Health Benefits at Two Weeks After You Quit Smoking

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsBetter Smell and TasteLower Blood PressureEasier BreathingToxins Leave the BodyFewer Withdrawal SymptomsPotential PitfallsStaying Motivated

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Better Smell and Taste

Lower Blood Pressure

Easier Breathing

Toxins Leave the Body

Fewer Withdrawal Symptoms

Potential Pitfalls

Staying Motivated

Quitting smoking can be really hard, but the good news is that the health benefits start to kick in almost immediately after your last cigarette. If it has been two weeks since youquit smoking, congratulate yourself! Smoking cessation is definitely a journey (with plenty of bumps along the way). Sometimes, reminding yourself about how your body and mind will heal the longer you’re smoke-free can give you some extramotivationnever to light up again.

There’s a lot of healing happening in those two weeks after you quit. Some benefits may be less noticeable, such as a decrease in blood pressure. But other changes may be quite obvious, like feeling less winded after climbing a flight of stairs.

At a GlanceIt takes time to recover from smoking, especially if you’ve been doing it for a long time. But that doesn’t mean you’ll have to wait months or years to reap the rewards of living smoke-free. The first two weeks are filled with health improvements that not only help you feel better, but also lead to lasting health improvements that will benefit you for years to come. Food will taste better. Your sense of smell will improve. You won’t feel as breathless anymore.Other benefits, like lower blood pressure and fewer toxins, will lower your risk of future health problems. Plus, those challenging withdrawal symptoms that made quitting so hard will start to subside, making it a lot easier to stick to your goals. Of course, there will be challenges along the way, but reminding yourself of the benefits of quitting smoking can help.

At a Glance

It takes time to recover from smoking, especially if you’ve been doing it for a long time. But that doesn’t mean you’ll have to wait months or years to reap the rewards of living smoke-free. The first two weeks are filled with health improvements that not only help you feel better, but also lead to lasting health improvements that will benefit you for years to come. Food will taste better. Your sense of smell will improve. You won’t feel as breathless anymore.Other benefits, like lower blood pressure and fewer toxins, will lower your risk of future health problems. Plus, those challenging withdrawal symptoms that made quitting so hard will start to subside, making it a lot easier to stick to your goals. Of course, there will be challenges along the way, but reminding yourself of the benefits of quitting smoking can help.

It takes time to recover from smoking, especially if you’ve been doing it for a long time. But that doesn’t mean you’ll have to wait months or years to reap the rewards of living smoke-free. The first two weeks are filled with health improvements that not only help you feel better, but also lead to lasting health improvements that will benefit you for years to come. Food will taste better. Your sense of smell will improve. You won’t feel as breathless anymore.

Other benefits, like lower blood pressure and fewer toxins, will lower your risk of future health problems. Plus, those challenging withdrawal symptoms that made quitting so hard will start to subside, making it a lot easier to stick to your goals. Of course, there will be challenges along the way, but reminding yourself of the benefits of quitting smoking can help.

Nicotine, along with the other chemicals in cigarette smoke, harms the taste buds and nerve responses in the nose. After two weeks smoke-free, you may begin to notice improvements in your sense of smell and taste—and these improvements often continue the longer you go without smoking.

Get ready to rediscover the subtle flavors of foods that, when you smoked, you likely thought lacked flavor.

Unfortunately, you’ll also now be able to smell that stale cigarette smoke on your clothing, coats, and inside your home. If possible, enlist a housecleaning service or take your clothing to a dry cleaner for a deep clean (you might even consider this your two-weeks-smoke-free gift to yourself).

Lower Blood Pressure and Heart Rate

Yet another harmful side effect of nicotine is increased heart rate and elevated blood pressure. Luckily, these functions begin to normalize pretty quickly after you quit smoking.

Within two weeks to two months, you might notice that walking and breathing is becoming a little easier. This is because your lung function is improving and the air sacs in your lungs (alveoli) are beginning to relax and produce less mucus.

Take a deep breath and feel your lungs filling up with smoke-free air. Think about how taking that breath would have felt before your final cigarette—especially if you just climbed stairs or ran around with your kids. This easy exercise can serve as a quick reminder of why you decided to kick your nicotine habit.

