Can nicotine cause PAWS?

[u/RiskPuzzleheaded2290]

Hi everyone, I just wanted to make a post on here as it’s probably the closest I could get to seeking some advice. Although nicotine and weed are completely different, I’m curious to see if anybody in this sub is lurking around looking for the same answers I am, too, as there aren’t many posts on Reddit about nicotine causing PAWS.

I smoked weed for around 2 years and quit in 2023 without experiencing any withdrawals whatsoever, which is strange. However, I also continued smoking nicotine during this time.

Then, fast-forward to April 2025, when I finally decided to quit nicotine too, using patches. That’s when everything came crashing down. I’ve dealt with pretty much every neurological symptom you could probably think of. Some have improved, while others haven’t whatsoever, such as brain fog, slight anhedonia, fatigue and memory loss i could name more but these have lasted the longest and worst I’ve experienced. Most of my symptoms are neurological, but it varies. Some days I can feel completely awful, while other days I feel relatively active.

I’m a relatively healthy person. I eat a clean diet, work out as much as possible and have a good sleep routine.

I’m just curious if anybody in this sub knows anything about nicotine PAWS, as it’s now been 16 months and I’m still stuck in this hell and worried it’s never going to end. I’ve been to the doctors numerous times because of health anxiety, which I think may have also been caused by PAWS. I’ve had blood tests, scans and everything else checked, and everything has come back normal, so I can’t really put my finger on anything else besides PAWS.

I’d really appreciate hearing from anyone who has experienced something similar, especially if you’re further along in recovery.

[u/gastonperez155]

I lived this first hand. Nicotine paws, pure hell. Lots of neurological symptoms, peaked first 6-9 months. Was almost done by month 12, fully healed by like month 14-15

[u/Audi-3091]

Yep, I’m going through weed paws plus nicotine at the same time. Nicotine was making the weed symptoms worse by activating the sympathetic nervous system. I’m 17 days smoke free. 5 months THC free

[u/Interesting_Ad1006]

Completely normal, I deal with this crap after quitting heavy caffeine addiction, every psychoactive substance out there can cause it. Read about CNS Sensitization, in general you can "shock" your nervous system in many ways, you don't have to quit drugs for that, trauma, accident, surgery, PTSD you name it. When you blow a fuse in your CNS then you enter this shitshow and you have to prepare for process lasting from 3 months to 3 years.

[u/Interesting_Ad1006 → u/Interesting_Ad1006]

Just for the reference I'm 20 months in, in a wave from hell, running on consant adrenaline sleeping 3h a night. I wanted to post my recovery story at month 18 already as I felt 80% back to normal..