Nicotine is one of thousands of chemicals in cigarettes. It's addictive and causes most of the withdrawal symptoms you feel when you first stop. This is the physical part of the smoking addiction.

Nicotine: (C10H14N2):

• is a powerful naturally occurring drug - causes addiction, highly toxic
• raises the heart rate, and blood pressure and slows circulation (lowers body temp)
• causes rapid shallow breathing
• is both a relaxant and a stimulant - it changes brain activity - improving reaction times, ability to pay attention and brings on euphoria... hence addictive
• affects appetite – possibly due to inhibiting insulin release, leading to hyperglycemia
• increases basal metabolic rate - which is the energy a person uses at complete rest. (The body is always using energy for essential functions such as building new cells, keeping the heart beating, breathing, sending messages through the nerves and for warmth).

Approximately 1mg of nicotine is absorbed by the body, per cigarette smoked, going almost directly to the brain. 8-20mg is contained in each cigarette.

The first thing you should do is consider using nicotine patches, gum and lozenges. These won't harm your health and will take the edge off cravings so you can focus on the other two parts of the smoking addiction.

You can get an 8 week supply of one of patches, gum or lozenges  for around $3.  You can also get nicotine patches, gum and lozenges when you call the Quitline 0800778778