5 Ways to Stop Smoking and Get Clean Air for the Holidays
As a pharmacist, I spend my days advising patients on how to improve their health. This includes providing advice about exercise, diet, and of course discontinuing the use of tobacco products, especially cigarettes. Simply put, stopping smoking is one of the single biggest things you can choose to do to improve your health—and the health of your loved ones—and to reduce your risk of smoking-related cancers.
Stopping smoking is a daunting task. In addition to breaking the “habit” of smoking after meals or while driving to work, it is also about breaking the “addiction” of ingesting nicotine.
Many people have unpleasant symptoms associated with stopping smoking, such as irritability, anger, anxiety, depression, weight gain and, of course, nicotine cravings. Your local pharmacist is armed with several medication options that can ease the symptoms associated with stopping smoking.
The over-the-counter therapies focus on nicotine replacement and tapering to help minimize nicotine withdrawal symptoms. These products are for patients that are 18 years of age and older. All patients should talk with a pharmacist or other healthcare professional before initiating therapy. Patients cannot smoke while using a nicotine replacement product. These options include:
Nicotine transdermal (skin) patches
These patches come in a variety of strengths of nicotine. Patients typically start on a higher dose and taper themselves down over several months. The tapering of the nicotine is designed to help reduce the symptoms associated with quitting “cold turkey.”
Nicotine chewing gum
Like the patches, the gum comes in various strengths designed to let a patient taper themselves down over time to help minimize symptoms. The early versions of the gum had a terrible taste, and patients would complain ‘they tasted like an ashtray.’ Today’s nicotine gum comes in a variety of pleasant tasting flavors.
Nicotine lozenges
Like the gum, these are an oral product that you place between your cheek and your gums. It slowly dissolves in your mouth providing a release of nicotine to help reduce symptoms of nicotine withdrawal.
The prescription drug products to assist with stopping smoking do not contain nicotine. These products are approved for individuals 18 and older. Typically, patients are able to still smoke for the first few days or weeks they are on these products, although this is not advisable. These products help to eliminate the urge to smoke without using nicotine. These products include:
Chantix (varenicline)
This must be prescribed by a physician or other authorized healthcare provider. Patients taper the dose of Chantix over a one-week period of time. The initial therapy is typically for 12 weeks. Some patients may require an additional course of therapy to achieve quitting. In my practice, I have seen more Chantix success stories than any other smoking cessation product.
Zyban (bupropion)
This must be prescribed by a physician or other authorized healthcare provider. This medication is an antidepressant that has been shown to help reduce the cravings associated with quitting smoking.
It is important with all of these medications that you only use them under the care and supervision of a healthcare professional.
Finally, remember that quitting smoking is not only important for you, but it is important to those around you. The negative impact of secondhand smoke is well documented, and is often as detrimental to the health of those around you, as it is to the smoker. In Arkansas, for instance, it is against the law to smoke in your car if you have a child age 14 or under in the car. So take every step you can to stop smoking. Your health and the health of your family are at stake.