Carbon monoxide connects to red blood cells, robbing oxygen from your body it needs to live. It combines with these cells nearly 200 times more easily than oxygen, resulting in a condition known as carboxyhemoglobin saturation.
Carbon monoxide, instead of oxygen, then gets brought to the essential organs through the bloodstream. Simply put, carbon monoxide starves your body of oxygen. Organs require oxygen; when they lack it, they begin to suffocate.
It takes your body a long time to eliminate carbon monoxide; however, it can be absorbed much more quickly.