There is a widespread myth among smokers that quitting smoking is harmful and burdened with serious consequences for the body. Many people prefer to prolong this process, gradually reducing the number of cigarettes smoked per day. In fact, not everything is so frightening, and doctors have an unequivocal answer to the question of whether it is possible to stop smoking abruptly. Let's figure it out.
Nicotine as a drug
Nicotine belongs to the category of "fast" drugs - addiction to it appears in just a few months of use, but also quickly ceases. On average, it can take three to seven days to overcome a bad habit on a physiological level.
Tobacco smoke contains about 4, 000 chemical compounds, of which 250 are toxic. The body accustomed to nicotine requires new doses every hour and a half, after two hours of abstinence blood pressure may rise, the person will feel nervous. However, if you overcome it and do not smoke for at least three days, things will go much easier.
Practice shows that quitting cigarettes is a dead end. Most often, the smoker continues to break down and return to the previous dose of nicotine. But abrupt cessation of nicotine can actually succeed.
What happens in the body
If you quit your daily nicotine intake, the following changes will occur in the human body:
- Increased blood flow. Blood begins to flow more actively into the brain and heart. After a while, the blood pressure will stabilize and the repair of blood vessels damaged during the period of addiction will begin.
- Normalization of bowel function. The gastrointestinal microflora largely suffers from carcinogenic substances that the smoker inhales with smoke. With a sharp rejection of nicotine, the intestines are stabilized, vitamins and nutrients begin to be better absorbed.
- Restoration of immunity. In people with nicotine addiction, the immune system is weakened, unable to fully perform its functions. You’ve probably noticed that smokers get sick much more often than people without addiction.
- Oxygenation of the body. Due to improved lung ventilation, more oxygen begins to enter the body. Fatigue disappears, the feeling of weakness during the working day decreases, and sleep improves.
Side effects
Remember that nicotine is a drug, and smoking is an addiction. Like any other drug addiction, it does not disappear without a trace, and in the first days a person will not feel very comfortable. The following side effects may occur when you suddenly stop smoking:
- Anxiety and irritability. The first effect that a person who stops smoking will feel. It can occur after two to three hours of abstinence.
- Slight dizziness. It is caused by oxygen starvation - vascular tone normalizes, and this takes time. It is held on average daily.
- Onset of dyspnea. Another consequence of oxygen starvation, but here the reason is lung regeneration. It completely disappears after a maximum of one month, usually after one to two weeks.
- Decreased appetite. It is most pronounced in the first days of abstinence. In a week the appetite returns. Moreover, a person begins to feel the fullness of the taste of food, of which he did not even know before.
- Cough. Toxic substances accumulated in the lungs of smokers are removed from the body, so a cough occurs. Cough is often accompanied by phlegm and mucus. It decreases after a month, and after six months it completely disappears.
- Insomnia. Emotional depression due to lack of nicotine makes it difficult for a person to fall asleep. In some cases, insomnia may occur. It goes away on its own after three to four days, but you can use medications to combat anxiety and better sleep.
As we can see, there are no serious side effects that can cause serious damage to the body. Of course, abrupt smoking cessation will require a lot of willpower, especially in the early days, but nothing will endanger your health. Conversely, after only a week of abstinence, a person begins to feel much better than the entire period of nicotine consumption.
Psychological factor
For many smokers, it is much easier to overcome physiological side effects than to deal with psychological addiction. Smoking is a whole ritual, everyone has their own. Someone smokes a cigarette before breakfast, someone can’t imagine how you can wait for public transportation instead of smoking, and coffee with a cigarette is mostly sacred. It can be extremely difficult to give up such small habits and completely renew your life.
If you do not have enough willpower to stop smoking, you can turn to your family and friends. Let them distract from bad thoughts and give maximum support. Another option is to seek the help of a psychologist, there is nothing shameful about this.
Smoking and women
A separate myth in this category applies to women - how harmful is it for them to quit smoking abruptly? For example, it is believed that pregnant women should not abruptly give up nicotine. They say it will cause stress that will negatively affect the baby. In fact, doctors warmly recommend that in such a situation to immediately abandon the addiction. Each cigarette smoked will affect the development of the fetus.
It’s the same situation with the myth that you can’t stop smoking during your period. In fact, you can. On a physiological level, nothing negative will happen to the body, difficulties can only arise on a psychological level. Another misconception is that abrupt smoking cessation will affect the effect of medications taken. However, there is no scientifically proven case when drugs change their pharmacological properties due to a sharp cessation of nicotine intake in the body.
Lovers
Positive changes in the body are written above, we will now describe the effects that are more noticeable for an ex-smoker:
- Skin looks fresher. The yellowish color of the epidermis disappears as more minerals, vitamins and oxygen begin to enter the bloodstream. Healthy skin color will return in about six months after smoking cessation.
- Increases sensitivity to taste and smell. The sense of smell and taste of smokers do not work at full capacity, the longer a person smokes, the more boring it becomes. If you give up addiction, you can feel the fullness of taste and smell.
- Improve tone. Vigilance, increased activity, lack of fatigue. All of this is felt by the ex-smoker. You can forget about illness and feelings of apathy.
To summarize, we can say - you can suddenly stop smoking! And even necessary. There will be no serious negative consequences for the body.