Carbon monoxide connects with red blood cells, robbing your body of the oxygen it has to have to survive. It blends with these cells over 200 times more smoothly than oxygen, creating a condition known as carboxyhemoglobin saturation.
Carbon monoxide, instead of oxygen, then gets brought to the important organs by the bloodstream. To put it simply, 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 get rid of carbon monoxide; however, it can be drawn in much more quickly.