So this is my fifth day of being analog free. I noticed I'm coughing more, but breathing easier. You'll read around here that you may be producing more phlegm with your coughs, but that it's a sign that your lungs are now able to clean themselves out. It's a good thing. Already I noticed I don't wake up wheezing. That was a relatively new symptom of my 1PAD for about fifteen years and seems to be gone already. I also noticed I'm not blowing anything gray or black out of my nose holes. Although the dull rainbow effect was kinda cool-I'm certainly not missing it.
My sense of smell and taste is coming back. I had sushi for lunch today. It was delicious. I'm picking up scents that I likely wouldn't have picked up before. The smells of soap and shampoo of people passing by or the smell of my apartment when I walk in the door. Unfortunately, also the smell of a cat box in need of clean litter and I swear I can already smell an analog a block away.
The slightly yellow tinge on my smoking fingers is gone. Eventually, maybe my teeth will actually get whiter. My skin seems less splotchy and my eyes seem whiter. All within five days. And I generally just feel cleaner. My skin seems less oily. My clothes don't reek of cigarettes but I'm sure I'll notice they actually might when I get more smell back.
While my hands and feet are probably permanently stuck in that thing that it seems all girls have-as in-they feel like death. The circulation seems to have improved somewhat and can only get better. If I had a stethoscope sitting around I'd likely be tracking the sound of my lungs and heart too. But we all know it will only get better.
I still get the urges to smoke an analog. I have four left in a pack from the day I got my PV. I haven't touched any of them but keep them around like a security blanket. I doubt I will need them as I tried one puff off of a friend's the other night and it tasted like the back-end of something. The smoke stuck to my mouth. It was gross. That was the exact result I wanted. But the urge is still there, so I look at websites and get information on why I'm doing this. If it helps me, it may help other people too. So I compiled some of it and decided to post it.
This pretty much covers my questions from my very first thread post about how smoking affects the aging process. This was excellent motivation for me. I guess I'm vain.
Smoking Effects Slideshow: How Smoking Affects Your Looks and Life on RxList.com
Copied from Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Homepage
-Life expectancy among smokers who quit at age 35 years exceeds that of continuing smokers by 6.9
to 8.5 years for men and 6.1 to 7.7 years for women. Smokers who quit at younger ages realize
greater life extensions.
-Life expectancy among smokers who quit at age 45 years surpasses that of those who continue to
smoke by 5.6 to 7.1 years for men and 5.6 to 7.2 years for women.
-Among 55 year-olds whom quit smoking, men experience a 3.4 to 4.8 year increase, and women, a
4.2 to 5.6 year increase in life expectancy in comparison to those who continue to smoke.
-Even those who quit much later in life gain some benefits: among smokers who quit at age 65 years, men gain 1.4 to 2.0 years of life, and women gain 2.7 to 3.7 years.
Basic timeline of health benefits following cessation:
Smoking cessation timeline the health benefits over time
-In 20 minutes, your blood pressure and pulse rate decrease, and the body temperature of your hands and feet increase.
-Carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke reduces the bloods ability to carry oxygen. At 8 hours, the carbon monoxide level in your blood decreases to normal. With the decrease in carbon monoxide, your blood oxygen level increases to normal.
-At 24 hours, your risk of having a heart attack decreases.
-At 48 hours, nerve endings start to regrow and the ability to smell and taste is enhanced.
-Between 2 weeks and 3 months, your circulation improves, walking becomes easier and you dont cough or wheeze as often. Phlegm production decreases. Within several months, you have significant improvement in lung function.
-In 1 to 9 months, coughs, sinus congestion, fatigue and shortness of breath decrease as you continue to see significant improvement in lung function. Cilia, tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs, regain normal function.
-In 1 year, risk of coronary heart disease and heart attack is reduced to half that of a smoker.
Between 5 and 15 years after quitting, your risk of having a stroke returns to that of a non-smoker.
-In 10 years, your risk of lung cancer drops. Additionally, your risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas decrease. Even after a decade of not smoking however, your risk of lung cancer remains higher than in people who have never smoked. Your risk of ulcer also decreases.
-In 15 years, your risk of coronary heart disease and heart attack in similar to that of people who have never smoked. The risk of death returns to nearly the level of a non-smoker.
