What Happens When You Quit Smoking?

Table of ContentsView AllTable of ContentsBenefits of QuittingTimeline of EffectsYour Lungs After SmokingFrequently Asked Questions

Table of ContentsView All

View All

Table of Contents

Benefits of Quitting

Timeline of Effects

Your Lungs After Smoking

Frequently Asked Questions

As of Dec. 20, 2019, in the United States, thelegal age is 21 years oldfor purchasing cigarettes, cigars, or any other tobacco products.

There are many serioushealth risks associated with smoking, like a higher chance of heart disease, lung cancer, and stroke.But what happens when you stop smoking? It can help undo some of the damage created, in addition to improving your health.

Certain health improvements do take time, but positive changes start to occur within minutes, hours, and days of quitting. Learn what changes you can expect when youstop smoking for good.

Verywell / JR Bee

Benefits of Quitting Smoking

Quitting smokingcan reduce your risk of cardiovascular disease, chronic obstructive pulmonary disease (COPD), and 12 different types of cancer.It can even benefit you mentally.

Quitting smoking can have a significant impact on mental health, bringing about noticeable benefits such as improved mood, reduced anxiety, and enhanced overall well-being.—DR. ARMEEN POOR, MD, PULMONOLOGIST, INTENSIVIST

Quitting smoking can have a significant impact on mental health, bringing about noticeable benefits such as improved mood, reduced anxiety, and enhanced overall well-being.

—DR. ARMEEN POOR, MD, PULMONOLOGIST, INTENSIVIST

If you’re a smoker, it may seem like the damage has been done, so it isn’t worth quitting—but that’s simply not true. Your body will begin to heal itself shortly after you quit, and the sooner you give up smoking, the greater the benefit is to your health.

Smoking cessation can also carry lifestyle benefits, some of which include:

Timeline of What Happens When You Stop Smoking

You can expect positive changes to occur roughly on this timelineafter you quit smoking.Taking note of these milestones may help you in your smoking cessation process.

First 24 Hours After Quitting

If you are a heavy smoker, your body will immediately realize when thechain-smoking cycleis broken. This is because tobacco smoke causes constriction of blood vessels in the body.

When the smoke stops, constriction starts to cease, resulting in lower blood pressure, reduced pulse rate, and a body temperature that’s returning to normal. These benefits start to occur within the first 20 minutes.

After eight hours of being smoke-free, the carbon monoxide levels in your blood also drop and blood oxygen levels start to normalize. This means that more oxygen is reaching your cells and tissues.

Twenty-four hours after quitting, your risk of heart attack starts to go down. This is important since research has found that smokers aged 40 to 59 are almost two times as likely to have a fatal heart attack without any type of warning.

Within 72 Hours of Quitting

At the 48-hour mark, your taste and smell receptors start to heal, shifting from their abnormally flattened state to a more normal, rounded configuration. Damaged nerve cells also self-repair as the insulating membrane, called myelin, gradually rebuilds itself around exposed nerve endings.

Nicotine withdrawal symptomsare typically at their worst during the first 72 hours of quitting smoking, Though, they do begin to gradually subside after these first three days have passed.

How to Deal With Nicotine Withdrawal

Two Weeks After Quitting

After withdrawal symptoms peak, they start to decrease, impacting you less over time. Though, you may still feel restless or jumpy for a couple of weeks, in addition to sometimes feeling grouchy, irritable, or having trouble sleeping.

It’s important to recognize that cigarette cravings can still persist during the first two weeks of quitting as you work to adjust to your new life without smoking.Finding ways toovercome smoking cravings quicklycan help.

Health Benefits at Two Weeks After You Quit Smoking

Three Months After Quitting

By the end of week six, nicotine withdrawal symptoms (including anger, anxiety, depression, difficulty concentrating, insomnia, and restlessness) will have largely disappeared. At the three-month mark, your body’s circulation has improved, making it possible to tolerate physical activity better, and lung function continues to see improvements as well.

What About Weight Gain When You Stop Smoking?The average person gains between five and 10 pounds during the first few months of quitting smoking.If you’re concerned about this, there aresteps you can take to minimize quit-related weight gain, such as drinking plenty of water and finding support.

What About Weight Gain When You Stop Smoking?

