Health Topics A-Z

What Are the Treatments?

Conventional Medicine

First, you must want to stop smoking. People who quit on their own are most likely to remain off cigarettes and other tobacco products.

To help you quit, a combination of drugs and behavior-modification progams can be very effective. Your doctor can offer both nicotine and non-nicotine medications. Zyban, also known as the antidepressant Wellbutrin (buproprion), may be the most effective. It seems to reduce the craving for nicotine and may even curb appetite. Many over-the-counter nicotine replacement products are available, including patches and gum. Your doctor can also prescribe a nasal spray or an oral inhaler.

Your doctor also may recommend a smoking (or other tobacco-use) cessation program.

At-Home Remedies

Most tobacco-use cessation programs recommend the following steps to help you quit:

• Analyze your habit for a few weeks; keep a log of when, where, and why you use tobacco.
• List the reasons you want to quit.
• Set a "quit" date and stick to it.
• Find substitutes — sugarless gum to chew or a pen or pencil to hold — and change your routines to avoid triggering a desire for tobacco.
• Reward your resolve. Treat yourself with the money you would have spent on your habit.
• Enjoy your food and eat as much low-calorie food as you want during withdrawal.
• Never let a relapse deter you from continuing your efforts to quit. Former smokers try an average of six times before they quit for good.

How Can I Prevent It?

The best preventive step is not to start using tobacco and to educate your children to its dangers. Most tobacco users start in their teens because of peer pressure, a need to rebel, or a desire to appear more mature.

Children of tobacco users are more likely to be users because they view tobacco use as acceptable. If you use tobacco and you're serious about preventing your children from doing so, you can provide the best example by quitting.