subject: Stop Smoking Patch [print this page] Mark Twain once said, "Quitting smoking is easy. I've done it a thousand times." The reason why quitting, and staying quit, is so hard for so many people is nicotine. Nicotine is an addictive drug that researchers have compared to the addiction power of cocaine or heroin. Over a relatively short period of time a person becomes both physically addicted to nicotine and emotionally addicted as well. In order to quit, studies have shown that smokers must deal with both aspects of their addiction, the physical and emotional.
But the rewards of quitting are great. Within 12 hours carbon monoxide levels in the blood drop to normal and increase the amount of oxygen that is delivered to the cells. Within two weeks to three months circulation improves in lung function also increases and within one year the excessive risk of coronary artery disease is cut in half! These are all really good reasons to quit smoking. Unfortunately, the reason people are not successful. Surely attached to their motivation or their lack of understanding about why they should quit, but rather the addiction to nicotine itself.
Nicotine patches uses a theory called nicotine replacement therapy. Using this process can reduce the unpleasant physical symptoms of person will experience as they try to quit smoking. This leaves them with dealing with the emotional aspects of their addiction and not trying to deal with both the physical and emotional at the same time. Nicotine replacement therapy can be delivered in a variety of forms but the most common are the nicotine patches. While naked teen is a harmful chemicals of the body is not as harmful as the 2000 other chemicals and over 40 different carcinogens in tobacco. It is also a process that is use short-term in order to relieve some of the withdrawal symptoms and not a way of delivering a nicotine to the body over a long period of time.
Interestingly, cravings and symptoms of nicotine withdrawal are cited by 70% to 90% of smokers who say is their only reason for not giving up cigarettes. While many people are able to quit smoking without nicotine replacement therapy most do not do it on their first try.
Nicotine replacement therapy should be combined with other smoking cessation methods in order to help an individual over the emotional and habitual addiction to smoking. Most studies have shown that this particular type of approach, paring nicotine replacement with the support of program that helps to change behavior, will double your chances of being successful.
Because these nicotine replacement therapy patches will deliver a nicotine to the body many physicians are leery of using them with individuals who have other underlying medical conditions that make the administration of nicotine more risky, such as cardiovascular disease or pregnancy. However, there have been some significant studies which show that the benefits of quitting will outweigh the potential health risks and must be weighed on an individual basis.
It is not safe to take a nicotine replacement therapy patch at the same time that you are smoking. Research is still being done with smokers who are using nicotine replacement while smoking but it is too early to tell how dangerous the additional nicotine to the body will be. To put this into perspective you should know that nicotine is more dangerous than strychnine and three times more potent than arsenic. There is actually enough nicotine in four to five cigarettes to kill a person immediately if they were to keep the tobacco. However, when an individual smokes a cigarette they receive only a small portion of the nicotine and the rest is either burned away or caught in the filter.
By adding nicotine to the body through a nicotine replacement therapy patch plus smoking, researchers are concerned that this additional nicotine will cause significant health risks.
Nicotine replacement therapy patches should be started on the first day then an individual tries to quit. This method gives them the greatest chance of success with the physical addiction, although the emotional and psychological addiction must be addressed through other supportive means.
At this time research has not supported the use of nicotine replacement patches with individuals who smoke less than 10 cigarettes a day. If you smoke less than half a pack a day but still believe you may need the additional support for physical withdrawal speak with your primary care physician about a lower dose of nicotine replacement in order to assist you.
The dosage of nicotine replacement will be based on the type of smoker you are but there is no formal grouping that defines a light, average or heavy smoker. However, it is believed that a white smoker is someone who smokes less than 10 cigarettes per day, and a pack a day or more is a heavy smoker. An average smoker falls in between.
The nicotine patches aren't transdermal nicotine system which means that the drug is administered through the skin. The individual switches to a lower dose patch over the course of a couple of weeks in order to slowly wean themselves off of nicotine. Patches can actually be purchased with or without prescription and there are a variety of different strengths and types available.
Side effects of the nicotine patch are related to the dose of nicotine is being delivered, the brand of the patch, how long the past is going to be used and how it's applied. The individual may find that there's some skin irritation around the patch sites, dizziness related to the administration of nicotine, racing heartbeat, sleep problems, headache, nausea, vomiting or muscle aches and stiffness.
Side effects can be reduced by not smoking while using the patch or trying a different patches to skin becomes irritated. Individuals can also reduce the amount of nicotine being delivered by using a lower dose patch. Some of the sleep problems can be short-term and might go away within three to four days. If not, and you are using a 24-hour patch, try switching to a patch that delivers nicotine over 16 hours only. If the side effects did not go away then try switching from a nicotine patch to another form of nicotine replacement therapy.
