Why Nicotine Replacement is Safe, Helpful, and Recommended

Smoking, chewing, and vaping all put harmful chemicals in your body. There are about 7000 chemicals in the smoke from cigarettes, pipe, hookah, and cigars. Things like arsenic (rat poison!) and formaldehyde (mummies!). Those other chemicals (not nicotine) cause most of the damage to your body. Chewing tobacco also has many chemicals that cause cancer. And if you vape, you’re still inhaling lots of chemicals other than nicotine. The long-term effects of inhaling those heated chemicals are not yet known.

Using tobacco regularly leads to addiction. Smoking tobacco, chewing, or vaping all put nicotine into your body. Over time, nicotine changes your brain. When you’re addicted and you smoke or chew or vape, your brain cells release large amounts of feel-good neurotransmitters. It reminds you that tobacco is just what you need, as soon as possible. The longer you resist, the more you crave that feel-good feeling. And the more anxious and irritable you can become. That’s nicotine withdrawal.

Using tobacco relieves withdrawal, but it doesn't last long. For smoking, nicotine reaches the brain in just 7 seconds. That’s how it keeps you hooked. But the relief is fleeting, because your body processes nicotine quickly. For some people it lasts only a couple of minutes. Before long, you’re anxious and irritable again. The cycle continues.

When you use NRT, you’ll start to notice something. Actually smoking, vaping, dipping or chewing is not as exciting as the moments right before you do it. It’s exciting to look forward to it, and to know you are about to get that relief. But the relief itself is fleeting.

Nicotine replacement medications deliver “clean” nicotine. It calms your cravings. It eases the withdrawal symptoms just enough so you can practice coping with triggers in new ways.

To successfully quit, you have to practice. You have to practice not smoking, vaping, dipping or chewing while you are feeling cravings. Nicotine replacement gives you a break from the intensity of cravings, urges, and withdrawals. It can offer a little peace of mind while you are trying to quit. It gives you space to practice.