Giving up nicotine can be a brutal experience that can include everything from physical symptoms, such as headache and nausea, to mood issues, including irritability, anxiety and depression.
Yet, it is still possible to get through nicotine withdrawal symptoms with a good plan and specific tools, according to a smoking cessation expert, who offered some suggestions for coping with nicotine withdrawal symptoms.
“Nicotine is highly, highly addictive,” says Emma Brett, a staff scientist at University of Chicago Medicine and a group lead in the Courage to Quit program. “Nicotine affects the brain, blood vessels, metabolism. There are effects all throughout the body.”
Quitting requires an adjustment period, she stresses.
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Most commonly, withdrawal symptoms happen in the first week after quitting, peaking at about day three or four, Brett shares. Some may experience nicotine withdrawal symptoms for weeks. Some may have few symptoms at all.
RELATED: What Happens to Your Body When You Finally Quit Smoking: A Complete Guide
Using nicotine replacement aids
Nicotine replacement products can be helpful to get you through those initial days, weeks or months.
“We know from the research that when people quit and use something like a patch or lozenge or gum, that can almost double the success rate of a quit attempt,” because you’re still getting some nicotine, just it’s delivered in a safe way versus the combustion of a cigarette, Brett notes.
She suggests staying on the products until having a high confidence you won’t relapse.
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These products deliver measured doses of nicotine, according to the National Cancer Institute (NCI), which lists five types that are approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration.
These include a nicotine patch, gum and lozenges available over the counter, plus a
