Chantix: Stop-smoking medication to help you quit

Smokers who want to stop smoking may consider varenicline (Chantix). Find out if this stop-smoking drug is right for you.

Cigarette smokers who want to quit have several medications to choose from to help in their effort to stop smoking. Chantix works by blocking the effect that nicotine has on your brain. Chantix may make it easier for you to stop smoking. To be successful, you still need persistence and commitment to your goal.
How is Chantix different from other stop-smoking aids?

When you smoke, the nicotine from your cigarette causes receptors in your brain to release several chemicals, including dopamine, which cause many of the positive feelings you get when you smoke. When you quit smoking, the lower levels of these chemicals cause the sometimes miserable signs and symptoms of nicotine withdrawal. Signs and symptoms such as irritability, insomnia and difficulty concentrating begin four to six hours after your last cigarette and can last a month or more after you quit smoking.

Nicotine replacement products, including the patch, gum and lozenges, and bupropion (Zyban), can help you stop smoking, in part, by continuing to stimulate the release of low levels of dopamine and other chemicals in your brain. In this way, these stop-smoking medications decrease your craving for nicotine and reduce the signs and symptoms of withdrawal.
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Smoking Cessation Aids

Hands down...
The best smoking cessation aid on the planet is your own will and determination. If you aren't motivated and committed to kicking the habit, no quit aid can help you. If you are ready to quit, any of them have the potential to work beautifully.

That said, a variety of products are on the market today that are designed to help people quit smoking gradually. Choosing one that is right for you is essentially a matter of preference, barring any medical concerns you may have. It's always a good idea to check with your doctor about quit smoking options and discuss what might work best for you before making a decision.


A Word about Cold Turkey...
Cold turkey is the term used to describe quitting smoking with no help from quit aids of any sort. The advantage of this method is that the majority of nicotine is out of a person's body within a few days. The discomforts can be intense, but physical withdrawal is short.

A lot of people quit successfully by going cold turkey. But if this sounds too extreme for your liking, plenty of other options are available to help you withdraw from nicotine more comfortably.
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