I'm desperate for positive reinforcement. I've stopped smoking for one week -- is my body healing itself yet?

Some of the negative effects of smoking tobacco include nicotine dependence; increased carbon monoxide levels; increases in heart rate and blood pressure; increased level of tar in the lungs; lessened breathing capacity; fatigue; chronic upper respiratory problems; tissue damage from heat exposure in the mouth, throat and lungs; impotence, emphysema; and mouth, throat, and lung cancers. Your risk of developing a smoking related illness is high if you have smoked the equivalent of a pack a day for ten years.

Miraculously, within 20 minutes after your last cigarette, your body will begin healing itself from the effects of smoking! Some of the healing processes that your body may use can be mistaken for illness, such as coughing with lots of phlegm, a sore throat, diarrhea, fatigue, sweating, or irritability. Keep in mind that:

• Within 20 minutes, your heart rate, blood pressure, and body temperature drops to normal.
• Within 8 hours the carbon monoxide level drops to normal.
• Within 24 hours, the chances of a heart attack are already decreasing!
• Within 48 hours, your smell and taste are enhanced.
• Within 2 weeks, your circulation improves and your lung function increases.
• During the first year, the cilia regrow in the lungs and reduce problems with upper respiratory infections.
• At 5 years, the lung cancer death rate drops.
• At 10 years, the lung cancer death rate for the average smoker drops to almost the same rate as for non-smokers.