Giving up tobacco or cigarettes

What happens when you try to give up tobacco or cigarettes?

When you try to quit smoking, you will get withdrawal symptoms.

These include:

  • irritability
  • anger
  • hostility
  • anxiety
  • nervousness
  • panic
  • poor concentration
  • disorientation
  • lightheadedness
  • sleep disturbances
  • constipation
  • mouth ulcers
  • dry mouth
  • sore throat
  • gums or tongue
  • pain in limbs
  • sweating
  • depression
  • fatigue
  • fearfulness
  • sense of loss
  • craving tobacco
  • hunger
  • and coughing (body getting rid of the mucus clogging the lungs).

Symptoms may last from a few weeks to several months. After withdrawal subsides… urges for nicotine (for the effects of the drug) occur in response to all kinds of cues to smoke or chew.