weeks and happy. My motivation was a comment from my 9 year old daughter. That worked more than any advertising or medical report. The bad taste in my mouth is terrible though. Has anybody else felt that?
It has been 4days since I had my last cigarette. First 24 hours were OK until the evening when a chronic cough began. On the second day, I was coughing all day accompanied by mucus spit. On the third day, I had flu symptoms such as, fever, runny nose, and chronic cough. I felt like I was dying. I am coughing my lung out. I never want to smoke again if I have to go through this painful process again.
Hi Yummi, Congratulations on stopping smoking! Keep going and don’t look back … other than to acknowledge that you are almost over the worst part. And whatever you do, stay focused and seek support if you ever are tempted again. Be proud of yourself, and if anyone tries to tempt you to smoke again … just remember this experience and know you have control over your choices! Yeah, you are doing it!
Its been 4 days and I can’t get the thought out of my head of wanting to smoke a cigarette. How long does these thoughts go through your guys head of wanting to smoke? Now I know it is the habit part that is taking over and it is not the craving. I am able to fight my urges easily but just wondering how long does that thought go away?
Hi, Sheri. I think it’s great that you’ve decided to stop smoking. Have you heard of EFT (Emotional Freedom Techniques)? You gently tap various “meridian points” on your body. The method works really well to lower cravings (and for *many* other issues).
You can find free information here > Emotional Freedom Techniques – EFT
Hi, i stopped smoking 18 weeks ago using Champix. Everything has been fine, although I have put on 10lbs., but the last week I have had very strong cravings and although I have not given into them, it has become a pain as I find myself thinking about smoking again, after breaking free. Will this pass? What can I do?
Hi Elaine, you might want to try Smoke Deter, or Nico Drops. Both are all natural products. Here are the links:
Smoke Deter, or Nico Drops
People seem to get great results with both of these.
Good for you! You Will drop the weight once you balance your emotional reason for smoking. I think either of these products will help you with your cravings.
I stopped smoking 7 months ago. I am 29 now and had been smoking since I was 17. I used to be a very sporty person and exercised many times a week. After I finished university and got a job I found little time and motivation to exercise. seven months ago I was coming back from work and the elevator was out of order, and I had to walk up to the 6th floor. When I got there I was totally out of breath, and when I opened the door I threw the pack into the garbage immediately and never looked back. At the moment I’ve started exercising twice a week, and I feel energized and liberated. I will most definitely never have a cigarette again in my life. Even when I’m out with my friends drinking and I see people smoking, I think back to that day seven months ago and I feel no craving, just disgust.
I have been smoke free for 5 days, cravings are still there, but my youngest told his father and I about a month ago that he was taught in health class that if you smoke you die. It is very hard to quit after many years of doing it, but those words are what is getting me through this. I am only having problems with my husband. How do I get through to him to quit as well. Help please.
Hi Wendy, You could print the info on this page and post it on your refrigerator to remind you that you are taking healing action! Also, you might want to talk to someone like George, he is the author of the Stop Smoking for the Last Time as has a great track record for helping people quit for good. His email is posted at the end of the page.
I am fifty one, and I have smoked since I was sixteen. I have had two strokes. On Feb first of this year I quit cold turkey. It was hard, but I will never start again.
Congrats Joel! This is wonderful!!!
I quit smoking seventy-two days ago today. I have so much more I want to live for other than putting a cigarette to my mouth and inhaling a bunch of poisonous drugs into my lungs. I am forty-three years old. I started smoking when I was nineteen. I have COPD, I have had a heart attack at thirty-nine, I have CAD and I had a double by pass when I was forty-one. Cigarettes will kill You. It is not as hard as you think to quit. It did take me three times to finally quit but now I am ashamed that I didn’t quit so many years ago. The problem was me, and I thought I was going to be miserable and uncomfortable and so I didn’t. That was selfish of me as I should have quit so long ago. I just didn’t have the guts to butch up and get the job done. My biggest regret of my life is that I didn’t quit sooner!
