94 percent of the time – NO.
Not to upset you in any way, but this blog is dedicated to providing FACTS and educating smokers on what really works. Disheartening as it may be, Nicotine Replacement Therapy has been used by many as a short-remedy while ineffective in the long-term quest for calling it quits. Here’s why:
There are two factors responsible for why people cannot stop smoking no matter what:
- The addictive pharmacokinetic nature of nicotine on the brain
- The established psychological dependence of the delivery system, or the act of smoking
Nicotine Replacement Therapy may be effective in supplying the body with nicotine; however it has no match when it comes to combating the other most largest frontier of a cigarette addiction: the delivery method.
The brain acts on what it has learned, whether it may be through naturally default elements (fear of heat, height, or drowning) or learned behaviors such as smoking. The brain has learned that when you have a cigarette, you will become more relaxed, focused, and satisfy your urges for nicotine. Therefore, it has established a metal platform that the act of “smoking” is default nicotine delivery method. Furthermore, the amount of nicotine absorbed through patches, gum, and inhalers is less than two thirds of the labeled nicotine content and will not effectively relinquish your cravings. Let the statistics speak for themselves:
- Inhalers have a 14% success rate after one year
- Combining inhalers and patches only increase the rate by 5.5%
- Chewing nicotine gum has a quit rate of 6%
It is patently obvious that NRT is not effective, at least for many. Your body does not just need nicotine in and of itself, rather the administration of the drug through smoking.
A veteran of NRT for 15 years, I learned the hard way about its ineffectiveness. But through other means, I finally quit smoking tobacco after 20 years.
The Quit Blog 