When initially giving up smoking, a lot of people return to their old ways because they gain weight. This symptom is quite common, especially since your appetite is re-established and nicotine cravings can be easily confused for hunger pangs. Food soon replaces cigarettes because the mouth has gotten used to continually having something in it and it's hard to forget the habit. Gas and constipation may also follow as the digestive system tries to stabilize itself.

Urges and cravings for cigarettes will be incessant at first, but it is important to avoid giving in and finding a distraction for it. Those urges and cravings will die down, though it can often take longer for your body to forget the actual habit of putting a cigarette in your mouth than it does the nicotine addiction.

The first two weeks after giving up smoking will be excessively taxing and demanding but it is the most crucial period in smoking cessation. Quitters are known to be extremely irritable, frustrated and experience a lot of mood swings at this stage. This is caused by tension brought from the inability to maintain the body's nicotine levels. Smokers may also undergo a series of anxiety and depression attacks, restlessness, insomnia, lack of concentration and boredom since the body is still adjusting to the lack of constant stimulation that nicotine brings.

Quitters may also suffer from headaches, fatigue, nausea, coughs, dry throats and colds for a while. It isn't so much that health is declining but that the body is in the process of adjusting to sudden changes while it restores the normal functions of the various organs and systems. Given that oxygen levels increase, tension builds up, and that there's a boost in the once-halted mucous production due to damaged cilia, it doesn't come as a surprise that adjustment is overwhelming.It takes a lot of effort, inspiration and motivation to get over these withdrawal symptoms. Giving up smoking will only be successful if enough will power, restraint and self-control are put into practice.

Stopping smoking is a highly challenging and difficult task for a lot of people. It really isn't a surprise as to how many people have given up on quitting smoking before they have even started. Besides being an extremely hard habit to break, smoking addiction also has a scientific basis. Nicotine found in tobacco creates this chemical dependency where levels have to be maintained at all times. That, in effect, nurtures the constant urge to light up a cigarette. Not being able to do so generates a fair share of nicotine withdrawal symptoms. However, this should not be reason enough to dissuade you from the quitting process.

Really wanting to stop and perseverance is the only way to do it and you don't have to go cold turkey unless you want to. There are a lot of stop smoking aids available nowadays that work providing that you have the right mindset. Sometimes we try to stop because we know that it's the right thing to do, or that those around us tell us that we should. When we finally quit it must be because we want to stop, for ourselves and for those that we love. Giving up smoking becomes easier then.