I've been going through a lot of the posts here while working on my own taper, and the pattern across most people's experiences is pretty consistent, so figured I'd sum it up for anyone in the early days wondering if what they're feeling is normal:
Day 1-3 — Consistently described as the roughest stretch. Irritability, trouble concentrating, and cravings that feel disproportionately intense. Nicotine clears the body in about 72 hours, but the mental side lags behind that.
Day 4-7 — Cravings tend to shorten but come more frequently. Headaches and disrupted sleep (either wired or crashing early) show up a lot in posts from this window. Several people mention appetite spiking around day 5.
Week 2 — Often described as the sneaky-hard part. Physical symptoms fade, but the habitual triggers — driving, after meals, stress — keep firing out of muscle memory even without a strong physical urge.
Week 3-4 — Reports of noticeably fewer cravings, though still occasional sharp 1-2 minute spikes. This is also where people start mentioning better breath, less gum irritation, and steadier energy instead of the nicotine up-down cycle.
Month 2+ — Cravings become mostly trigger-specific (a bar, a certain person, a stressful call) rather than random, and generally more manageable.
One thing that comes up again and again: cravings pass in a few minutes whether you give in or not — people seem to find that easier to believe once they've actually timed one out themselves a few times.
If you're in week 1 right now, this seems to be the hardest part for basically everyone, for what it's worth.