What Quit Smoking Aid is Best?

Quitting smoking has become a lot easier in the last few decades. Going cold turkey, ‘cutting down’, or chewing a toothpick were the only choices motivated smokers had back in the old days. 

Today, there are nicotine replacement therapy (NRT) products and nicotine vaping products (NVPs) to help you cruise past your withdrawal symptoms and stop smoking for good.

With so many options, it’s natural for motivated smokers to wonder what smoking aid is best. In today’s post, let’s find out which smoking aids can create a significant positive impact on your quit journey.

Available Quit Smoking Aids Today

Here are today’s best and most effective aids to quit smoking readily available from your local pharmacy. 

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Nicotine Replacement Therapies (NRTs)

NRT products are available from your local pharmacy and even supermarket without any prescription. These are the safest and most trusted tools you can use to stop smoking. 

Each one works by supplying a small amount of nicotine to your body to address severe nicotine withdrawal symptoms.

The difference between each type of NRT is the way they’re used. Let’s learn about each of them below.

• Patches: You can peel off nicotine patches and put them on any part of your body, though the upper body lets them transmit nicotine to your system more efficiently for optimal results. They come in various nicotine dosages – you can ask your GP to help you find the right dosage for you.

• Gum: Unlike patches, you can chew nicotine gum to address your withdrawal symptoms. You simply chew a fresh piece of nicotine gum for a few seconds, then tuck it between your teeth and cheek until your withdrawal symptoms ease, then dispose of it.

• Inhalers: These inhalers also deliver a small dose of nicotine, but in a format a bit more similar to smoking with something to ‘puff’ on.

• Lozenges: You can consume nicotine lozenges just like any other lozenge/mint or you can let it rest between your cheek and teeth just like nicotine gum.

Prescribed Medications

As their name suggests, the following quit smoking aids are only available if you have a GP’s prescription and are going through a smoking cessation journey. Here’s a quick explainer on how each one of them works.

• Varenicline (Champix): This medication works by blocking the effects of nicotine on the brain – instead of having the pleasurable effects of smoking, you will feel nothing. While it has worked for many motivated smokers, it has side effects you must know about.

• Bupropion (Zyban): Unlike varenicline, bupropion does not block nicotine’s pleasurable effects but instead re-balances the chemicals in the brain. It can accelerate the chemical rebalancing that months or a year of stopping smoking can do to you. However, like varenicline, it has some side effects worth knowing about.

• Nicotine Vaping Products (NVPs): NVPs available from pharmacies responsibly manufactured for smoking cessation are only available with a GP’s prescription. These are medically supported, inhalation safety-tested, and thoroughly manufactured for smoking cessation – unlike their dangerous counterparts available in convenience stores, corner stores, and tobacconists.

A Few More Things About NVPs

Just by appearance alone, it can be difficult to tell the difference between illegal vapes and responsible pharmacy NVPs. So, let’s properly differentiate them in this section.

Pharmacy NVPs are tested and manufactured with medical oversight, comply with medical device and GMP guidelines, and are insured just like all other medicines. They’re made solely for smoking cessation and only available if you have a quit-smoking GP’s prescription for smoking cessation or nicotine addiction.

Illegal vapes are products sold without a prescription and outside pharmacies. They’re imported and distributed by criminal gangs alongside drugs, and are made cheaply for maximum profits instead of for smoking cessation with your health in mind. Illegal vapes have been found to contain nickel and lead and even foreign saliva – things you definitely don’t want inside your body.

Is Chewed Tobacco Considered a Smoking Aid?

Chewed tobacco isn’t a smoking aid, and it’s illegal to sell it in Australia. While some smokers who have had some access to it attest to its capacity to help you stop smoking cigarettes, it has been known to cause cancer and other kinds of diseases with prolonged use, so there’s little to no benefit involved.

Stay away from chewed tobacco and nicotine pouches, and stick to trusted quit smoking aids you can purchase with or without prescriptions from a pharmacy.

Do I Need a Prescription to Buy a Smoking Aid?

NRT products are available over-the-counter, which is handy if you’re having a strong urge to light a cigarette. However, we strongly recommend working with a stop-smoking GP before buying NRTs – they can determine the best NRT dosage to alleviate your withdrawal symptoms.

On the other hand, prescribed medications like varenicline and bupropion and NVPs from pharmacies require a GP’s prescription.

Is Vaping a Form of Smoking Aid?

As we’ve mentioned above, NVPs under prescription from pharmacies are smoking aids designed to help you quit smoking (or illegal vaping) for good.

Non-therapeutic vapes sold outside of pharmacies are now illegal nationwide. These are not smoking aids and are made purely for profit and sustained addiction.

My Smoking Aid Doesn’t Seem to Help Me Quit, What’s Wrong?

Sometimes, the smoking aid you’ve purchased may not be enough to alleviate your withdrawal symptoms, or you may have ingrained gestures that a nicotine patch or gum can’t address completely.

When this happens, you should see a stop-smoking GP. These professionals have helped thousands of motivated smokers stop smoking, and they’re in the best position to help you stop for good. 

If you’re ready to start your quit journey, we can help. 

Smokefree Clinic gives you access to many medically reviewed and trustworthy resources that can inform and aid you in your path to wellness, so have a look around! 

If you’re ready to get started, Smokefree can connect you to friendly Australian healthcare professionals who excel in helping patients quit smoking for good, including via the use of pharmacy NVPs.

Click here to book in with a doctor today.