The average person gains between five and 10 pounds during the first few months of quitting smoking.If you’re concerned about this, there aresteps you can take to minimize quit-related weight gain, such as drinking plenty of water and finding support.

Nine Months After Quitting

Many ex-smokers feel a sudden letdown once they get beyond the three-month mark. Physical improvements taper off while cigarette cravings may persist (albeit at a lesser rate).

This doesn’t mean that your health isn’t continuing to improve. In fact, the tiny, finger-like projections in your respiratory tract, called cilia, will have regrown during the first six to nine months, making it easier to clear debris and mucus from your lungs.

While this may actually causeincreased coughing after quitting smoking, it is a sign that your lungs are getting stronger and trying to heal themselves.As a result, you should start feeling more energized and be able to perform daily activities with less shortness of breath and fatigue.

One Year After Quitting

Those with mild to moderate COPD may see more positive changes, while people with severe COPD could experience a leveling off of their earlier gains or even a slight reversal.If this happens, it doesn’t mean that you’re going backward but rather that you need ongoing COPD treatment to further slow the progression of the disease.

Beyond One Year of Smoking Cessation

The health benefits of smoking cessation appear to continue over time:

Your long-term health outlook depends on a variety of factors, like your overall health, how long you’ve smoked, what age you quit, and your other health-related behaviors. Quitting at a younger age can further reduce your risk of developing health issues.

You can’t necessarily undo the structural damage that smoking causes to your lungs. That said, the cilia in the lungs start to return to normal function between one and 12 months of quitting smoking,with continued lung improvements occurring over time.

The length of time it takes the lungs to heal as much as they can depends on how long you smoked, how old you were when you quit, other medical conditions you may have, and other lifestyle factors.

For people with COPD, there are additional lung-based benefits associated with quitting smoking. For instance, many find that they have less frequent exacerbations or acute breathing difficulty attacks after they no longer smoke.

Can You Clean Your Lungs After You Quit Smoking?

While there is no product or quick fix that will clean or “detox” your lungs after smoking, quitting can still improve your overall lung health.Your lungs are self-cleaning and will begin to heal themselves after you stop smoking, though the extent to which they heal depends on your overall health, how long you’ve smoked, and your existing lung damage.

If you’re concerned about your lungs, there are steps you can take to protect them.These include:

A Word From Verywell

Quitting smoking can be difficult but, despite the challenges and setbacks you may encounter, the short- and long-term benefits of smoking cessation are clear. Long-term, your risk of stroke, lung cancer, and heart disease drops to a level that’s comparable to someone who has never smoked, and the sooner you quit, the better the benefits appear to be.

When you quit smoking, your body begins to heal within 20 minutes.In the short term, your senses of taste and smell begin to improve, as do your breathing and circulation. Your lung function continues to improve and, eventually, your risk of stroke, cancer, and heart disease is reduced (in some cases, to levels similar to that of someone who never smoked).Learn More:Why You Should Take Care of Your Body and Health

When you quit smoking, your body begins to heal within 20 minutes.In the short term, your senses of taste and smell begin to improve, as do your breathing and circulation. Your lung function continues to improve and, eventually, your risk of stroke, cancer, and heart disease is reduced (in some cases, to levels similar to that of someone who never smoked).

Learn More:Why You Should Take Care of Your Body and Health

Learn More:10 Ways Smoking Damages Your Skin

However,vaping has significant health risksand may be even more addictive than traditional cigarettes.If you are ready to quit smoking cigarettes, talk to your healthcare provider about the best smoking cessation method for you.

