Category: Smoking Cessation Tools

Nicotine free cigarettes seem like they could be the ultimate compromise when you want to smoke. Because they don’t contain nicotine, they don’t have the same physically addictive component of regular tobacco. However, when you look beneath the surface, it turns out that nicotine free cigarettes may not be all they’re cracked up to be. What They Are Nicotine free cigarettes are not the same thing as electronic cigarettes (also called e-cigarettes).  There is a type of nicotine free cigarette that is a plastic cylinder shaped like a cigarette and contains herbal aroma oil; these are popular in Europe. Nicotine free cigarettes contain herbs instead of tobacco and are sometimes called herbal cigarettes. Some of the herbs that are used in herbal cigarettes include the following: Passion flower Rose petals…

When attempting to quit smoking, the ‘habit’ of having a cigarette is often harder to get over than the actual nicotine addiction. In 1998, the FDA approved the nicotine inhaler for use, with the hopes that this type of nicotine replacement therapy could ease both the physical nicotine withdrawal symptoms and the psychological habit of smoking. How It Is Used Nicotine inhalers are available only by prescription. The design of it is very basic, with a cartridge that contains nicotine that plugs into a plastic mouthpiece. When cravings for a cigarette occur, the inhaler is used much like a cigarette would be. The instructions state to either inhale deeply into the back of the throat, or take short puffs off of the inhaler. As air passes through the inhaler, nicotine…

Quitting smoking can be tough. In addition to having to break the psychological part of the habit, you also have to deal with nicotine addiction. Getting off of nicotine is a difficult process no matter what, and it can be so brutal if you take the abrupt “cold turkey” method that many smokers just can’t get through it. Nicotine replacement methods can help smokers kick the habit by allowing them to step down on the amount of nicotine they consume. How it Works That’s where the concept of the nicotine patch comes in: the patches stick on to your skin and you absorb the nicotine through your skin, into your bloodstream. This method, called transdermal, releases nicotine into your system as a replacement for smoking. The nicotine patches have a pad…

Quitting smoking has never been easy. The earliest medications to help you quit smoking were based on the principle of replacing the nicotine in cigarettes with nicotine in other forms, such as patches or gum.  With the nicotine replacement medications, you still have to use willpower to gradually taper down to lower levels of nicotine until you can eventually quit – but it doesn’t actually do anything to stop the cravings. That’s where newer generations of medications to quit smoking come in to help. Cravings and Dopamine Nicotine cravings are both psychological and physical. While the nicotine replacement products try to manage the physical dependence on the nicotine, they don’t help the psychological aspects of craving. Your brain contains receptors that respond that respond to nicotine, and the more you…

Chewing gum is a fun pastime and distraction for many people, so researchers got the idea that it could work as a replacement for smoking. A lot of people chew gum when they’re trying to quit smoking because it provides oral gratification similar to a smoking habit. In the 1980s, a gum that contains nicotine was introduced and offered by prescription as a method to help people quit smoking. The Basics Nicotine gum is a very hard gum that is packaged in individual foil packed containers. The gum contains either 2 or 4 mg of nicotine in each piece, which is approximately equal to the amount of nicotine in 1 to 2 cigarettes. Smokers who need to have their first cigarette within the first 30 minutes after waking up should…