Medicine to Help Quit Smoking

Smoking is one of the most common causes of death, and coincidentally, this cause is the easiest to prevent. Avoiding the adverse effects of smoking can only be accomplished when the smoker decides to quit. Such a measure is beneficial for the individual's health and increases the chance of living a longer life. There are several ways to quit smoking including taking medicines or seeking a doctor's assistance.

Medicines

• In order to stop your craving for tobacco, your doctor may prescribe a medication such as bupropion, nortriptyline, clonidine or varenicline. All of these medications are available in pill form, but they do not include nicotine content, unlike other smoking remedies. However, the effect of these medicines is different with every individual, which can eventually be determined through trial and error.

Varenicline

• Among the medications mentioned in the previous section, varenicline is one medicine to help a smoker quit. This medicine takes effect by acting on areas of the brain affected by nicotine, which helps lessen the individual's craving for cigarettes while reducing the withdrawal symptoms involved. When the individual starts smoking again, the pleasure that he or she normally associates with the act is lessened.

Bupropion

• In addition to being given to those who want to stop smoking, bupropion is also prescribed to those experiencing depression. This is largely because the drug is an antidepressant that works on chemicals in the brain that assist the nerves in sending messages to one another. The effect of this activity is to balance the chemicals in your brain, therefore, treating depression and also reducing your withdrawal symptoms. A doctor may prescribe this to a smoker for as long as one year.

Nortriptyline

• Similar to bupropion, nortriptyline is an antidepressant that stops the activities of histamine, acetylcholine and 5-hydroxytryptamine in the body. Although this is an antidepressant, it works differently when the patient is not experiencing depression, therefore making it effective for smokers trying to quit. Doctors don't know exactly how nortriptyline works to help people quit smoking. This type of medicine is only prescribed when all other first-choice medications don't work for the patient.

Risks

• As with any other medication, there are side effects involved in taking these medicines to quit smoking. Varenicline can induce side effects such as nausea, constipation and increased dreaming. Moreover, if the patient is experiencing mental illness and is taking varenicline, his condition may worsen due to the effect of the medicine. Additionally, bupriopion can induce dry mouth and sleep disturbances.