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How long does it take for your body to heal/recover after smoking cigarettes?

By February 13, 2009 - 2:19pm
 
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I quit smoking nearly 10 years ago after nearly 20 years of smoking almost a pack a day.

I read somewhere that it takes the body a very long time to "heal" itself after all that poison in the system which is a bit disappointing after all the work it takes to quit.

does anyone know if the body ever really recovers from a 20 year smoking habit? I was under 35 when I quit.

thank you

Add a Comment153 Comments

EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous

i was a smoker for 3 ,i feel uneasy as i am knowing the symptoms, i cant concentrate at anything , so today i thought to stop it .... I think i can quit it ..

May 24, 2014 - 5:18am
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous

i smoked from 1970 to 1980 and i was very often sick in that time and always coughing, so ive been free for 34 years now, and i am quite sure i would not be writing this today if i had not have stopped.

May 23, 2014 - 11:04am
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous

I 've smoked for about 6 years, and while these 6 years I was trying to quit several times and this last one is about 10 months, However I didn't start to realize that smoking affected me in really bad way until I quitted.
Right Now I'm having really hard time with The fact that my body won't return back to normal.
What I need To know right now how much I've distorted like a percentage?

March 31, 2014 - 7:03pm

i, i smoked for over 30 years, i am 44 now. i have tried to quit probably a dozen times or so. each time failing miserably and smoking more than before i tried to quit. this last time i was at 3-4 packs a day maybe a little more even. i tried the e-cig and so far so good. eventually i intend to stop that as well but for now its the far lesser of two evils. so anyone who wants to stop but has failed with other methods in the past id recommend giving this a shot. hope it helps

October 30, 2013 - 6:26pm
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous

I'm 48 and I have been smoking for about 30 plus years. I have been smoking about 10-12 cigarets a day for the last 6 months, sometimes less then 10. I use to smoke a pack or more a day but I am ready to give up the remaining 10 per day for good. I am very nervous about quitting but I know I can do this!!! To anyone who has quit, GOOD FOR YOU !!!

August 25, 2013 - 7:51am
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous

Liver and lungs, outside of skin, are the only ORGANS that can regenerate themselves. Healing starts within in 24 hrs... that's why u begin to taste an smell things better.... don't quit quitting.... it's going strong for me so far!!!!! 13 days in...

August 17, 2013 - 7:02pm
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous

I quit smoking by reading a book, I read it 5 times!...but it worked. I smoked for 42 years. I quit with absolutely no withdrawals. It worked. I've been free for 4 months and still going strong

January 30, 2013 - 10:42pm
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous (reply to Anonymous)

Yes, whats the book??

August 25, 2013 - 7:53am
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous

I was a smoker for 35 years....got up to 2 packs a day and chain smoked like a freight train. I've been quit now for 12 weeks. Always told myself that I "couldn't"...or that I would try. Well what finally worked for me was wanting to go out with a very lovely lady who didn't smoke and telling myself that she wouldn't want to go out with anyone who did. I quit by using the patch and the lozenges for those tough "need now" spots. I feel better than I have in a very long time. I can breath again without my lungs feeling like they have a "band" around them. I know in time that things will only get better and that I will never go back to lighting up. Do I want one? You bet!! But it is alot easier now to tell myself "NO!!!!". In fact.....it is very easy. I never got the irritable feeling at all like I thought I would. And yes, we have been going out now for 6 weeks and so far, everyhing is perfect!!!!

December 18, 2012 - 2:20pm
EmpowHER Guest
Anonymous

though they do heal somewhat, never return to a perfect state as if you had never smoked. This doctor explained that the lungs are not like the liver which can recover from a very bad state. Basically when you stop smoking, you stop further damage.

December 13, 2012 - 4:12am
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