Carbon monoxide connects with red blood cells, stealing oxygen from your body it has to have to survive. It mixes with these cells more than 200 times more easily than oxygen, creating a condition known as carboxyhemoglobin saturation.
Carbon monoxide, instead of oxygen, then gets brought to the critical organs by the bloodstream. In short, carbon monoxide starves your body of oxygen. Organs require oxygen; when they lack it, they begin to suffocate.
Your body takes a long time to get rid of carbon monoxide; however, it can be absorbed much more quickly.