There are four types of medical treatments you can seek out if you want to quit smoking (apart from having your mouth stapled shut):
- Zyban. This is the marketing name for the antidepressant drug bupropion hydrochloride. These are basically happy pills for the ex-smoker that are intended to lessen (or even better, eliminate) the withdrawal symptoms associated with quitting smoking. To use Zyban, you start taking the pills a week or two before you quit smoking so they have a chance to start working. Then you simply stop smoking and try to feel happy. It can be expensive, and you should really have a doctor make sure that it's safe for you to use; you'd hate for the Zyban to react negatively because of other medications you're taking.
- Nicotine Patches. These are the kings of the nicotine replacement game. They are small self-adhesive patches that you stick on your skin so that nicotine can enter your bloodstream at a steady rate all day. Patches come in different strengths, and you go from the strongest one you need to the weakest available, and then stop using them altogether.
- Nicotine Gum. Nicotine gum helps you quit by providing you with a source of nicotine apart from smoking. It comes in different strengths (usually 4 mg or 2 mg of nicotine per piece). Nicotine gum, like any nicotine replacement therapy, allows you to deal with the physical component of addiction over a longer period of time with less drastic withdrawal symptoms.
- Nictotine Inhalers and Nasal Sprays. Nicotine inhalers are shaped like little cigarettes, and when you suck on them they release a mist of nicotine into your lungs. The nasal spray is like the product you use for nasal congestion; you just pump it into your nostril and it sprays nicotine stuff up there. These are also meant to get you out of the habit of lighting cigarettes.
SoYouWanna know more? Check out our full-length article SYW quit smoking?
