10. Withdrawal Symptoms
When you first give up smoking, you may feel rather awful for a while. You may experience a set of symptoms designated as “Withdrawal Symptoms”.
These symptoms are actually your body’s reaction to lack of nicotine and various other constituents of tobacco, to which it had become addicted after years of usage. When the body is accustomed to having elevated concentrations of a particular substance in the blood and it is abruptly withdrawn, the body expresses its protest by a set of symptoms as it demands that you replace that substance.
Although these symptoms are temporary, they can be pretty uncomfortable while they last. Since most of the nicotine withdrawal symptoms mimic the symptoms of cold or flu, these are given a nickname of “quitter’s flu.”
Here is a list of commonly experienced nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Not all the symptoms are necessarily present; most people experience only some of them. It is a rare case when a quitter gets all these symptoms. However, each individual goes through this course a bit differently. While some might experience more irritability and insomnia, others might have headaches as a major symptom. See your healthcare professional if you are concerned about any of the symptoms you experience soon after quitting smoking or if some symptoms persist.
Headache: These are often occur occasionally through about the first four or five days only.
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