A. When you stop smoking – here’s a timeline of what happens …
In 20 minutes …
Your blood pressure, pulse rate and the temperature of your hands and feet have returned to normal.
In 8 hours…
Remaining nicotine in your bloodstream has fallen to 6.25% of normal peak daily levels, a 93.75% reduction.
Quitting smoking is the best thing you can do to improve your life and health. Any attempt to quit smoking will make you stronger.
It’s never too late to reap the benefits, some of which happen within the first few days.With the right combination of practice, determination and support, you will be able to stop smoking for good!
If you don’t smoke, don’t start. And, if you are a smoker, stop.
Consider how serious the damages are to you and those around you.
Millions of North Americans have stopped smoking and you can do it, too!
Quitting isn’t easy.
The immediate satisfaction from smoking and the adverse side effects of quitting often outweigh the
desire to quit and the knowledge about how important it is to quit.
While most of us are aware of the long-term effects that smoking will have on health, its addictive elements can override good common sense.
In order to overcome the habit of smoking, you must recognize those things that you associate with smoking and replace the association with other activities that provide relaxation, pleasure or relief.
Nicotine is one of the most addictive substances know to human kind. It can become an addiction in the same way as the use of alcohol, tranquilizers and other drugs. In its pure form, nicotine is a strong poison. A small dose of it, injected directly into the bloodstream, would kill a person within an hour. Because it is inhaled, it only takes seven to 10 seconds to reach the brain – twice as fast as intravenous drugs and three times faster than alcohol.
When you really crave a cigarette…
Remember: The urge to smoke will come and go. Try to wait it out. Or look at the plan you made last week. You wrote down steps to take at a time like this. Try them! You can also try these tips:
Here are some examples of reasons to quit:
Decide for sure that you want to quit. Promise yourself that you’ll do it. It’s okay to have mixed feelings. Don’t let that stop you. There will be times every day that you don’t feel like quitting. You will have to stick with it anyway.
Find reasons to quit that are important to you. Think of more than just health reasons. For example, think of:
