Products to Help Quit Smoking
What You Need to Know about Popular Smoking Cessation Products
If your New Year's resolution is to quit smoking, here is what you can expect with certain over the counter products.
They are a variety of smoking cessation products on the market that will try to help you quit smoking. None of these are fool proof and while some smokers find success with one type, others will not.
Patches
These are patches that go on your skin and they release nicotine into your body to help curb the desire to smoke. The amount of nicotine is gradually decreased. The patch should stay on for 24 hours, but some don’t stick that well, especially when you sweat, and you may have to use medical tape to hold it on. They also tend to leave marks, although nothing permanent. You have to wash your hands after you touch them, and the patches are poisonous to children and pets. They won’t permanently deter cravings, just while you are wearing them. It is recommended that if you find one patch ineffective it is sometimes useful to try another brand before switching to a different type of remedy.
Lozenges
The lozenges promise to eliminate cravings to smoke as opposed to diminishing them. The taste is terrible, but goes away after a while. The key is to let the lozenge dissolve as opposed to sucking on them like a candy; otherwise they will give you heartburn, stomach aches and severe gas. Keep them out of the reach of children as they also contain nicotine. A lot of people get addicted to the lozenges, so follow the directions so that you gradually decrease the number you take each day. If you are not a fan of aspartame, keep in mind a lot of the lozenges do contain it. Also, they are not cheap – about 60 cents a lozenge.
Gum
Nicotine chewing gum has been available since 1982, and at that time it was shown to increase your ability to quit by about 1.5- to 2-fold after 12 months. The gum may sound simple, but there is actually a process that you have to follow. You are supposed to chew it for about 20 seconds, releasing the nicotine, then put the gum between your cheek and gum until the taste goes away, then chew it again and repeat until there is no taste left – about 30 minutes. Do not chew it like regular gum or you will just get side effects like heartburn and stomach cramps. The gum is a lot tougher to chew than regular gum and can be hard on dental work, plus it has a peppery taste that is not masked by the mint flavoring. The gum is not usually effective with heavy smokers as such a small amount of nicotine is released.
Filters
These are filters you put on the end of the cigarette and they remove most of its nicotine and tar so that you do not inhale it. There are some filters that gradually lower the amount of nicotine so that within a month you are only getting about 10 percent. By the time you are finished with the final filter, you should have none of the cravings, mood swings or other withdrawal symptoms. You do have to clean the filters in between use. Seeing the accumulation of tar in the filter actually helps some people quit. For others, they keep smoking because they feel that since they are reducing the amount of nicotine, it is not as unhealthy.
Not all of these products are recommended for certain people, including those with heart problems and women who are pregnant. You should consult your doctor before trying any of these smoking cessation products. If you wish to learn about other products that help you quit smoking, please see Medications to Help Quit Smoking.
