What Comes Back First?

They say that the benefits of quitting start 12 hours after you quit. I think that's a little premature (otherwise, given the way I smoked, mostly evenings, I'd be getting benefits every day). But there are definitely things that start happening in the first couple of days.

You begin to breathe better. I never really had a smoker's cough, but the ol' lungs just seem to be able to take in more air.

When smoking, I had a nagging back pain in the middle back and that's disappeared, too.

The tongue's still feeling a little rough, but not even close to how awful it felt in the mornings when I'd wake up from a night of smoking. It used to feel like I'd dragged a cactus over it - raw and tingly.

Of course, I no longer have to worry about whether I have enough smokes for the evening, or whether I've put the pack and a lighter in my backpack. There's a certain freedom in that.

More to come, I'm sure...