This webpage is full of helpful links including a page about e-cigarettes:
Benefits of Quitting Smoking - Timeline | During Pregnancy | On skin
Another slideshow:
Anti-smoking slideshow voted best educational presentation on Slideshare - 21apples
Anyone who found anything else they found motivating please post!
My sense of smell and taste is coming back. I had sushi for lunch today. It was delicious. I'm picking up scents that I likely wouldn't have picked up before. The smells of soap and shampoo of people passing by or the smell of my apartment when I walk in the door. Unfortunately, also the smell of a cat box in need of clean litter and I swear I can already smell an analog a block away.
The slightly yellow tinge on my smoking fingers is gone. Eventually, maybe my teeth will actually get whiter. My skin seems less splotchy and my eyes seem whiter. All within five days. And I generally just feel cleaner. My skin seems less oily. My clothes don't reek of cigarettes but I'm sure I'll notice they actually might when I get more smell back.
While my hands and feet are probably permanently stuck in that thing that it seems all girls have-as in-they feel like death. The circulation seems to have improved somewhat and can only get better. If I had a stethoscope sitting around I'd likely be tracking the sound of my lungs and heart too. But we all know it will only get better.
I still get the urges to smoke an analog. I have four left in a pack from the day I got my PV. I haven't touched any of them but keep them around like a security blanket. I doubt I will need them as I tried one puff off of a friend's the other night and it tasted like the back-end of something. The smoke stuck to my mouth. It was gross. That was the exact result I wanted. But the urge is still there, so I look at websites and get information on why I'm doing this. If it helps me, it may help other people too. So I compiled some of it and decided to post it.
This pretty much covers my questions from my very first thread post about how smoking affects the aging process. This was excellent motivation for me. I guess I'm vain.
Smoking Effects Slideshow: How Smoking Affects Your Looks and Life on RxList.com
Copied from Campaign for Tobacco-Free Kids Homepage
-Life expectancy among smokers who quit at age 35 years exceeds that of continuing smokers by 6.9
to 8.5 years for men and 6.1 to 7.7 years for women. Smokers who quit at younger ages realize
greater life extensions.
-Life expectancy among smokers who quit at age 45 years surpasses that of those who continue to
smoke by 5.6 to 7.1 years for men and 5.6 to 7.2 years for women.
-Among 55 year-olds whom quit smoking, men experience a 3.4 to 4.8 year increase, and women, a
4.2 to 5.6 year increase in life expectancy in comparison to those who continue to smoke.
-Even those who quit much later in life gain some benefits: among smokers who quit at age 65 years, men gain 1.4 to 2.0 years of life, and women gain 2.7 to 3.7 years.
Basic timeline of health benefits following cessation:
Smoking cessation timeline the health benefits over time
-In 20 minutes, your blood pressure and pulse rate decrease, and the body temperature of your hands and feet increase.
-Carbon monoxide in cigarette smoke reduces the bloods ability to carry oxygen. At 8 hours, the carbon monoxide level in your blood decreases to normal. With the decrease in carbon monoxide, your blood oxygen level increases to normal.
-At 24 hours, your risk of having a heart attack decreases.
-At 48 hours, nerve endings start to regrow and the ability to smell and taste is enhanced.
-Between 2 weeks and 3 months, your circulation improves, walking becomes easier and you dont cough or wheeze as often. Phlegm production decreases. Within several months, you have significant improvement in lung function.
-In 1 to 9 months, coughs, sinus congestion, fatigue and shortness of breath decrease as you continue to see significant improvement in lung function. Cilia, tiny hair-like structures that move mucus out of the lungs, regain normal function.
-In 1 year, risk of coronary heart disease and heart attack is reduced to half that of a smoker.
Between 5 and 15 years after quitting, your risk of having a stroke returns to that of a non-smoker.
-In 10 years, your risk of lung cancer drops. Additionally, your risk of cancer of the mouth, throat, esophagus, bladder, kidney and pancreas decrease. Even after a decade of not smoking however, your risk of lung cancer remains higher than in people who have never smoked. Your risk of ulcer also decreases.
-In 15 years, your risk of coronary heart disease and heart attack in similar to that of people who have never smoked. The risk of death returns to nearly the level of a non-smoker.
This webpage is full of helpful links including a page about e-cigarettes:
Benefits of Quitting Smoking - Timeline | During Pregnancy | On skin
Another slideshow:
Anti-smoking slideshow voted best educational presentation on Slideshare - 21apples
Anyone who found anything else they found motivating please post!
