The Nicotine Patch

When smoking cigarettes, you are at risk of becoming addicted to the nicotine in the tobacco. Millions of people are living their life addicted to cigarettes because it is very difficult to quit smoking. There are various aids that can help you stop smoking, but to truly be able to quit, you must overcome your psychological addictions as well as your physical addictions. It takes some people several tries before completely quitting cigarettes. For others it even takes years before they finally kick the nasty habit and quit smoking.

Nicotine Relief with Gum and Patches

Some years back, the nicotine patch came onto the market along with nicotine gum. With gum, you only chew it to help curb your cravings for that instant. The patch on the other hand, is an aid that has steps, which makes it more successful. When first beginning the patch, you will have larger amounts of nicotine delivered to your system. Which stage you start on will depend on how heavy of a smoker you are. If you are smoking 20 cigarettes a day, you want to start on the stage number one, so that enough nicotine is delivered to keep you away from cigarettes. Then gradually you will go on to the following steps (total of three), which will deliver less.

Little by little you are exposed to less nicotine until you are completely over your cravings. The three steps usually include 27 mg, 14 mg and seven mg of nicotine. If you smoked about 10 or less cigarettes a day, you could likely start on step two with 14 mg instead of 27 mg, which would be for the heavier smokers at 20 plus cigarettes per day. It takes several weeks (the recommended is 6 weeks) before you move on to the next step from step one. Then when you are on step two, you can wait two weeks before moving on to step three, which then takes another two weeks before you stop the patch altogether.

Not As Expensive as Smoking

The cost of being on the patch can be between twenty dollars and thirty dollars a week. Some schools and health plans offer subsidized or free patches. It all depends on local tax rates and the financial costs of the patch compared to cigarettes. In the United Kingdom, it is only fifteen pounds per week. For heavy smokers, it would be twenty pounds per week.

There are some side effects with the patch. Nightmares can occur while wearing it. You are supposed to wear the patch for 24 hours at a time and should be replaced everyday, but some individuals only wear it for 17 hours due to the vivid dreams or nightmares that they endure. They remove it right before they go to bed and put another one on in the morning. Others report having okay dreams that are extremely vivid and actually enjoy them.

The other side effect is itching, swelling and discomfort in the area that is covered by the patch. When wearing the patch, you should rotate where you put it each day; don't wear it in the same spot. The itching and mild burning sensations usually subside after about thirty to sixty minutes.