If you’ve been considering giving up smoking, and you want to make sure that you really commit to it, then you want to make sure that you’re using every tool to your advantage. To that end, one of the most successful strategies is to find the tools that can help you break your reliance on cigarettes. In fact, these stop-smoking aids can are so effective, that people who quit without them only make up roughly 5% of all those people who are able to quit entirely. As such, let’s take a look at the pros and cons of the different approaches you can take.
Medications
If you have attempted to quit smoking before, but you have found that it doesn’t work out for you, then a good step to take is to get in touch with your doctor, first and foremost. While they may recommend certain methods you can buy that you haven’t tried yet, they are able to offer access to two prescription medications if they believe they would be effective for you, as MedicinePlus shows. The first of these, bupropion, is able to help decrease the feelings of cravings and lessen nicotine withdrawal symptoms. Varenicline is able to control your urge to smoke by replicating some of the effects of nicotine on the brain, which also has the effect of lessening your dependence on nicotine, as your brain no longer associates it exclusively with that feeling.
Nicotine Replacements
By far the most common type of stop-smoking aid is nicotine replacement. There are a lot of these that each bring their own pros and cons, so often, finding the right approach is about trying what works best for you as an individual. The two most common types are nicotine patches and nicotine gum, which are available in a range of different doses, and relatively easy to use, but it can be difficult to adjust their dose while using them since they come in set dosages. Some people have started using products like those from Snusdaddy in order to mitigate the harm that comes with smoking but, in the long-term, this often has to be paired with other strategies to reduce your nicotine use over time. There are other, less common options that are worth taking a closer look into, as well.
Vaping
One of the most common nicotine replacement methods today, vaping deserves a little more attention because of just how common it has become, as of late. Like every other nicotine replacement option, vaping has its ups and downs, its pros and cons. Like certain other methods, it can still maintain your dependence on nicotine and can become an addiction in itself, one that has to be confronted and controlled, but as a means of harm reduction, many people find it very effective. Although the long-term health impacts of vaping are still under a lot of scrutiny, many people stand by its ability to help them get off smoking altogether.
Conclusion
There is no one correct way to quit smoking. People will use a variety of different methods, each of which has their pros and cons. It’s all about finding the method that makes the most sense to you.