Learn More:E-Cigarettes May Help You Quit Smoking, But They Have Risks

19 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.U.S. Food & Drug Administration.Selling tobacco products in retail stores.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Smoking & tobacco use: Health effects.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Smoking & tobacco use: Benefits of quitting.American Cancer Society.Health benefits of quitting smoking over time.Cleveland Clinic.Smoking.National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.Study: Smokers are more likely to die from heart disease than lung cancer.McLaughlin I, Dani JA, De Biasi M.Nicotine withdrawal.Curr Top Behav Neurosci. 2015;24:99–123. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-13482-6_4Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.7 common withdrawal symptoms.Dhariwal J, Tennant RC, Hansell DM, et al.Smoking cessation in COPD causes a transient improvement in spirometry and decreases micronodules on high-resolution CT imaging.Chest. 2014;145(5):1006–1015. doi:10.1378/chest.13-2220National Library of Medicine.Weight gain after quitting smoking: What to do.Bai JW, Chen XX, Liu S, Yu L, Xu JF.Smoking cessation affects the natural history of COPD.Int J Chronic Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2017;12:3323-3328. doi:10.2147/COPD.S150243West R.Tobacco smoking: Health impact, prevalence, correlates and interventions.Psychol Health. 2017;32:1018-1036. doi:10.1080/08870446.2017.132890American Lung Association.Can you detox your lungs?American Lung Association.Protecting your lungs.Marshall H, Romer LM, Hull JH, Gibson OR, Kippelen P.P225 effects of systemic dehydration and subsequent systemic or local rehydration on lung function in healthy individuals.Thorax. 2018:73(Suppl 4):A223-A224. doi:10.1136/thorax-2018-212555.382Cleveland Clinic.What happens to your body when you quit smoking?Langton AK, Tsoureli-Nikita E, Merrick H, et al.The systemic influence of chronic smoking on skin structure and mechanical function.J Pathol. 2020;251(4):420-428. doi:10.1002/path.5476Hajek P, Phillips-Waller A, Przulj D, et al.A randomized trial of e-cigarettes versus nicotine-replacement therapy.N Engl J Med.2019;380(7):629-637. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1808779Jankowski M, Krzystanek M, Zejda JE, et al.E-cigarettes are more addictive than traditional cigarettes—a study in highly educated young people.IJERPH. 2019;16(13):2279. doi:10.3390/ijerph16132279

19 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.U.S. Food & Drug Administration.Selling tobacco products in retail stores.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Smoking & tobacco use: Health effects.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Smoking & tobacco use: Benefits of quitting.American Cancer Society.Health benefits of quitting smoking over time.Cleveland Clinic.Smoking.National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.Study: Smokers are more likely to die from heart disease than lung cancer.McLaughlin I, Dani JA, De Biasi M.Nicotine withdrawal.Curr Top Behav Neurosci. 2015;24:99–123. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-13482-6_4Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.7 common withdrawal symptoms.Dhariwal J, Tennant RC, Hansell DM, et al.Smoking cessation in COPD causes a transient improvement in spirometry and decreases micronodules on high-resolution CT imaging.Chest. 2014;145(5):1006–1015. doi:10.1378/chest.13-2220National Library of Medicine.Weight gain after quitting smoking: What to do.Bai JW, Chen XX, Liu S, Yu L, Xu JF.Smoking cessation affects the natural history of COPD.Int J Chronic Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2017;12:3323-3328. doi:10.2147/COPD.S150243West R.Tobacco smoking: Health impact, prevalence, correlates and interventions.Psychol Health. 2017;32:1018-1036. doi:10.1080/08870446.2017.132890American Lung Association.Can you detox your lungs?American Lung Association.Protecting your lungs.Marshall H, Romer LM, Hull JH, Gibson OR, Kippelen P.P225 effects of systemic dehydration and subsequent systemic or local rehydration on lung function in healthy individuals.Thorax. 2018:73(Suppl 4):A223-A224. doi:10.1136/thorax-2018-212555.382Cleveland Clinic.What happens to your body when you quit smoking?Langton AK, Tsoureli-Nikita E, Merrick H, et al.The systemic influence of chronic smoking on skin structure and mechanical function.J Pathol. 2020;251(4):420-428. doi:10.1002/path.5476Hajek P, Phillips-Waller A, Przulj D, et al.A randomized trial of e-cigarettes versus nicotine-replacement therapy.N Engl J Med.2019;380(7):629-637. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1808779Jankowski M, Krzystanek M, Zejda JE, et al.E-cigarettes are more addictive than traditional cigarettes—a study in highly educated young people.IJERPH. 2019;16(13):2279. doi:10.3390/ijerph16132279

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.

