Choosing Between Stop Smoking Medications
If you are a smoker who is ready to quit, you should know there are a variety of stop smoking medications available these days. While some methods of nicotine replacement therapy or NRT is available over the counter, there are prescription smoking cessation medications your doctor can prescribe for you. Two of the most commonly used prescription drugs for smoking cessation are Chantix and Zyban. The first step is to schedule an appointment with your physician and let him or her know you are ready to stop smoking. There will most likely be a routine physical exam and questions about your smoking habits.
Next, your doctor will explain the various quit smoking medicine choices there are to choose from and which one is thought to be best for you. This will depend on various medical and personal factors, what works for one smoker may be useless to another. Let's take a look at these two popular medications and learn more about how they work. Chantix, also known as varenicline, helps smokers quit by blocking certain brain receptors that respond to nicotine. When an addicted smoker smokes a cigarette, there are chemicals like dopamine that release good feelings. Of course when smoking is ceased these receptors are not activated and withdrawal may result. Smoking withdrawal can last from weeks to months depending on the individual.
Chantix should be started at least a week before your quit date. While this medicine isn't for everyone, for some it can help by blocking nicotine receptors in the brain and releasing dopamine and other feel-good chemicals in the brain that were previously triggered by cigarettes. As mentioned before another popular smoking cessation prescription is Zyban. This medication is also known by the names Bupropion and Wellbutrin. Also used as an antidepressant, this drug may work similar to Chantix in reducing one's desire to smoke, minimizing withdrawal symptoms and blocking the urge for a cigarette.
Make sure you understand all medicine interactions and potential side effects of any of the stop smoking medications you are considering. While the prescription medications mentioned in this article do have some level of success different techniques work for different people. If you try a quit smoking medicine like Chantix or Zyban stay in communication with your doctor and report any adverse reactions or effects as soon as they occur.
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