How Smoke Affects Your Alveoli

After being smoke-free for 24 hours, nicotine is completely removed from the blood.

In addition, several days after quitting smoking, the carbon monoxide (CO) level in the blood is the same as that of someone who doesn’t smoke.

Feeling improvement in the mental symptoms, however, may take a little longer. Especially if smoking was your go-to relaxation strategy, you will likely still begrappling with stressafter two weeks. Over time, as you learn new,healthy stress-relievers(that don’t involve nicotine), you will inevitably become more in control of this.

18 Effective Stress Relief Strategies

Issues You May Still Be Dealing With

If you’re not experiencing noticeable benefits two weeks after quitting smoking, try not to get discouraged. After two weeks smoke-free, some peoplestill experience coughingand shortness of breath as well as withdrawal symptoms such ascravings.

Even after the two-week mark, there will still be things thattriggercravings—and that’s normal! It’s helpful to remember, however, that the longer you go without cigarettes, the less intense those cravings will feel.

One study found that an impaired sense of smell may persist longer than two weeks; whether you fully regain your sense of smell after quitting may depend on how much you smoked and for how long.

If your nicotine withdrawal symptoms don’t improve after two weeks, especially if you’re struggling to manage them, contact a doctor—they can help you explore your options for quitting, such asnicotine replacement therapy(NRT).

If you’re experiencing depression or anxiety as a result of quitting, seek medical attention. Whiledepressed moodandanxiousnessare common symptoms of withdrawal, if they don’t improve, clinical treatment may be necessary.

How to Overcome Smoking Urges in Just 5 Minutes

Keeping up your motivation to quit smoking (especially when you’re frustrated during your journey) is one of the best ways to increase your chances of success.

If you’re feeling discouraged, here are some ways to help you keep going:

Best Non-Medical Ways to Quit Smoking

Takeaways

If you’ve gone two weeks without smoking, give yourself a pat on the back! You’re probably already noticing plenty of small changes, but remember that things will keep getting better.

The longer you go without nicotine in cigarette smoke, the more health improvements you will experience. This will include changes in your hearing, vision, skin, immunity, cardiovascular health, lungs, muscles, bones, and more. Have patience as your body heals and you relearn a life without cigarettes. And take pride in how far you’ve already come. You deserve it.

Why Are You Afraid to Quit Smoking?

10 SourcesVerywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Chéruel F, Jarlier M, Sancho-Garnier H.Effect of cigarette smoke on gustatory sensitivity, evaluation of the deficit and of the recovery time-course after smoking cessation.Tob Induc Dis. 2017;15:15. doi:10.1186/s12971-017-0120-4Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Benefits of quitting.Rose JJ, Wang L, Xu Q, et al.Carbon monoxide poisoning: Pathogenesis, management, and future directions of therapy.Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017;195(5):596-606. doi:10.1164/rccm.201606-1275CINational Institutes of Health.Understanding withdrawal.American Heart Association.How smoking and nicotine damage your body.Siegel JK, Wroblewski KE, McClintock MK, Pinto JM.Olfactory dysfunction persists after smoking cessation and signals increased cardiovascular risk.Int Forum Allergy Rhinol. 2019;9(9):977-985. doi:10.1002/alr.22357Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.7 common withdrawal symptoms.Rajani NB, Mastellos N, Filippidis FT.Self-efficacy and motivation to quit of smokers seeking to quit: Quantitative assessment of smoking cessation mobile apps.JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2021;9(4):e25030. doi:10.2196/25030Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Quitlines and other cessation support resources.Stead LF, Carroll AJ, Lancaster T.Group behaviour therapy programmes for smoking cessation.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017;3(3):CD001007. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD001007.pub3

