‘Nicotine Withdrawal’

To quit smoking seems like walking into a burning house. It’s not easy and there are a lot of people out there with conflicting opinions on how to stop smoking. Nicotine replacement therapy is just one of the methods offered, two different types are on the market.

Nicotine gum, it comes in different flavours as well as dosage. This may suit smokers who like the habit of doing something with their mouth when they feel like a cigarette, as you chew it it releases small amounts of nicotine BUT you want to kick the nicotine habit by stopping smoking.

You must realise that it is very important to control how often you use the gum. Let’s say you smoke a packet a day and you are trying to cut down to half that – then maybe use the gum 5 -7 times a day, this gives you the opportunity to only use the gum when you need it most.

To stop smoking gum’s certainly can help.

Patches? I guess that is the most common alternative in use today, you apply in the morning and throughout the day it releases a small amount of nicotine. It certainly may help those who are going cold turkey when wanting to quit smoking. BUT you must remember that when using patches you CAN NOT use gum or have 1 cigarette. This does deter a lot of smokers who may still need that 1 or 2 cigarettes a day whilst quitting.

Again the patches are available in various dosages which does allow you to slowly decrease your nicotine addiction. People with busy lifestyles usually find the patches more suitable than gum. You do have to be aware of starting using patches on the right dosages or you stand the risk of increasing your nicotine addiction, so start with the small dosage first and then build up to a greater strength if required.

I have to highlight the fact that with both the use of gums or patches to stop smoking you are still putting nicotine into your body and we find today that there are people out there who are addicted to nicotine patches – that becomes expensive!