Laura, Thank you so much for posting and sharing your story. I am sure your story will help many others who happen to read what you have to share. AND congratulations! We are so proud of you. So now you can move forward and watch your body heal. Also, we have heard that the peppermint vapor pipes can help COPD, check them out: Peppermint Vapor Helps the Lungs, too.
I quit smoking March 10th 2010 after finding myself at the urgent care center unable to breathe. After a breathing treatment, chest x-rays, an inhaler, antibiotics, and steroids, I am happy to report that I do not have cancer, which I have thought I had for years. What I do have is asthma and a very raspy smokers voice that I am embarrassed about. Has anyone experienced a very bad taste in their mouth where no food tastes good anymore and their tongue is irritated? Unfortunately the only thing that tastes remotely pleasant to me is bread. I have put on fifteen pounds in only five weeks, help. Has anyone had this experience in the past?
Hi Julie,
We are so thrilled to hear you stopped smoking! And so wise to get checked out. Even with the physical symptoms you are going through your body will heal in time. Hang in there!
One recommendation is a supplement that is highly rated for helping smokers heal. The US Army actually did a test of this supplement on their worse cases and found it brought their numbers back from near dead to in the positive range.
Here is another research study you might like to read > Study on Super Critical Antioxidants by New Chapter
You can also purchase Super Critical Antioxidants, and also the Women’s formula, (you might contact New Chapter and ask them what else would be good for you)… at Vitacost for 40 percent off!
The bad taste may be some type of small infection, or your body is beginning to detox. I imagine taste will come back as your body begins to balance. You might ask your doctor what he thinks it is, too. Also, I would recommend the drinking some of the New Chapter Berry Green too! That might help bring your taste back. It is really good for you, so can’t hurt.
Again, Congratulations!
Sandy
Thank you I will talk to my doctor and check out the link you sent.
I can’t help but think that using some immune boosting herbs or cleansing herbs would help make the process of healing go faster after quitting smoking. As far as a bad taste in your mouth Julie it may be from the inhalers that asthma patients take. I use one and believe me it makes my taste buds change. Also some of the steroid drugs for asthma can make you gain lots of weight. It would be nice if you could quit smoking and then maybe get the asthma under control. You would then use much less medication.
I have just found out that my fifteen year old daughter started smoking last year when her beloved granny died. She’s smoking between three and nine a week and insists she has not lost control. I hate smoking and I want her to stop. Asthma is in both parents’ families. I fear for her health. I’ve explained this to her, but she hopes she’ll be OK. But once she’s hooked she’ll have more and never want to stop. Any ideas please?
Hi Sandy … you are welcome to check out all the categories on CiggyFree, and print any of the articles and give to your daughter to read. One that may really wake her up may be this one: Dangers of 69 Cancer Causing Chemicals in Cigarettes to Men, Women and Unborn Babies Remind her that it isn’t just herself she is hurting but everyone around here. Including those who pass by because the dangers of second hand smoke are very real too. You sound like a wonderful parent, so just keep dangling the evidence in front of her, and she will get the message! Thanks for stopping by.
I am trying to quit smoking, but my lungs hurt and I have a hard time breathing. I am always wishing for a smoke when sitting in the Casino. How long after you quit do your lungs hurt?
Hi Sharon, Everyone is a little different. The guidelines above are a pretty good indication of what to suspect, but you may want to go to your doctor and have a good check up to monitor your progress. The encouragement you get from your doctor as your lungs start to improve could also give you additional support to refrain from starting to smoke again. So don’t try … Do IT! You can!! Add years to your life! So much to be grateful for, and so many lives yet to touch.
Hi Everyone, I just wanted to say that it is so important that you stop smoking and stay quit. I had to listen to a close family member tell me his lung cancer was the size of a softball. He described it as one ugly piece of work. They gave him three months. He goes on Monday for chemotherapy and radiation as a last ditch effort to shrink this thing and give him some time. It is very hard to hear sobbing on the other end of the phone and hear that he thought he had more time. It was he thought an infection that they would for sure cure with antibiotics. Think hard about this and what it means to everyone who loves you! Please quit smoking.
Hi, I would like to know more about the foods which would decrease the harmful effects of smoking.