10 Sources

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.Chéruel F, Jarlier M, Sancho-Garnier H.Effect of cigarette smoke on gustatory sensitivity, evaluation of the deficit and of the recovery time-course after smoking cessation.Tob Induc Dis. 2017;15:15. doi:10.1186/s12971-017-0120-4Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Benefits of quitting.Rose JJ, Wang L, Xu Q, et al.Carbon monoxide poisoning: Pathogenesis, management, and future directions of therapy.Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017;195(5):596-606. doi:10.1164/rccm.201606-1275CINational Institutes of Health.Understanding withdrawal.American Heart Association.How smoking and nicotine damage your body.Siegel JK, Wroblewski KE, McClintock MK, Pinto JM.Olfactory dysfunction persists after smoking cessation and signals increased cardiovascular risk.Int Forum Allergy Rhinol. 2019;9(9):977-985. doi:10.1002/alr.22357Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.7 common withdrawal symptoms.Rajani NB, Mastellos N, Filippidis FT.Self-efficacy and motivation to quit of smokers seeking to quit: Quantitative assessment of smoking cessation mobile apps.JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2021;9(4):e25030. doi:10.2196/25030Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Quitlines and other cessation support resources.Stead LF, Carroll AJ, Lancaster T.Group behaviour therapy programmes for smoking cessation.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017;3(3):CD001007. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD001007.pub3

Verywell Mind uses only high-quality sources, including peer-reviewed studies, to support the facts within our articles. Read oureditorial processto learn more about how we fact-check and keep our content accurate, reliable, and trustworthy.

Chéruel F, Jarlier M, Sancho-Garnier H.Effect of cigarette smoke on gustatory sensitivity, evaluation of the deficit and of the recovery time-course after smoking cessation.Tob Induc Dis. 2017;15:15. doi:10.1186/s12971-017-0120-4Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Benefits of quitting.Rose JJ, Wang L, Xu Q, et al.Carbon monoxide poisoning: Pathogenesis, management, and future directions of therapy.Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017;195(5):596-606. doi:10.1164/rccm.201606-1275CINational Institutes of Health.Understanding withdrawal.American Heart Association.How smoking and nicotine damage your body.Siegel JK, Wroblewski KE, McClintock MK, Pinto JM.Olfactory dysfunction persists after smoking cessation and signals increased cardiovascular risk.Int Forum Allergy Rhinol. 2019;9(9):977-985. doi:10.1002/alr.22357Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.7 common withdrawal symptoms.Rajani NB, Mastellos N, Filippidis FT.Self-efficacy and motivation to quit of smokers seeking to quit: Quantitative assessment of smoking cessation mobile apps.JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2021;9(4):e25030. doi:10.2196/25030Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Quitlines and other cessation support resources.Stead LF, Carroll AJ, Lancaster T.Group behaviour therapy programmes for smoking cessation.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017;3(3):CD001007. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD001007.pub3

Chéruel F, Jarlier M, Sancho-Garnier H.Effect of cigarette smoke on gustatory sensitivity, evaluation of the deficit and of the recovery time-course after smoking cessation.Tob Induc Dis. 2017;15:15. doi:10.1186/s12971-017-0120-4

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Benefits of quitting.

Rose JJ, Wang L, Xu Q, et al.Carbon monoxide poisoning: Pathogenesis, management, and future directions of therapy.Am J Respir Crit Care Med. 2017;195(5):596-606. doi:10.1164/rccm.201606-1275CI

National Institutes of Health.Understanding withdrawal.

American Heart Association.How smoking and nicotine damage your body.

Siegel JK, Wroblewski KE, McClintock MK, Pinto JM.Olfactory dysfunction persists after smoking cessation and signals increased cardiovascular risk.Int Forum Allergy Rhinol. 2019;9(9):977-985. doi:10.1002/alr.22357

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.7 common withdrawal symptoms.

Rajani NB, Mastellos N, Filippidis FT.Self-efficacy and motivation to quit of smokers seeking to quit: Quantitative assessment of smoking cessation mobile apps.JMIR Mhealth Uhealth. 2021;9(4):e25030. doi:10.2196/25030

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Quitlines and other cessation support resources.

Stead LF, Carroll AJ, Lancaster T.Group behaviour therapy programmes for smoking cessation.Cochrane Database Syst Rev. 2017;3(3):CD001007. doi:10.1002/14651858.CD001007.pub3

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