When is a good time to quit?
All human behavior is driven by pleasure or pain. The need to derive pleasure and avoid pain are instinctive. Even visceral functions; like getting up in the middle of the night to go to the bathroom. It is all part of that pleasure / pain syndrome. This is part of our make up as human beings.
If quitting smoking is a painful process, it will be difficult to stick with. So the key to quitting smoking effectively is to eliminate the pain and enjoy the process along the way.
As smokers, we all look for that perfect time to quit. A time when everything in our life is perfect and completely void of stress. Lets face it, that time is never going to come. We have a thousand excuses for why not to quit. Besides, we enjoy smoking.
You will become quite amazed to realize that once you break the addiction cycle and you are no longer dependent upon nicotine, that smoking is not as pleasurable as you thought. Defending your addiction is simply your brains' way of avoiding the pain of withdrawal.
Every time you have tried to quit in the past represented an unpleasant experience. Smokers think that quitting will be a monumental task. It doesn't have to be that way. Our Doctors can eliminate the pain of withdrawal and show you precisely how to enjoy the process.
So, when is the perfect time to quit?
Just as soon as you want to take back control of your life!
When you discontinue smoking, your body immediately feels not only the adverse side effects of Quitting Smoking but the favorable effects too. Within just hours of stopping smoking, your body initiates a process of healing that may last for the following years and can in due course improve your health in general.
Of course, once you decide to Quit Smoking, you do not essentially view the consequent health benefits as concrete concepts, but rather as elusive notions that may occur at some point in your distant future. The solution is to get acquainted with what is known as “quit smoking timeline”, which may help you determine and monitor your own healing process. You might be amazed to find out that some of these benefits can occur just a few hours after Quitting Smoking.
First Two Hours
Within the 1st two hours after you’ve stopped smoking, your blood pressure and heart rate will fall to normal, healthy levels. Additionally, your circulation noticeably gets better, and you will likely experience a warming up in your feet and hands.
In Eight Hours
Carbon monoxide (a.k.a. CO) is among the toxic components that can be found in cigarettes. Hence, smokers have dangerous quantities of carbon monoxide in their serum or blood. However, once you give up smoking, the quantity of carbon monoxide in your blood starts to fall in just eight hours. As your blood’s carbon monoxide falls, the quantity of oxygen in your blood rises to optimal levels.
Twenty-Four Hours After
At 24 hours after ridding your body of cigarette smoke, your risk factor for heart attack decreases.
Within Forty Eight Hours
At forty eight hours in the Stop Smoking timeline, you start to suffer from exacerbated withdrawal symptoms. A nervous regeneration begins, primarily lessening your olfactory and taste senses, and then later improving them henceforth.
2 to 3 Weeks
Within 2 or 3 weeks after smoking cessation, your circulation will probably be significantly improved. You can engage in physical exercises and activities without any trouble. Hiking and walking long distances will no longer be a problem. Your lungs’ function will also improve significantly, and coughing and phlegm would be reduced.
1 to 9 Months
Healing and regeneration of your lungs occurs in the next 1 to 9 months of your quit smoking timeline. The small cilia found in the structure of your lungs begin to regenerate and resume their normal function again. You will feel an overall improvement in your breathing, and your sinuses will be healthier once again. Additionally, you will experience less and less tiredness.
After 1 Year
After a year, your risk heart attack or cardiac disease is lowered by 50% compared to when you were still a smoker.
Long Term
For the long term, here are some factors to bear in mind: Within 5 to 15 years, you have the same risk factors for experiencing a stroke as an individual who has never smoked. In a decade, you have a reduced risk of experiencing lung cancer or different forms of cancer (for example, pancreas, throat, kidneys, esophagus, bladder, mouth, among others) that generally affect long-term smokers. After approximately fifteen (15) years, your potential for contracting a heart problem (like coronary disease/heart attack) is lessened to that of one who has never smoked.
With this quit smoking timeline to serve as a guide, you can better focus on your objectives and subsequently make your decision to quit smoking easier and more bearable.
Natural Wellness Center - Quit Clinic
Manoa & Kailua Offices
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(808)988-0800
Email: info@quitdocclinic.com
