Out of the many unhealthy habits we build, smoking is the most difficult one to get rid off.
Quitting Smoking is really a tough action to take, majority of smokers want to quit smoking, but find it difficult to do so as nicotine is very addictive.
Just like smoking, even quitting smoking has some side effects. Practically, no one starts smoking ten cigarettes a day, the growth is slow and steady. Similarly, quitting must be done in an organised count down.
You might be smoking two to three cigerattes or a packet per day it is advisable to quit smoking. For those who lit 10 in a day, they’re endangered. What actually happens when you stop smoking all of a sudden is ‘withdrawal symptoms’. These symptoms can be so severe that your hands might tremble, you may feel the sudden mood swing or the urge to smoke or at times, it may also affect the other body organs.
Listing down the approximate changes in individual body processing systems:
- Respiratory system – Can cause phlegm, heaviness in the chest, shortness of breath and can cause severe sinus problems.
- Digestive system – You may experience heartburn, nausea, diarrhea and indigestion.
- Circadian Rhythm – Your sleeping pattern might change and you might experience insomnia as well.
- Circulatory system – You might feel dizzy, a ticklish feeling in your toes and fingers.
This instant switching in body might rope in some irritateable side effects. One cannot simply expect the body to adapt non-smoking immediately. A lot of patience and will power is mandatory.
Noting down the changes in a Timeline, this happens:
- The very 20 min after you stop smoking, your heart rate will drop close to normal due to the absence in incoming nocotine.
- And the 2 Hours after quitting your heart rate and pressure reach normal levels.
- In just 12 hours after quitting smoking, the carbon monoxide in your body decreases to lower levels, and your blood oxygen levels increase to normal
- Within just one day after quitting smoking, your risk for heart attack will already have begun to drop.
- Luckily, after 48 hours without a cigarette, your nerve endings will start to re-grow, and your ability to smell and taste is enhanced.
- At this point, the nicotine will be completely out of your body. Unfortunately, that means that the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal will generally peak around this time. (Don’t give up yet)
- After a couple of weeks, you’ll be able to exercise and perform physical activities without feeling winded and sick
- Starting about a month after you quit, your lungs begin to repair. Inside them, the cilia—the tiny, hair-like organelles that push mucus out—will start to repair themselves and function properly again.
- After a year without smoking, your risk for heart disease is lowered by 50 percent compared to when you were still smoking
- It may take 10 years, but if you quit, eventually your risk of dying from lung cancer will drop to half that of a smoker’s
- Fifteen years of non-smoking will bring your risk of heart disease back to the same level as someone who doesn’t smoke
- According to the American Heart Association, non-smokers, on average, live 14 years longer than smokers