After 40 years of smoking my wife decided to quit smoking cold turkey last month. I am so happy for her and I admired her for her decision. During the last 40 years she tried to quit at least 3 times. The first time was through an aversion therapy clinic sponsored by my former employer. She quit for three weeks and had a relapse. The other two times were her cold turkey attempts. Her last attempt and hopefully a successful one was last month. I bought a nicotine patch package, but she did not used it. As of today 4 weeks after she quit, she appears to be well adjusted and had not touched a cigarette. Her withdrawal symptoms were mild, thanks heavens.
I attribute her success so far to the following health events in her life. Six months ago she was diagnosed with PD. After a brain scan the neurologist observed that she had also a mild heart attack (TIA) that we were not aware of. A week later after all tests( 5 diagnostic tests) were conducted, she was diagnosed to have right carotid artery stenosis with infarction. The doctor advised her to quit smoking, but she was not ready. Five days ago she had carotid endarterectomy surgery and now recuperating very well from the surgery. One of the post operative care was to quit smoking. She decided to quit cold turkey and hopefully there will be no relapse this time. Here are the benefits of stopping smoking: Within hours of stopping cigarettes, the body starts to recover from the effects of nicotine and additives. Blood pressure, heart rate, and body temperature, all of which are elevated because of the nicotine in cigarettes, return to healthier levels. The lung capacity increases and the bronchial tubes relax, making breathing easier. Poisonous carbon monoxide in the blood decreases, allowing the blood to carry more oxygen. Quitting smoking is one of the best things one can do, for short and long-term health. In addition, you save money by not buying cigarettes and in our case, that is about $150 savings in our monthly budget and expenses.
The following video is informative and most of what the video says applied to my wife's cold turkey experiences.
If you were a smoker who quit cold turkey, please share your experiences, so we may be able to help them in their nicotine addiction.
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