Expect appetite and taste to change in the first few days, mood and sleep to be poor for a fortnight, and a cough that can get worse before it gets better. The NHS timeline puts taste and smell improving around forty eight hours, which is also when the lungs start clearing mucus. Low mood that deepens rather than lifts is the one to take to a GP.
None of that is a reason not to quit. It is a reason to know what is coming so you do not misread it as evidence that quitting is going badly.
Taste and smell, which nobody expects to be a problem
At about forty eight hours the NHS has taste and smell starting to improve. That sounds entirely good and mostly is.
What people are not ready for is how much it changes eating. Food that was background suddenly has a foreground, which is pleasant at dinner and less pleasant at eleven at night when you have discovered that biscuits are extremely nice. Smell comes back too, including other people's smoke, which is its own small shock.
Plan for it in the least dramatic way available: have proper food in the house for the first fortnight, and eat at normal times. Being hungry while in withdrawal is a combination that makes everything else on this page worse.
Weight, and the number we are not going to give you
A lot of people quit later than they wanted to because of this question, so it deserves a straight answer.
We could not find a figure for average weight change after stopping smoking that we would stand behind, so we are not going to print one. Anyone quoting you a precise number should be able to say where it came from.
What we will say is practical rather than numerical. Appetite commonly goes up. Hands and mouth are looking for something to do, and food is the nearest available substitute for the object you have lost. Both of those are largest in the first weeks, which is the same window where cravings are worst.
Two things follow, and the second is the one that gets ignored. Fast-acting nicotine replacement gives your mouth and hands something that is not food, which is part of why having it physically on you matters. And starting a diet in the same fortnight as a quit means running two hard projects at once, with hunger, which is one of the reliable ways to make cravings worse. If you want to change how you eat, it will still be there in a month. The quit will not wait as patiently.
Mood, irritability and the short fuse
Assume the first fortnight is rough and plan the diary accordingly. Smokefree.gov's summary is the most useful sentence available: "the worst withdrawal symptoms usually last less than two weeks, but that time can be really tough."
What that looks like in practice: a very short fuse, restlessness, broken sleep and vivid dreams, trouble concentrating, and a rolling conviction at least once a day that this was a stupid idea. That last one is worth naming, because it is the symptom that argues most persuasively for its own cure.
Things that genuinely help. Tell the people around you what fortnight you are in, so the short fuse is expected rather than mysterious. Do not schedule anything on days two and three that requires patience. And keep the [craving routine](/guides/nicotine/getting-through-a-nicotine-craving) small and repeatable rather than heroic, because heroic things are hard to do when you have not slept.
The cough that gets worse first
The NHS timeline has the lungs beginning to clear mucus at around forty eight hours, and lung function and coughing improving over the three to nine month range. That ordering is why some people cough more in the first week or two and conclude that smoking was somehow protecting them.
It is a known part of the picture rather than a sign of damage. If it worries you, persists, or comes with anything else that concerns you, ask a GP or a pharmacist. That is not an overreaction, it is a two minute conversation.
What to take to a doctor
This is where we stop generalising, because from a web page we cannot tell what your body is doing.
Three things worth taking to a professional rather than sitting on.
**Low mood that deepens instead of lifting.** The first fortnight being miserable is expected. Week four being worse than week one is not something to push through alone. Speak to your GP.
**Anything that frightens you.** If a symptom feels wrong rather than just hard, ask. A pharmacist can answer most questions over the counter, free, without an appointment.
**Your regular medication.** If you take prescribed medicine, ask your pharmacist or prescriber whether stopping smoking changes anything about it. We are deliberately not listing which medicines, because we could not source a list we would stand behind. The person with your prescription in front of them can answer it in one visit.
If you are in danger tonight, Samaritans is 116 123, any hour.
The things that get better, in order
Worth having in front of you on the bad days, from the NHS's own timeline.
- **20 minutes**: pulse rate starts to return to normal.
- **8 hours**: oxygen levels recover and carbon monoxide in the blood halves.
- **48 hours**: carbon monoxide reaches a non-smoker's level, the lungs start clearing mucus, taste and smell improve.
- **72 hours**: breathing gets easier and energy increases.
- **2 to 12 weeks**: circulation improves.
- **3 to 9 months**: lung function increases and coughing and wheezing improve.
- **1 year**: risk of heart attack halved compared with a smoker's.
- **10 years**: risk of death from lung cancer halved.
And the marker for the first month: "Once you reach 28 days smoke-free, you're much more likely to quit for good!" What happens after that is in [staying stopped past month three](/guides/nicotine/staying-stopped-past-month-three).
Common questions
Will I put on weight if I stop smoking?
Appetite commonly increases, and taste coming back makes food more interesting. We are not going to give you an average figure, because we could not source one we would stand behind. Eating at normal times, keeping fast-acting NRT on you, and not starting a diet in the same fortnight are the practical parts.
Should I diet and quit at the same time?
Most people find that harder, not easier. Hunger makes cravings worse, and you are running two demanding projects in the fortnight when your fuse is shortest. The quit is the time-sensitive one.
Is it normal to feel low after quitting?
A dip in the first fortnight is common, and Smokefree.gov puts the worst of withdrawal at under two weeks. Low mood that keeps deepening after that, or thoughts of harming yourself, is a GP conversation rather than something to wait out.
Why am I coughing more than when I smoked?
The NHS timeline has the lungs starting to clear mucus about two days in, which for some people means more coughing before less. If it persists or worries you, ask a GP or pharmacist.
How long until I feel normal again?
Different for everyone, and the honest answer is weeks rather than days for mood and sleep. What is documented is the physical timeline above, and the fact that the worst of withdrawal is usually behind you inside a fortnight. The plan for those days is in [the first 72 hours without nicotine](/guides/nicotine/the-first-72-hours-without-nicotine).
Sources
- [NHS Better Health, Quit smoking](https://www.nhs.uk/better-health/quit-smoking/). The timeline from 20 minutes to 10 years, and the 28 day milestone.
- [Smokefree.gov, Withdrawal](https://smokefree.gov/challenges-when-quitting/withdrawal). How long the worst withdrawal symptoms usually last.
- [NHS Stop Smoking Services help you quit](https://www.nhs.uk/live-well/quit-smoking/nhs-stop-smoking-services-help-you-quit/). Free treatment and support, and how to be referred by a GP, pharmacist or health visitor.
