With the COVID-19 pandemic raging on and a big part of it involving throat and chest pain, you may be starting to rethink your smoking habits. You might be thinking that supporting your body’s full health is what you want to do. Quitting smoking can reduce anxiety, lung damage, and throat pain significantly. Quitting cold turkey may actually work against you. Sometimes, when you quit smoking this way or very quickly, you can develop the smoker’s flu. This describes the symptoms of nicotine withdrawal. This is not an infectious disease, even though we are in the middle of a pandemic. According to VeryWell Mind, this is “the natural process your body goes through while transitioning to life after quitting”. Why does this happen to your body when you quit smoking? We researched the symptoms of smoker’s flu so you know the difference in this important time and how to fix them. Keep reading for more!
What Are The Symptoms of Smoker’s Flu and Why Do We Get It?
Quitting smoking may not be the best thing to do in a pandemic, only because it is difficult to distinguish what is a cold, the flu, the quitter’s flu, or COVID-19. But, there is one symptom that sets the smoker’s flu apart from the rest, and that is the fever. Fever is not a symptom of smoker’s flu. We tend to get these withdrawal symptoms when nicotine and toxins leave your body. According to CBQ Method, this process is essential for your body to heal and detox.
- Cravings to smoke once again
- Irritability, crankiness, and anger
- Insomnia or the inability to sleep
- Fatigue
- Poor concentration
- Headaches or migraines
- Coughing or a sore throat
- Constipation, gas, and stomach pain
- Dry mouth
- A sore tongue or sore gums
- Postnasal drip
- Chest tightness or tightening
How To Stop Symptoms
Quitting smoking is very difficult, but it great for your health. Here are some things you can do to help stop symptoms or get through the hurdle.
- Distract yourself
- Exercise
- Eat healthily
- Get some sleep
