Quitting smoking is not easy. Some people even say that it’s almost as difficult as quitting heroin. The hard thing about smoking though, is that it’s somewhat socially acceptable, meaning it’s very difficult to give it up. If you feel you are battling to achieve your goals and quit smoking, products & aids are available that can make your journey much easier.

There are three main products and aids that you can use stop smoking. They are patches and gum, oral medication and e-cigarettes.

Patches and Gum

If you’ve heard of the brand Nicorette, you have heard of one of the largest sellers of nicotine patches and gum in the world. In order to help you quit smoking, products & aids like Nicorette offer you increasingly smaller amounts of nicotine, to wean you off your addiction.

You start off on a higher dose of gum or patches while you are trying to give up smoking so that your body gets the nicotine it craves but none of the tar and other poisons in cigarettes. Over time you cut down on the dosage until you feel you can go without it at all.

Oral Medication

There are many oral medications available for people who want to quit smoking. Side effects of these products can be varied though. For some products, like Champix, these side effects can be quite marked.

Champix works by binding to nicotine receptors in your brain, decreasing your need for nicotine and at the same time makes the smoking of cigarettes less enjoyable. Some of the side effects can include mood swings, nausea, depression and abnormal dreams.

e-Cigarettes

e-Cigarettes are a recent addition to the market and work by delivering nicotine to the user, through a device that is the same shape as a cigarette. To mimic the action of smoking, some of these e-cigarettes even expel steam and have tips that light up when you inhale. Over time, you cut down on your nicotine so that eventually you are no longer reliant on it.