Medications

According to studies, the use of medications to help you quit smoking can double your success rate.

There are basically two types of medications. What’s called Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT), and other drugs that essentially cut down on your desire to smoke.

Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)

NRT does not keep you from wanting to smoke. It just delivers nicotine to you in a healthier way. That is you don’t have to smoke a cigarette to get it. Also, with NRT, you get a certain dose of nicotine, which you can then work on reducing. This slowly unaddicts you from nicotine.

There are several ways to use NRT, nicotine patches, nicotine gum, lozenges, and nasal sprays and inhalers.

The patches, gum, and lozenges are non-prescription. You can get them at your local drug store, or online. Just follow the directions on the box or package.

Does this stuff work?

Well, not everything works all of the time for everyone. But, yet, these over-the-counter nicotine products can double your chances of quitting.

The sprays and inhalers are prescription only. I’ve written a more detailed article about them, here.

There are essentially two non-nicotine drugs used to help people quit. Let’s take a look at each of them.

Non-Nicotine Drugs

There are two drugs that doctors prescribe for smoking, Buproprion and Varenicline.

Buproprion is known as Wellbutrin or Zyban.

Varenicline is known as Chantix.

In addition to these two drugs, manufacturers are working on a number of shots that can help you quit.

Quit Smoking Shots

There are a number of shots that companies are developing to aid smokers who want to quit. NicVAX is one that is essentially a vaccine. It is supposed to eliminate physical addiction to nicotine.

NicVAX is still in development, though.

You can read more about it here, at the Nabi Biopharmeceuticals’ website.

Although NicVAX is still in development, you can get shots of atropine and scopolamine from some smoking cessation clinics. What this combination of drugs do is to block the receptors in your brain that are sensitive to nicotine. Essentially, this makes you feel as if you've already smoked a cigarette and don't need another one.

The treatment usually consists of a shot one day followed by a few weeks of pills along with an ear patch. Although these drugs are approved by the FDA for other uses, they have not been approved for use in smoking cessation.

Clinics who use this therapy say they have high success rates.

Should you do this? Talk with your regular doctor first before taking any drug. There are certain medical conditions where you can't take these two drugs. Other than that, why not?

If you think it's safe, and you have the money, maybe this is something you need to consider.

It's got to be a lot better than being addicted to cigarettes!

Conclusion

Quit Smoking medications can really help, especially if you use them in conjunction with your doctor and/or one-on-one or group counseling.

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