Effective Treatments For Nicotine Addiction

Nicotine addiction is incredibly common, and more often than not, it is because many people haven’t found an effective way to quit smoking, vaping, or nicotine. Here are a few treatments you can use, as well as a few tips for lowering your nicotine intake.

Nicotine Replacement Therapy

Firstly, whether you are a smoker or you want to learn how to quit vaping, nicotine replacement therapy is an effective method to do so. This, in simple terms, is replacing your cigarettes or vape with a product that just gives you the nicotine your body wants.

This can be done through a gum, an inhaler, nose spray, or something similar, and can be prescribed by a doctor in some cases.

Medication

While you do need a prescription from your doctor, and typically only after NRT hasn’t worked, there are medications you can take to help you quit. The first is Bupropion, which changes how your brain processes feel-good releases, meaning nicotine won’t give you the same pleasure it did before.

The second is Varenicline, which is a pill that forces your brain to release feel-good chemicals that smoking does, therefore eliminating the need to smoke at all.

Therapy

Many people underestimate how powerful the connection is between our mental health and smoking. Many people use smoking as a coping mechanism for anxiety, stress, or depression. Because of this, therapy can be a useful tool in quitting.

If you are able to pinpoint the mental and emotional reasons for smoking, you can deal with them, and then not feel the need to fall back on smoking again.

Support Groups

There will be times when the only thing you need is to be held accountable. Much like how former alcoholics use AA to stay on track, there are nicotine addiction support groups that you can use to connect to others in the same situation.

These groups will give you insight into how others are quitting, as well as give you a support system that will keep you on the right track and stop you from going back to old habits.

Alternative Treatments

Finally, there are several alternative treatments you can use to help you quit. The first is acupuncture, which has been shown to help in the short-term, which is typically the most difficult stage of quitting.

The second option is hypnosis. While this may sound a bit strange, there are plenty of examples of people being hypnotized into eating healthier, working harder, etc. While neither of these things should be your first course of action, they are worth looking into if other methods on this list are not working as well as they should.

Nicotine Reduction Tips

If you need help in reducing your nicotine intake until you are at the point of quitting completely, here are a few effective tips and tricks you can use.

Nicotine Schedule

The first thing you should do is to create a nicotine schedule. This means having set times when you smoke, use a vape, etc, and this allows your body and mind to adapt to go longer periods of time without nicotine.

The issue many face is that smoking has become an almost mindless activity or something you do when you’re bored, and this leads to doing it too much more. If you have a schedule, you can’t over-consume nicotine throughout the day.

Nicotine Alternatives

If you are a smoker or vaper, seek out nicotine alternatives that don’t include smoking, but still curb your cravings. Nicotine gum, patches, and inhalers all give you the nicotine hit you are looking for, but without having to smoke.

Handle Your Triggers Differently

Find alternative ways to handle your smoking triggers. Many smokers will have a trigger of some kind that will make them want to smoke, whether that be stress, boredom, alcohol, or something else.

Make an effort to find an alternative way to handle these different feelings and situations, and break the connection between them and the need to smoke.

Delay, Delay, Delay

Another simple trick to cut down on smoking is to delay your nicotine intake by as long as possible. This means not smoking or vaping when you get your craving, but rather delaying it for as long as you can, and then only smoking.

The goal of this is to not only break the habit of mindless smoking, but to also teach your body to go for longer and longer periods without having to smoke.

Exercise

Exercise is widely regarded as one of the best ways to distract yourself from nicotine. A daily 60-90 minute workout where you really push yourself will easily make you forget about smoking for a good few hours.

If you can’t get to the gym, going for a run, or doing a home workout, or something similar when you get a craving, it will quickly distract your mind for long enough to move past most cravings.

In conclusion, it is very possible to move past your nicotine addiction using the methods and steps above. While it won’t be easy, they are effective, allowing you to move on with your life without thinking about smoking or nicotine again.