3 Side Effects of Nicotine Replacement Therapy

Quitting isn’t easy, anyone who has tried can tell you that. Given that you’re here, you probably already know from experience just how hard it can be.

It goes without saying that those of us who are ready to quit can use all the help we can get. Many people turn to Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) to get that help, but how much good is it actually doing?

Let’s first consider the list of side effects.

You’re looking at headaches, nausea, and other digestive and sleep issues. And that’s for all NRTs. They also each have their own specific side effects.

• The patch can cause rashes, dizziness, and nightmares
• The gum can increase gastric acid and salivation, not to mention provide you with a case of the hiccups. These are just the most popular options.
• Less common choices, such as the inhalers and the sprays have their own list of symptoms.

And all this time, there’s still nicotine being delivered to your system. On top of all those nasty side effects, the NRT hasn’t actually done anything to curb the nicotine addiction. According to WebMD, “Nicotine from medicines increases the levels of dopamine and norepinephrine just like nicotine from cigarettes does.” You’re getting the same fix that a cigarette provides, just in a different form.

Perhaps we can overlook all this. They wouldn’t be so popular if they didn’t work, right?

Lead author of a Harvard study, Hillel Alpert, thinks not. In his words, “This study shows that using NRT is no more effective in helping people stop smoking cigarettes in the long-term than trying to quit on one’s own.”

So what does help?

We here at Quit Stop Now believe in a holistic approach. There is no magic pill that’s going to get you to quit smoking. Nutrition, behavior, and support are all elements of a successful plan to stop. We aim to provide those elements because your success is important to us.

Ready to quit? Contact us today! For many reasons, you want to quit and if you’re ready to take this new approach, especially after having exhausted several others, please reach out and begin your QSN journey today.