U.S. Food & Drug Administration.Selling tobacco products in retail stores.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Smoking & tobacco use: Health effects.Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Smoking & tobacco use: Benefits of quitting.American Cancer Society.Health benefits of quitting smoking over time.Cleveland Clinic.Smoking.National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.Study: Smokers are more likely to die from heart disease than lung cancer.McLaughlin I, Dani JA, De Biasi M.Nicotine withdrawal.Curr Top Behav Neurosci. 2015;24:99–123. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-13482-6_4Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.7 common withdrawal symptoms.Dhariwal J, Tennant RC, Hansell DM, et al.Smoking cessation in COPD causes a transient improvement in spirometry and decreases micronodules on high-resolution CT imaging.Chest. 2014;145(5):1006–1015. doi:10.1378/chest.13-2220National Library of Medicine.Weight gain after quitting smoking: What to do.Bai JW, Chen XX, Liu S, Yu L, Xu JF.Smoking cessation affects the natural history of COPD.Int J Chronic Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2017;12:3323-3328. doi:10.2147/COPD.S150243West R.Tobacco smoking: Health impact, prevalence, correlates and interventions.Psychol Health. 2017;32:1018-1036. doi:10.1080/08870446.2017.132890American Lung Association.Can you detox your lungs?American Lung Association.Protecting your lungs.Marshall H, Romer LM, Hull JH, Gibson OR, Kippelen P.P225 effects of systemic dehydration and subsequent systemic or local rehydration on lung function in healthy individuals.Thorax. 2018:73(Suppl 4):A223-A224. doi:10.1136/thorax-2018-212555.382Cleveland Clinic.What happens to your body when you quit smoking?Langton AK, Tsoureli-Nikita E, Merrick H, et al.The systemic influence of chronic smoking on skin structure and mechanical function.J Pathol. 2020;251(4):420-428. doi:10.1002/path.5476Hajek P, Phillips-Waller A, Przulj D, et al.A randomized trial of e-cigarettes versus nicotine-replacement therapy.N Engl J Med.2019;380(7):629-637. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1808779Jankowski M, Krzystanek M, Zejda JE, et al.E-cigarettes are more addictive than traditional cigarettes—a study in highly educated young people.IJERPH. 2019;16(13):2279. doi:10.3390/ijerph16132279

U.S. Food & Drug Administration.Selling tobacco products in retail stores.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Smoking & tobacco use: Health effects.

Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.Smoking & tobacco use: Benefits of quitting.

American Cancer Society.Health benefits of quitting smoking over time.

Cleveland Clinic.Smoking.

National Heart, Lung, and Blood Institute.Study: Smokers are more likely to die from heart disease than lung cancer.

McLaughlin I, Dani JA, De Biasi M.Nicotine withdrawal.Curr Top Behav Neurosci. 2015;24:99–123. doi:10.1007/978-3-319-13482-6_4

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

Dhariwal J, Tennant RC, Hansell DM, et al.Smoking cessation in COPD causes a transient improvement in spirometry and decreases micronodules on high-resolution CT imaging.Chest. 2014;145(5):1006–1015. doi:10.1378/chest.13-2220

National Library of Medicine.Weight gain after quitting smoking: What to do.

Bai JW, Chen XX, Liu S, Yu L, Xu JF.Smoking cessation affects the natural history of COPD.Int J Chronic Obstruct Pulmon Dis. 2017;12:3323-3328. doi:10.2147/COPD.S150243

West R.Tobacco smoking: Health impact, prevalence, correlates and interventions.Psychol Health. 2017;32:1018-1036. doi:10.1080/08870446.2017.132890

American Lung Association.Can you detox your lungs?

American Lung Association.Protecting your lungs.

Marshall H, Romer LM, Hull JH, Gibson OR, Kippelen P.P225 effects of systemic dehydration and subsequent systemic or local rehydration on lung function in healthy individuals.Thorax. 2018:73(Suppl 4):A223-A224. doi:10.1136/thorax-2018-212555.382

Cleveland Clinic.What happens to your body when you quit smoking?

Langton AK, Tsoureli-Nikita E, Merrick H, et al.The systemic influence of chronic smoking on skin structure and mechanical function.J Pathol. 2020;251(4):420-428. doi:10.1002/path.5476

Hajek P, Phillips-Waller A, Przulj D, et al.A randomized trial of e-cigarettes versus nicotine-replacement therapy.N Engl J Med.2019;380(7):629-637. doi:10.1056/NEJMoa1808779

Jankowski M, Krzystanek M, Zejda JE, et al.E-cigarettes are more addictive than traditional cigarettes—a study in highly educated young people.IJERPH. 2019;16(13):2279. doi:10.3390/ijerph16132279

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