Many options are available for someone who wants to quit smoking - so with all of us being different, how does know which methods work, and which method to choose?
Quitting Smoking (Cold Turkey Method)
Some smokers decide to stop abruptly without medications or assistance ("Cold Turkey Method"). Although it is not impossible to quit on one's own, trying to do it by yourself can be hard. Having a coach means that you work with someone else who knows what you need to do, and also wants you to succeed. A coach provides motivation, confidence and support - as well as skills to manage cravings and withdrawal symptoms.
Coaching Plus Medications
The chances of succeeding increase if a smoker works with a "Quitting Coach" to give up their addiction to cigarettes. The coach is simply someone with special training who works with you and keeps you focused and motivated. This may be one's family physician, a psychologist or a trained counsellor. One programme that puts people who want to quit in touch with a trained coach like this is Australia's QUIT programme.
Medications to Help Stop Smoking
The chances of giving up are doubled if the person who wants to quit also uses some form of medication which is designed to help patients overcome their addiction to nicotine.Two such tablets that can help with quitting are Bupropion (Zyban or Wellbutrin) and Varenicline (Champix or Chantix).
Champix/Chantix
This medication can help to reduce the craving and withdrawal symptoms associated with depriving the body of cigarettes.
When cigarette smoke is inhaled, nicotine from this smoke gets into the blood stream and attaches to certain receptors in the brain of the smoker, causing a chemical called Dopamine (which provides a short lived feeling of pleasure) to be released . Since the body desires to repeat this feeling of pleasure, it craves for more nicotine - and more cigarettes. It is believed that what Varenicline does is to block these receptors, releasing just enough Dopamine to alleviate the cravings.
Wellbutrin/Zyban
The exact mechanism of action of Bupropion is not fully understood, but it is thought to interact with Dopamine and another chemical called Noradrenaline (Norepinephrine) in the brain. It is prescribed by doctors as a short-term treatment to help smokers who are also being appropriately coached to stop smoking. In many smokers, Bupropion reduces withdrawal symptoms and the urge to smoke
Most Important Factor in Quitting
What is most important is for the person who wants to quit to realise that neither the tablets nor the coach can quit smoking for them. It is essential that the person who wants to stop smoking must truly want to quit - and if this prime objective is kept in focus, the tablets and coaching will certainly help them to achieve their goal.
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