Nobody Likes a Quitter

As we enter this first day of February, I’ve now officially been one month entirely without cigarettes.

I’d been ‘working on quitting’ for a few months now, but as anyone who’s done that can tell you, exactly how hard one is ‘working on’ it can vary wildly day to day, and ‘quitting’ is often a long way from ‘quit.’ Still, I’d done a pretty good job of drastically cutting down how much I was smoking over a few months, to the point where I went the five days of our Christmas trip to Alaska entirely smoke-free without any hitches whatsoever. I had my last few smokes while out at the closing night of The Vogue on New Years Eve, and that was that.

Two major points to make:

1. This was not a New Years Resolution. Out of long experience (both personal and vicarious), I’d never make ‘quitting smoking’ a New Years Resolution, as I rarely see a New Years Resolution that survives much beyond a week (often, they don’t survive more than a few hours). It’s for this very reason that I tend to make the same New Years Resolution every year — to suddenly devote myself to a regimen of strict celibacy. Hey, if I’m going to break a resolution, I might as well enjoy breaking it! ;)

2. I’m not sure I’d really say that I’ve quit smoking. It was definitely time to stop, for a number of reasons — but I know myself well enough (and have read enough about the physical and psychological barriers to quitting smoking) that a flat-out statement that I’ve ‘quit’ would be foolish. At the same time, when I decided to stop dropping acid some time ago, I never claimed to have ‘quit,’ only that it was something that I didn’t want to do — and it’s been probably somewhere close to a decade since I’ve done any illicit drugs, and I certainly don’t see myself picking up the habit again. Sometimes — for me, at least — it’s simply easier to decide to stop than to QUIT.

As it turns out, once I was approaching it from a “this is something I don’t really need to do anymore” perspective, rather than an “everyone says I should quit, so I guess maybe I should try” perspective, it wasn’t terribly difficult at all. No major cravings, no major mood swings (Prairie verified this one, too, so it’s not just rose-colored glasses on my part). I am getting very tired of having colds, though — apparently one of the big side effects is a few weeks of increased susceptibility to illness, as your immune system adjusts to the sudden drastic switch in chemicals being pumped into your body. I’ve spent the majority of January sniffling, wheezing and whining my way through at least three rounds of head colds. Ick.

Still — if that’s the worst thing I have to complain about with this, I’m doing okay.

I did find a timeline that I’ve been keeping in mind during this…

This can be found in various forms around the ‘net. There are slight differences from place to place, and I have no idea where it first came from, but the basics are pretty common. This version is from Stop Smoking Tips:

• After 20 minutes: Smoking causes increase in blood pressure. This high blood pressure is very harmful as it increases the danger of heart attack. But as soon as we quit smoking the risk minimizes and blood pressure rate becomes normal.
• After 8 hours: Nicotine and carbon monoxide levels in the blood are greatly reduced; oxygen levels in the blood return to normal. The chances of a heart attack start to fall.
• After 10 hours: Carbon monoxide (CO) level becomes half after 10 hours of quitting smoking. Carbon monoxide is one of the major pollutants that produce bad effects on cognitive skills and health. It also affects the oxygen, which is one of the most vital substances, which are necessary for survival. When the carbon monoxide level is high, it decreases intake of blood from lungs, which can lead to many serious problems. We increase our energy levels by smoothing the passage of oxygen as we restrict the carbon monoxide level by quitting smoking.
• After 24 hours: If you successfully completed 24 hours, it is a marvelous starting, for the chain smokers that provides them strong bearing power, less level of tiredness after exercise and quick recovery.
• After 48 Hours: When move to 48 hours from one whole day, it gives us a totally new experience as nicotine is removed from their body, which earlier has resulted in bad side effects by causing stomachache, vomiting and it also develops the probability of hypothermia.
• After 72 hours: Bronchial tubes begin to relax; energy levels increase. Breathing becomes easier.
• After 2-22 weeks: After 2 to 22 weeks of quitting smoking you will get rid of bad circulation and also of numerous other disorders like slow cold feet, skin healing, peripheral vascular disease (PVT), and Raynaud’s disease.
• After 1 year: After you quit smoking for 1 year, you will reduce the risk of heart attack to half. According to the studies conducted in U.K, smoking results in around 20,000 deaths due to heart diseases.
• After 10 years: After reducing the danger of heart attack our good habit of quitting smoking results in minimizing the danger of lung cancer to half.
• After 15 years: After 15 years person who once was chain smoker leads a healthy life as a normal man who has never smoked. At last the good habit has repaid back.