What happens if you quit smoking and how does the body react?

The decision to quit smoking is stressful for a person. Everything that happens in the body after quitting smoking manifests itself in severe symptoms from all internal organs. Such changes can scare anyone. The first days without nicotine are especially difficult when abstinence syndrome develops in response to the absence of the usual doping drug.

A smoker's diary can help patients cope with the situation, in which the addict himself describes in detail everything that happened to him in dynamics, understanding cause and effect.

cigarette butts and changes in the body when quitting smoking

Pros and cons of quitting smoking

Nature is so wise that it gave man the opportunity to recover compensation after diseases, injuries, stress. Each has a very high regenerative potential. Therefore, quitting smoking should be sure that regardless of the duration of addiction to tobacco smoke and the severity of damage to internal organs, you can get rid of the bad habit on your own or with the help of specialists. The main thing is to have a desire to do it.

Positive points

The complete rejection of tobacco significantly reduces the risk of many diseases: bronchitis, tracheitis, laryngitis, pneumonia, asthma, pneumonia, destructive pathologies of the bronchi. Varicose veins, thrombophlebitis, obliterating endarteritis, diabetic foot will recede. Cholesterol level is normalized, besides, the development of atherosclerosis of the large vessels that feed the brain and heart, kidneys and liver will be slowed down.

This will help prevent heart attacks and strokes.

Tobacco smoke is strongly intoxicating. Cleansing the organs and tissues of its metabolites will allow the body to begin the process of self-healing. Clean blood flow will fill the cells with nutrients and oxygen, which will relieve headaches, fatigue, irritability and balance blood pressure. Since there are about 90 carcinogens in cigarettes, blocking and removing them will become cancer prevention.

Surprisingly, such changes will begin in the first hours without nicotine. His trace reaction will still exist for some time, but it will disappear without a trace for someone in a week, for someone in a month. The psychological attachment to the pleasure of nightshade poison is more difficult.

Stress must be dealt with consistently and intelligently. You can not neglect anti-tobacco drugs, you need to organize rest, interesting rest. Sometimes it's good to put your feelings on paper.

It's nice to know that you've "earned" a trip to the theater or a trip to the theater by giving up tobacco products. Savings can be very beneficial.

Unpleasant details

It should be understood that it is very difficult to part with nightshade alkaloid due to the following points:

  • Pyridine poison increases the emotional background, which in turn helps to concentrate in difficult situations.
  • The hormone of joy, produced in response to nicotine intake, relieves stress and helps to survive sadness.
  • Nightshade alkaloid creates an illusion of peace, gives self-confidence, creates spiritual satisfaction.

Such positive influences are difficult to forget, and even more difficult to separate from them.

Acetylcholine receptors accustomed to tobacco poison require its presence. In protest, they trigger withdrawal syndrome. If at the beginning of smoking, the pleasure of smoking lasted for several hours, over time, such an emotional high lasts for half an hour. Therefore, it is necessary to increase the amount of doping.

Otherwise, the feeling of anxiety significantly exceeds euphoria in terms of strength and sharpness.

A sharp separation from smoking makes the anxiety unbearable. This is a real break. The lack of nicotinic acid, a metabolite of tobacco poison, must be compensated somehow, otherwise it is impossible to cope with the irritation that turns into aggression.

In addition, there are:

  • Loss of attention.
  • Passion for tobacco products.
  • A strong feeling of hunger.
  • Not being able to sleep.
  • Hyperhidrosis.

Only a specialist can help stop the withdrawal syndrome.

The body's response to gradual and sudden cessation of tobacco products

Every person's decision to quit smoking is different. Some prefer immediately, while others take time. The body reacts differently to the chosen method of quitting tobacco.

If we are talking about a chronic user of nightshade alkaloid, then saying goodbye to nicotine will not be a quick result, it will be a slow and painful process. An inexperienced tobacco lover has a chance to simply stop communicating with cigarettes, his self-healing system will cope.

However, the reaction to the lack of regular doping is often manifested by a withdrawal syndrome or withdrawal.

In fact, it is accompanied by the reconstruction of the entire organism:

  • Strong craving for tobacco.
  • Unreasonable nervousness.
  • Near fainting conditions.
  • Depression.
  • Power loss.
  • Small mood.
  • Anxiety with the development of phobias.
  • Bradycardia.
  • Skin rashes.
  • Aphthous lesions of the oral mucosa.
  • Constant discomfort of the upper respiratory tract: shortness of breath, cough, sweating, rhinorrhea, lacrimation.
  • Disturbance of the digestive system up to colic.

Each of these symptoms can appear separately or as part of several disorders. The severity of symptoms varies from person to person.

Sometimes there is no abstinence.

Cleaning steps

The process of getting rid of nicotine metabolites is complex, but it starts from the first minutes of quitting smoking, passing through a number of stages.

