Our Stop Smoking Aids
Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT)
- One of the main reason people find it hard to quit smoking is because of the addiction to nicotine, a substance in tobacco.
- NRT provides your body with a low, controlled dose of nicotine without the dangerous chemicals found in cigarettes. This helps to reduce unpleasant withdrawal symptoms such as cravings and irritability when you stop smoking.
- There are several products for you to choose from. Using two different types of NRT (usually the patch and an oral products) is often advised. For example, some people use nicotine patches and an inhalator. The patches give them a slow release of nicotine, and the inhalator gives them something to do with their hands.
Nicotine Patch
You put them on your skin every day. They come in different strengths depending on how much you smoke. They give you a steady amount of nicotine.
Often combining a patch with fast-acting NRT e.g. mouth spray increases success with quitting.
Nicotine Gum and Lozenges
You chew the gum or suck on the lozenges. They release nicotine through the gums and are good for quick relief, like during breaks or after meals.
Nicotine Mouth Spray
Delivers fast relief from cravings by being absorbed quickly through the lining of the mouth
Nicotine Inhalator
They look like cigarettes, but they don’t have harmful smoke. You breathe in through the inhalator keeping the nicotine in your mouth (rather than inhaling to your lungs) as it’s absorbed through your gums. Allows you to mimic the hand-to-mouth action of smoking.
E-cigarette (Vapes)
- Nicotine-containing vapes are effective for stopping smoking and are significantly less harmful than smoking.
- An e-cigarette is a device that allows you to inhale nicotine in a vapour rather than smoke.
- E-cigarettes do not burn tobacco and do not produce tar or carbon monoxide, two of the
most damaging elements in tobacco smoke. - They work by heating a liquid (called an e-liquid) that contain nicotine, propylene glycol, vegetable glycerine, and flavourings.
- Using an e-cigarette is known as vaping.
Once you have worked with your health coach to set a quit date you can discuss with them which of our stop smoking products you would like to use.
Prescribed Medications
Prescribed medications work in slightly different ways, but they generally work to make reduce your urges to smoke, and make smoking less enjoyable. Unlike NRT, you would usually start taking these products before your quit day (which is your first day of not smoking) to allow the dose of the medication to build up in your body first.
Varenicline
Varenicline is an oral tablet that helps you to stop smoking by helping to reduce your urge to smoke. It eases nicotine withdrawal symptoms and makes your cravings easier to manage. If you do smoke a cigarette, it will also make the experience less enjoyable by altering the taste.
Varenicline has been used widely across the UK to help smokers quit for many years. Evidence suggests it’s the most effective medicine for helping people to stop smoking.
You take Varenicline 1 to 2 times a day and typically start taking it 8-14 days before you begin a quit attempt.
Cytisinicline (Cytisine)
Cytisine is an oral tablet that helps you to stop smoking by helping to reduce the urge to smoke and helping to make nicotine withdrawal symptoms easier to manage. It works in a similar way to varenicline.
Like Varenicline, Cytisine blocks receptors in the brain from reacting with nicotine. This means that when you smoke, you don’t experience the same taste or sensation as normal.
Cytisine acts in place of nicotine to help make the withdrawal symptoms and cravings easier to manage – reducing your cravings to smoke a cigarette and making it much easier to cope after your quit day.
