Smoking Cessation Therapy

Getting help to stop smoking with smoking cessation therapy is probably the best way to tackle the problems associated with quitting smoking.  There are several different kinds of smoking cessation aids and not every one of them works for every person.  Finding the right program to help you stop smoking will make the process a lot easier on you and your body.  Identifying the different options and knowing how they work will help you make an informed decision about what will work best for you.

Stop Smoking Pill. There are 2 on the market.  Zyban and Chantix.  Chantix is probably the more effective of the two and is becoming more widely used.  It works by attaching itself to the “pleasure receptors” in your brain instead of nicotine so you don’t get a rush or feeling of pleasure from a cigarette and stopping the craving for nicotine.

Hypnosis. This works by changing the way you perceive cigarettes and smoking and breaking the pleasure cycle by making you no longer want to smoke.  It works better for some people than others.  I found a hypnosis recording that I listened to at night to be very effective along with the use of medication. Hypnosis helps most with breaking the mental habit of smoking.

Nicotine Replacement Therapy. These were one of the first modern “breakthrough” stop smoking aids.  It works as a patch or gum that you chew that delivers nicotine to your system.  You start at a high dose and wean yourself down to a lower dose and then off as your craving for nicotine diminishes.  It doesn’t help with the psychological aspect of addiction.

Herbal Aids. Most of the herbs I’ve seen are used mainly for relaxation and relieving stress, something that you used to use cigarettes for.  Lobelia is a very powerful herb said to make cigarettes taste bad.  It didn’t have that effect on me, but I didn’t use it for very long either.  A friend did and said it helped him a lot.  Herbs can be bought on their own or as a combination of different herbs working together.

No one smoking cessation therapy is going to work for everyone.  You might try a combination like I did of hypnosis and medication or find that nicotine replacement therapy works best for you.  None of them are going to work on their own, they all require you to make that commitment to stop smoking.  You Can Do It.