For 15 years, I lived with a strange combination of symptoms that never quite made sense.
I had a persistent cough, even when I wasn’t sick.
My nose ran year-round. My eyes watered constantly.
I felt anxious, like my body was always in fight-or-flight mode.
And sometimes my heartbeat would skip, race, or feel completely out of rhythm.
Doctors had a dozen names for it — seasonal allergies, chronic sinusitis, mild asthma, anxiety disorder, stress. I tried everything. Allergy meds. Neti pots. Lifestyle changes. Breathing exercises. Even antidepressants.
Nothing helped.
What I didn’t know then, but do now, is that all of it was being triggered by nicotine.
Could You Be Allergic to Nicotine? Yes. And I Was.
It sounds like a weird thing to be allergic to — nicotine. After all, millions of people smoke or vape every day without issue, right?
But there’s a lesser-known reaction that some people (like me) experience: a nicotine sensitivity or allergy. It’s not the kind that closes your throat instantly. It’s a slower, sneakier kind of misery. One that builds over time and masks itself as a dozen other things.
Here’s what I was experiencing:
Chronic coughing
Constant sinus drainage
Watery, irritated eyes
Anxiety, unease, and trouble focusing
Irregular heartbeat and palpitations
I didn’t connect these symptoms to nicotine because they didn’t happen only while I was using it. They were just… always there. I had built a life around the discomfort, assuming it was just “how my body was wired.”
But then I quit nicotine.
What Happened After I Quit
I didn’t quit for health reasons, at least not at first. It was more about regaining control. But within the first week, I started noticing changes I didn’t expect.
The cough? Gone.
My sinuses? Clear.
My eyes? No longer red and irritated.
The anxiety that used to sit heavy on my chest? It lifted.
And for the first time in a long time, my heartbeat felt steady.
It wasn’t just a physical detox. It was like being handed back a version of myself I had forgotten existed.
The Truth That Hit Me Hard
For 15 years, I thought something was wrong with me.
In reality, something was wrong for me. And it was nicotine.
It had infiltrated every part of my body—subtly, slowly, and consistently. And the crazy part? If I hadn’t quit, I never would have known. I’d still be popping allergy pills, blaming stress, and waiting for answers that would never come.
If This Sounds Familiar, Pay Attention
You might not be “just an anxious person.”
You might not have “really bad allergies.”
You might not be “overreacting to stress.”
If you use nicotine—whether you smoke, vape, chew, or use pouches—and you’ve been dealing with unexplained symptoms for years, this might be your wake-up call.
I’m not here to lecture you. I’m here to tell you the truth no one told me:
Nicotine might be the thing your body is trying to reject.
And if you quit? You might just feel like yourself again.
You’re not crazy. You’re not weak. You might just be allergic to the thing you’ve been told was helping you cope.
