Archive for the ‘Quit Smoking’ Category
Quit Smoking Help Is As Close As Your Pharmacy
If you ask a large cross section of ex-smokers how to quit smoking you will probably find a number of them that just quit cold turkey. That is, they smoked their last cigarette and said, no more, without any external help or intervention. It was all accomplished by personal conviction and maybe a prayer or two in some cases.
Those of us who are still seeking quit smoking help applaud them vigorously as those kinds of success stories are unfortunately in the minority. Smoking is an addiction to nicotine, and stopping any addicting substance can be lead to withdrawal symptoms. Nothing as bad as alcohol withdrawal which many times needs medical care as its happening. Nicotine withdrawal, while not as severe, is just as real and expected to some degree.
The idea behind the commercial stop smoking products is to give you a slowly diminishing amount of nicotine through their various delivery methods so that you’re weaned from the nicotine addiction. If you’re a heavy smoker, the skin patch method delivers the most amount of nicotine at first and tappers down with three levels of replacement till you don’t need the patch anymore.
After 12 weeks of gradual reduction, it’s hoped your need for nicotine will have left your body by then. If you still need maintenance beyond that point, gum, lozenges, and sprays with lesser amounts of nicotine than the patch can be used to extend the treatment.