Quit Smoking Inhalers

Quit smoking inhalers can be an important part of anyone’s quit smoking strategy. But what are they and how do they work? This article will explain that.

What are Quit Smoking Inhalers?

These inhalers are one of the many types of nicotine replacement therapy, otherwise known as NRT.

The main part of your smoking problem is you’re addicted to nicotine and cigarettes. There are two problems with this. One: you’ve changed your brain chemistry so that you have to have nicotine to function, and Two: since you have to smoke to get your nicotine, you also ingest a ton of harmful chemicals and carcinogens along with the nicotine.

Note: nicotine in and of itself is not safe! Nicotine is a poison, which in large enough doses can kill a fully grown human.

So, the way NRT works, is it delivers the nicotine you need to your body in a safer way. (Safer than smoking a cigarette, that is.) Also, the amount of nicotine you’re getting is known and controlled with NRT, so you can gradually cut down on how much nicotine you ingest and wean yourself off of it.

There are several types of NRT, patches, gum, lozenges, nasal sprays and inhalers, among others. Some, like patches, gum, and lozenges, are non-prescription. Others, like nasal sprays and inhalers, are prescription.

How Do Quit Smoking Inhalers Work?

Inhalers work like replacement cigarettes. You actually “smoke” the thing. You don’t light it, but you do inhale it. The nicotine in the inhaler is absorbed through the skin inside your mouth (not through your lungs). That nicotine passes into your bloodstream and goes to your brain, where it satisfies your craving to smoke.

What’s so great about inhalers is they effectively address some of the psychological issues of your nicotine addiction. Let me explain.

Psychological Addiction

Our brains are so amazing! They are much more powerful than we know. The problem is, though, you can’t consciously control everything your brain does. This is good, because you would have to remember to do things like breathe, for instance. But this is also bad, because your brain can be subverted by addictive chemicals like nicotine and other drugs, to the point that your brain starts controlling you, rather than you controlling it.

When we get addicted to substances, that addiction takes place not only on a chemical level, but also on a psychological level.

As far as smoking is concerned, for most smokers, the act of smoking is a very important ritual that they really enjoy. If you need nicotine, and if you feel awful without it, you “enjoy” getting it into your body. So, things like the first cigarette of the day become very important parts of your routine.

Most smokers actually relish the feel of the cigarette, that first smell of burning paper and tobacco when they light it, or the act of putting the thing in their mouths and taking a puff.

For most smokers there a specific times of day or events that make them want to smoke. These are called “triggers”. Triggers are psychological cues to smoke. Since you are psychologically addicted to smoking, as well as physically addicted, you naturally desire to smoke when you are “triggered” by one of your triggers. This means a large part of quitting smoking is addressing your triggers, having a strategy to deal with places and events that make you want to smoke.

Quit smoking inhalers help you address these triggers. When you feel like smoking, you’re looking to scratch that itch not only by ingesting a certain amount of nicotine, but by doing what you normally do when you smoke--take a cigarette out of the pack, fumble in your pocket or purse for your lighter, sit on the deck and deeply inhale, whatever is part of your ritual.

With inhalers you can do all of this without actually smoking. You get to take something cigarette-like out of a pack, put it into your mouth, deeply inhale, etc.

In other words, quit smoking inhalers help you address these psychological issues, hopefully making it easier for you to wean yourself off of nicotine.

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