Time to fail Changes in the body
Half an hour Tachycardia passes, blood pressure begins to normalize, kidneys work more intensively, preparing to remove toxins.
A few hours Kidneys remove metabolites of pyridine poison from the blood.
half a day The blood is saturated with oxygen, and carbon monoxide is removed from the lungs. The kidneys continue to excrete nicotine and withdrawal symptoms develop.
Day The nightshade alkaloid is completely removed, there is no replacement, and abstinence occurs.
Within a few days The lungs begin to clear the tar and toxins from the cigarette. A cough appears - a natural reaction to accumulated soot.
On the third day Cleansing the lungs continues. A strong feeling of hunger arises because the tobacco poison stops stopping the satiety center of the brain, and it causes a person's appetite. In addition, the blood pressure returned to normal, which causes tinnitus due to oxygen saturation of neurons and blood flow to the brain.
The fourth day Blood circulation returns to normal. The mucous membrane of the digestive system is restored, the pancreas begins to work normally. Sticky phlegm comes out.
Friday Intense wet cough with rusty sputum continues, taste is restored.
Saturday Painful cough and irritation due to lack of nicotine. There is a desire to go back to smoking.
Week Metabolites and toxins are removed. Organs and tissues are partially healed or begin to regenerate. The liver synthesizes endogenous nicotine again, and the physiological need for it is met. Fatiguing cough continues.
the eighth day Taste and smell receptors are also restored, food gains meaning and becomes tasty. A person eats a lot and gets better. Vessels are still not stable, jumps in blood pressure are disturbing. Irritability gradually disappears.
The ninth day Stomach secretion resumed. The intestines are in this process, pains in the lower abdomen, problems with feces appear. At this time, aphthous stomatitis, herpes, acute respiratory infections may develop.
Ten days The cough continues. Immunity begins to recover. The emotional state is difficult. You need the help and support of your loved ones.
11-14 days The tone of the vessels is restored, blood flow is normal, dizziness and hand tremors occur due to active oxygen saturation. The lungs are cleansed. He has sleep problems.
The second half of the month The mucous membranes of the bronchi are restored, the cough decreases, the immune system works at full capacity, the skin acquires a normal shade, the blood pressure is normal, and there is no dyspepsia. Many people decide that everything is over and you can smoke a cigarette. If that happens, it's all back to the early days of the retreat.
the next three months Starting from the second month, the work of the body is corrected. Systems work in harmony. Toxins are eliminated in all natural ways. Hair, skin, nails get better. The lungs continue to recover. Metabolism and blood pressure normalize, weight stabilizes. But abstinence still makes itself felt.
half year The hematopoietic system was completely restored. The cough stops. Sleep is normal. The liver has recovered. Physical exercises are combined to accelerate lung cleansing.
ten months Smokers begin to dream of cigarettes, in the morning there is a strong desire to take a sip of tobacco products, if the dream is disturbed, this is a stage where the disturbance is possible. Thus, there is a reprogramming of brain activity without nicotine. Here the ties are restored, the voice takes on its usual timbre. Teeth whiten, bad breath disappears.
year Almost all organs and tissues are renewed. The lungs may still be in the process of recovery. Potency is excellent, reproductive function is normal. Almost no desire to smoke. "Tobacco diseases" disappear.
Two years The lungs have recovered. The brain eats well. The body is so pure that an accidental cigarette will be perceived as the first time. You can plan pregnancy.
Five years The risk of stroke is comparable to that of non-smokers.
A decade The risk of developing lung cancer is the same as that of never smoking.
Fifteen years The risk of heart attack is comparable to that of non-smokers.

Many changes in the body are irreversible and over time become the triggers of malignant tumors of the cell.

These include:

  • Destruction of lung alveoli that cannot get rid of resins and carcinogens.
  • Long-term irreversible burning of the oral mucosa, which can turn into hyperplasia and lip cancer.
  • Toxic damage to the oropharynx resulting in larynx, throat cancer.

Warning: what not to do?

In the first three months of quitting a bad habit, it is not recommended:

  • Take medicine without vital necessity.
  • Quit smoking during menstruation - real weight gain is ensured.
  • Leave the diet unchanged. The body needs vitamins and minerals.

Calendar quit smoking

To help anyone who decides to get rid of nicotine addiction, psychologists recommend keeping a proper diary of their feelings, emotions, and thoughts.

The structure of these notes consists of several sections:

  • The first is dedicated to the changes that occur in the body every day. It describes in detail the disappearing symptoms of tobacco poisoning related to each system: nervous, cardiovascular, digestive, pulmonary, endocrine, reproductive, genitourinary. In addition, the emergence of new symptoms, both negative and positive, is noted in the dynamics.
  • The second is for emotions and thoughts. Here, everything that happens to the patient is analyzed on a sensory level, self-hypnosis and self-control are used.
  • The third section is physiology. What the patient is attracted to, what he wants to eat, where it hurts, what kind of sleep, how the skin looks, the degree of shortness of breath and the severity of the cough. Everything that is disturbed at the level of physiological transformation.
  • The fourth section is the recommendations of doctors and how they are implemented.
  • Fifth - traditional medicine recipes and their use.
  • The sixth is physical exercises, whether it works or not, the result.
  • The seventh section is the help of relatives. Their advice, appeals to them. Planning strategy and behavioral tactics for the future.

Many who have broken with a harmful addiction emphasize the usefulness and necessity of such a diary.

How to speed up cleaning?

Although the body is a self-regulating system, there are ways to speed up the recovery process from nicotine intoxication:

  • Sports. Movement is life, so moderate physical activity is indicated to smokers from the first day of quitting the bad habit. Running, for example, will strengthen the contractions of the diaphragm, stimulate the flow of lymph, that is, it will help remove toxins from the body. Cardio load will also affect the blood. Breathing exercises will saturate the lungs with oxygen and help clean them of resins, carcinogens and toxins. Feeling better.
  • Cleansing drugs. Ascorbic acid, B vitamins, folic acid compensate for the lack of trace elements and biologically active substances necessary for normal metabolic processes. Help them in this work: chromium, zinc, nickel, selenium, manganese. Amino acids will support the synthesis of immunoglobulins. Vitamin A will act as an immunostimulator.
  • Food products. Cranberries, ginger, spinach are natural stimulators of blood formation and blood supply to the lungs during the healing process.

Here are many helpers that can facilitate the difficult process of saying goodbye to nicotine, restore health and prolong life.