So, what is the timeline for quitting smoking? It is common for smokers to feel that their future without cigarettes is bleak. That they feel it’s impossible to enjoy a meal without a cigarette before, or after, or both. That there is no way in which they could achieve what they have achieved without all of those smoke breaks. It’s hard not to imagine a sense of loss. Get advice and read below to understand the typical timeline of what you feel when you quit smoking.
It is worth having a look at the quit smoking timeline to realise the immediate, medium term and long-term positive effects it will have on your health. You will also see what changes you can reliably expect for your health as you live smoke-free.
20 minutes after stopping smoking
The benefits of quitting start very early in the process. In only 20 minutes your blood pressure will return to normal levels. Additionally, the cells that line the lungs will begin to work better, reducing the risk of infection and congestion.
All the toxins and carcinogens that build up in the lungs from smoking cause mucus and irritants along its passageways. This begins to reduce and break down within 20 minutes of when you are finished your cigarette, very slowly.
8 hours after giving up smoking
There will be half the amount of carbon monoxide (CO) in your body as there would have been as a smoker. CO is absorbed due to the incomplete combustion involved in lighting up. This causes oxygen (O2) levels in your blood to decrease.
This is because haemoglobin (the stuff in red blood cells that binds to oxygen) has a greater affinity with CO than O2. This means that when smoke enters, O2 absorption rates decrease. This lowers the level at which all organs in the body (including the brain!) can function at. Due to this fall in CO in the bloodstream, your body will be working better, even after just a 1/3 of a day.
2 days after giving up cigarettes
Your risk of a heart attack will have decreased already (once you don’t go back to your bad habits). This is because the harmful stimulant effects of nicotine are wearing off. The musculature around your blood vessels get artificially raised as you smoke, raising your blood pressure and making your heart work unnecessarily harder. Just 2 days off the smokes help your heart adjust to being a non-smoker and day-by-day become stronger.
After 3-9 months after quitting
Any coughing, wheezing and/or breathing complaints will have begun to subside. This will be due to your lung capacity increasing – as much as 10% in just a few months! Enjoyable activities like walking, hiking, jogging, going to the gym etc. will become easier and more enjoyable.
Even mundane activities like climbing stairs easier. As simple as it sounds, you may have noticed being out of breath climbing stairs, that shouldn’t be the case for a health heart!
The timeline for giving up smoking may be longer for some than others. Some may fall to temptation and begin again and again. With our unique, multi-therapy approach the desire to smoke simply disappears. You will not get the cravings anymore, and you can start your timeline to quit smoking from day one… for the last time!
1 year after you stop smoking
The benefits of being smoke-free for your circulation system will have compounded substantially and you will notice an improvement ten-fold!
Your anxiety levels will lower and your confidence will be higher. Your energy levels will have increased and you may be able to pick up some of the hobbies that you used to have.
You will feel healthier overall and will be amazed at the difference in your lifestyle.
After 10 years living smoke-free
In a decade’s time, your risk of death from lung cancer will have halved, compared to the risk that a smoker is at.
You are no longer sustaining that to your lungs, meaning that there is far, far less chance of having one of those damaged cells repairing and mutating into something like a carcinoma.
When you smoke you are at a higher risk of lung cancer. Below are some more facts you may not be aware of:
- 50% of all long-term smokers will die a tobacco-related death.
- In Ireland, smoking is the lead-cause of avoidable death. Nearly 7,000 people die each year from the effects of smoking and thousands of others become ill because of smoking-related diseases.
- That’s over 125 people die in Ireland PER WEEK due to smoking related diseases.
- Roughly 30% of all cancer deaths in Ireland are attributed to smoking.
- 90% of lung cancers are caused by smoking.
The good news is that we can help you quit now, and for good.
There We Have It – The Giving Up Smoking Timeline!
The trajectory in which, with the right support, you are headed. This is of course a reductive overview. It does not account for the social and psychological benefits that giving up smoking will certainly bring.
It also doesn’t account for the reduced risk of complaints like stomach ulcers or rheumatoid arthritis which other diseases linked with smoking.
With these facts in mind, you can begin to see that all those sustained moments of not smoking are overseeing a huge improvement, bodily and otherwise.
Feel free to fill out our Complimentary Breakthrough Session form. In 22 minutes, or less, we will find out what is standing between you and living a life free of cigarettes. Otherwise, leave your details and we will be contact with you to answer your questions
This will work for you if you are ready and committed to becoming a non-smoker. If you’re unsuitable for our programme, we will tell you.
If you are sick and tired of putting it off and want to quit smoking now, just call 01 450 8923 directly to book in.
We also have a vast range of issues that we treat, many of them are underlying causes to smoking, in which we can resolve during the program too. Common issues include weight loss, anxiety, stress, sleeping issues, phobias, pain, and confidence to name a few! See a full list of issues treated.