When you quit smoking, the benefits begin within minutes of your last cigarette.

At 20 minutes after quitting:

• blood pressure decreases
• pulse rate drops
• body temperature of hands and feet increases.

At 8 hours:

• carbon monoxide level in blood drops to normal
• oxygen level in blood increases to normal

At 24 hours:

• chance of a heart attack decreases

At 48 hours:

• nerve endings start regrowing
• ability to smell and taste improve

Congratulations!

It takes courage to put down that last cigarette. Most people feel an intense combination of fear and excitement leading up to their quit date. Feeling afraid to quit smoking is completely normal, and is a byproduct of addiction. The quit smoking benefits you'll experience as you go through the process of cessation are worth the work it takes to achieve though.

Years of associating smoking with everything we did created a psychological dependence on nicotine. We think we enjoy smoking. We convince ourselves of all kinds of things: smoking calms us; we think it's a friend, a companion, a buddy. We think it helps us have more fun and enjoy life more fully. Logically, we know better, but addiction can make people rationalize and justify all kinds of things.

The fact is, smokers like the boost a cigarette gives them when the nicotine in their bodies gets replenished. The edginess from a depleted level of nicotine is relieved.

That is addiction, not enjoyment.

Read a few goodbye letters people have written to their cigarettes as they've gone through the process of quitting tobacco. These compositions describe how enslaving and self-destructive nicotine addiction is, and how empowering cessation can be.

Support for Your Quit Program

Support is a key ingredient to a solid quit smoking program. The Smoking Cessation Forum here at About.com offers some of the best quit smoking support the Internet has to offer. You'll meet people who are going through just what you are, or have been there and can offer constructive advice. Your resolve will be bolstered more than you can imagine just by being around others who have the same goals as you do. Visit as a guest and read what others have to say, or register(free) to join the discussions and post messages of your own.

Please remember that quitting tobacco is a process. It takes time. Your courage to take that first step and throw the butts away will be a choice you'll never regret making. Your life will improve a thousandfold when you have kicked tobacco out of your life, once and for all!

Next > Quit Smoking Benefits: 2 Weeks to 3 Months

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