Video discusses the danger or writing off symptoms just because someone else says they had a similar reaction that just got better with time.

Related commentary from the Freedom support group:

Every now and then a person will experience a specific symptom and put up a post asking whether or not the symptom is one that is normally experienced by people who have quit smoking and if others here had experienced the same symptom when they had quit. As far as if a specific symptom is one that "can" occur after cessation, we have put together a pretty inclusive string (see The effects of nicotine cessation).

As far as whether or not another member or numerous members experienced the same symptom, it does not really make a difference if they had or had not. It is like someone writing and saying that he or she is having a tingling sensation in his or her arm and wondering if anyone else experienced the same symptom when they quit. Then a person who had slept on his or her arm one night when quitting smoking and woke up with that particular arm tingling writes back and says that sure enough, he or she had a tingling arm the week he or she had quit. Now the recent quitter feels a sense of relief because he or she has seen that one other person had the same symptom. So the person does nothing.

The problem was that the person who wrote the question was not having tingling from having slept on his or her arm, but rather, was experiencing a symptom of a heart attack that he was now ignoring. This action could result in a fatal mistake of not seeking what was immediately needed medical attention.

Read the posts Giving and getting medical advice online, Possible withdrawal symptoms, and Life goes on without smoking. If you have a concern of a symptom that you are experiencing consult your personal doctor. We say it often here, that the only medical advice that we can give is that to reduce your risk of a host of illnesses and conditions is to stick to your commitment to never take another puff!

This concept doesn't only apply to physical symptoms. There are times where people have emotional issues stemming from family problems, work problems, actual organically based mental illnesses, etc, who will write on the board that they are having overwhelming emotional feelings. Then other people will weigh in saying that they had problems at one time or another when quitting but it got better.

While it may be true that the person offering the advice was just having a reaction to smoking cessation, it may not be true for the person writing now as to his or her mental anguish. Giving the person the idea that it is automatically going to get better when the problem may not be simply from not smoking may be doing the person a real disservice. It may prevent the individual from seeking the real professional help he or she may in fact need for problems that were not in fact quit related.

Read these related articles:

• "How do I deal with…."
• Giving and getting medical advice online: don't do it!

Related video pages:

• "Is this a symptom of quitting smoking?" (addressing symptoms happening in first few days of a quit)
• "Is this a symptom of quitting smoking?" (part 2) (Addressing symptoms occurring after normal withdrawal period)
• Common symptoms
• Will this get better?
• Going back to normal after quitting
• Does smoking cause my headaches?
• Disorientation that may occur when first quitting smoking
• Why I recommend cranberry juice when first quitting smoking