What are nicotine withdrawal symptoms? - A Guide to Stop Smoking

These are symptoms caused by your body wanting its daily ‘fix’ of nicotine. Nicotine is a highly addictive drug that acts like a stimulant on both your mind and body. And it also leads to dependency.

But when you don’t have a cigarette your body sends signals to your brain which are interpreted as cravings. And lighting up a cigarette eases those cravings.

If you stop smoking then nicotine levels in your body will fall which causes a range of symptoms that include:

• Headaches
• Coughing and the bringing up of mucus
• Anxiety and depression
• Insomnia and sleep disturbances
• Lack of concentration
• Nausea
• Constipation
• Increased appetite which can lead to weight gain
• Tingling (‘pins and needles’) in your extremities
• Cravings
• Restlessness and dizziness
• Tiredness
• Anger and irritability

Everyone is different in regard to these symptoms. Some people have few symptoms where others have a difficult time with them.

These symptoms are likely to be worse in those people with the heaviest addiction.