What happens when you finally decide to quit smoking? For many of us, this is a habit that has spanned decades. But the changes which lead to side effects upon cessation only take months, if that. Let’s get right to the point. The most common side effects include:

  • Headaches
  • Sweating
  • Intestinal pain
  • Respiratory pain
  • Congestion (in the lungs)
  • Mood swings and irritability
  • Insomnia
  • Depression

Not the minority of these can be attributed to the dramatic changes in blood sugar levels which you will experience for the first three days after quitting. It’s not that these levels will be abnormal now, but that they were excessive in the past during your smoking years. This is because the chemicals in cigarettes caused your body to release its sugar and fat stores excessively, suppressing your appetite and spiking your blood glucose. After quitting, you have more oxygen but less blood sugar. This results in time dilation, inability to concentrate, mood swings, headaches, Insomnia, and more.

In addition to these symptoms you may experience others. Things like respiratory pain, intestinal pain, and chest congestion present themselves when the chemicals in cigarettes are no longer numbing them. Depression often rears its ugly head because previously the cigarettes where acting both as a stimulant and as an agent to unbalance your neurotransmitters.

All of these things are unpleasant. But fortunately the majority of the side effects will totally disappear within a week. After that, any pain should promptly be addressed by a doctor and depression should be dealt with as a separate issue. Medications are available to address the majority of these symptoms, but their own side effects should be weighed against the fact that you will only be dealing with cigarette withdrawal for about a week. There are many options for distracting yourself from discouraging symptoms such as social activity, exercise, electronic entertainment (movies, video games), and much more. So don’t be discouraged from quitting by the unpleasant effects of nicotine withdrawal. gippro