Such is the nature of addiction. Simply put, nicotine is addictive and it creates a chemical dependency. Once you are addicted, your body develops a need for a certain level of nicotine at all times. Unless you maintain that level, you will begin to go through withdrawal. One woman from his group 10 years ago got so agitated she beat on her husband until her kids called the police.
Some people sit in meetings and cry at the thought of quitting.
Then there are people like Paul Robischon, who had smoked for 25 years and quit without any withdrawal symptoms after a prayer. Cravings that crush you Alicia Saltmarsh of Olym-pia is only a few days into quitting, but for the month before her last cigarette, she only had one a day. It was then that she went through the worst cravings, she said. I'd just have to try and sit through the cravings and make myself not get up and pace around. Just as other addicts need heroin or cocaine to feel normal, a smoker needs nicotine in his or her system to feel normal.