Quit and feel the benefits

Stop smoking and feel the health benefits within 72 hours.

Quit smoking for good health

Stop smoking and feel the health benefits within 72 hours.

Did you know that as a smoker, your body is constantly working to repair the damage done by regularly inhaling over 7000 toxic chemicals. As soon as you stop smoking, there are health benefits - just 72 hours later, your sense of taste and smell improves.

Frances smoked a packet of 50 every day before quitting, following a discussion with her 15-year-old son. A family member had recently died and he was concerned that she too would die early. Frances says that quitting with the help of Quitline was the best decision she’s ever made.

“My hair doesn’t stink; my clothes don’t stink and I feel healthier. I can actually taste food, it’s been a huge difference and I’m saving money. We’ve also just built our house so I’ve decided I want a pool and I need $27,000, and I’m already up to $15,000 in seven months, because my husband quit a month after me,” she said.

Quit HQ reveals the cost and health benefits you will experience from quitting Packed with useful resources, a helpline Quitline and a cost

calculator, the Quit HQ website also highlights the health benefits of quitting. Three weeks after giving up cigarettes you’ll notice improvements in your lung function and circulation, and one month in you’ll cough less and your shortness of breath will decrease. Your risk of coronary heart disease will be halved after a year off and five to 15 years from quitting your stroke risk is reduced to that of a non-smoker.

After 28 years of smoking, and many attempts at quitting, Joshua said that as a smoker he wasn’t able to run around and play with his children. His family was his motivation to quit and now he happily keeps up with his kids because he’s not short of breath.

“When I hug my kids and kiss my kids there’s no cringe anymore because I don’t smell like a dirty ashtray. When I go bushwalking in the middle of the nice untouched rainforest you can take a deep breath and it’s not polluted with cigarette smoke. My fingers are clean and they’re not cigarette stained,” he said.

Joshua told smokers not to worry about failing to quit, because they might not get it the fourth or 12th time, but if they kept trying, they would. When he was anxious or stressed, he called Quitline for support.

“They would get me through that moment and were actually sharing my journey and celebrating the fact I had gone three weeks without a smoke. Quitline was great because they told me it didn’t matter if I had one cigarette, that it was about moving forward,” he said.

Successful quitters such as Joshua and Frances also lower their risk of lung cancer, and after 10 years of being smoke-free, your risk is about half that of a continuing smoker. Your risk of getting bladder, kidney and pancreas cancer also decreases a decade after stopping.

Physically, smoking wrinkles your skin, stains your fingers and teeth and you probably reek of cigarette smoke but can’t smell it. If you quit, your immune system will be used to keep you healthy rather than repairing the damage smoking causes, you’ll become stronger and fitter and men will experience less chance of erectile dysfunction.

Fred started smoking when he was eight and at 12 was up to 20 a day, his decision to go cold turkey, with family support and resources from Quit HQ, has improved his relationship with his daughter.

“My daughter’s reaction to me not smoking was so much different, she’d come and give me a cuddle, where she was very reserved before that, I don’t think she liked the smell of cigarettes. I was then able to go and play games with my daughter and I started to taste food and smell things that I hadn’t tasted in years,” he said.

Watch Fred, Frances and Joshua’s stories and discover the health and relationship benefits of life as a non-smoker, visit Quit HQ today.

Originally published as Quit and feel the benefits