"You get really aggressive, this inner anger, a rage, just comes up from nowhere and it doesn't go away until you get a hit.
"You are going to see some crazy people on the streets unless they [the Government] have a plan to help people."
All legal highs would be banned within two weeks until they could be proven low risk. The announcement on Sunday came a day before Labour planned to announce its own policy to ban psychoactive substances.
The move would see all synthetic drugs stripped from shelves until they could be assessed by an as-yet undeveloped Ministry of Health-backed testing regime.
Nicky said she had tried to cut down her daily habit, go cold turkey and had even sought medical help but getting off the drug was "impossible".
She said she had been on the Bay of Plenty Addiction Service (formerly CADS) waiting list for three months and was planning to stockpile legal highs until she could get a medical detox. "I can't do this myself, no one can.
"If I try to give up I sweat profusely, sweat just pours out of me, I shake, feel nauseous, have cramps and vomit. My stomach feels terrible, it feels like I have a cyst in there squeezing, and you get really dehydrated, really sick. You can't function and I hope the Government realises that.
"I hope they realise there are going to be a lot of people out there who need support. You can't just take something away from people and expect everything to be okay."
Another addict said he tried to get help from one local organisation but staff simply said "exercise, eat well and take multi-vitamins".
"They don't understand this stuff is worse than coming off P," he said. "The pain is indescribable so you just go back to smoking it, I don't know what I am going to do if I can't get proper help."