Within two weeks of quitting smoking, you may start to notice you're not only breathing easier. You're also walking easier. This is thanks to improved circulation and oxygenation. Your lung function also increases as much as 30 percent about two weeks after stopping smoking, notes the University of Michigan.
At three weeks, you've likely gotten through the shock of physical withdrawal. Now you're beginning to tackle the mental side of nicotine addiction, or psychological withdrawal. 2 This turn of events often triggers cravings to smoke that can feel like you're back at square one.
1 to 12 months after quitting
Tiny hair-like structures (called cilia) that move mucus out of the lungs start to regain normal function, increasing their ability to handle mucus, clean the lungs, and reduce the risk of infection.
Generally if you haven't smoked for 12 months or more, you're considered a non-smoker.
Within the first month after you quit smoking, your lung function will improve, and this will increase circulation, too. Within nine months, the cilia begin to function normally and symptoms like coughing and shortness of breath become less frequent.
Some health benefits begin almost immediately. Every week, month, and year without tobacco further improves your health. Within 20 minutes of quitting: Your blood pressure and heart rate drop to normal. Within 12 hours of quitting: Your blood carbon monoxide level drops to normal.
Feeling anxious, sad, or depressed. People who smoke are more likely to have anxiety or depression than people who don't smoke. Some people feel mood changes for a short time after they quit smoking. Watch for this, especially if you've ever had anxiety or depression.
If you decide to go ahead and smoke just one, chances are you'll be back to smoking as much as you used to before long. Don't kid yourself that you can control nicotine once you get a taste of it. It just doesn't work that way for nicotine addicts.
Your oxygen levels rise.
Within just 8 hours of quitting smoking, your body's oxygen levels increase. And your lung function will begin to improve. As your lungs start to heal, you may: Feel less short of breath.
Relapse occurs most often during the initial days of quitting (6); however, longitudinal studies have shown that a substantial proportion of quitters who remain abstinent early in the quit attempt, actually go on to relapse after being quit for months or even years (5, 8-10).
Cigarette cravings typically peak in the first few days after quitting and diminish greatly over the course of the first month without smoking. 1 While you might miss smoking from time to time, once you make it past six months, the urge to smoke will be diminished or even gone.
"The best way to quit smoking is with a combination of medication and counseling," says Maher Karam-Hage, M.D., medical director of the Tobacco Treatment Program at MD Anderson. "They both help. But you double your chances by using both compared with one of them."
Many ex-smokers say quitting was the hardest thing they ever did. Yet millions of people have been able to do it—and you can, too. One of the first steps is to learn why you feel like you need to smoke. Once you understand why you smoke, you can prepare yourself to find the best ways to quit.
Worldwide guidelines for smoking cessation generally recommend abrupt cessation and do not support a gradual reduction in smoking4-6. However, many surveys show that smokers are more likely to choose to stop gradually2,3,7. It may be more acceptable to gradually reduce smoking addiction.
1: Vaping is less harmful than smoking, but it's still not safe. E-cigarettes heat nicotine (extracted from tobacco), flavorings and other chemicals to create an aerosol that you inhale. Regular tobacco cigarettes contain 7,000 chemicals, many of which are toxic.
The group assigned to cold turkey was significantly more successful at quitting smoking, both at the 4-week follow-up (49% vs. 39%) and the 6-month follow-up (22% vs. 15%).
You might have a hard time concentrating or sleeping, have strong urges to smoke, or just feel generally uncomfortable. These feelings are called withdrawal. This gets better a few weeks after quitting as your brain gets used to not having nicotine around. Some quit-smoking medicines contain nicotine.