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Quit Smoking Using a Nicotine Patch

Nicotine is an extremely addictive substance with some studies showing that it is just as addictive as cocaine and other illegal drugs. It is the nicotine in cigarettes which make it so difficult to give up. As well as a physical nicotine addiction, smokers must overcome the psychological addiction made more difficult by society's acceptance of smoking and the fact that it is a legal drug. Any attempt to quit smoking must therefore address both the physical and psychological sides of the addiction. The easy way to treat the physical effects of nicotine addiction is with the use of a quit smoking aid such as a nicotine patch.

A nicotine patch is one of the best known and widely used aids which has been readily available for many years. Nicotine patches are placed on the skin and slowly release a steady supply of nicotine into the bloodstream. The idea behind it is that you slowly decrease the amount of nicotine going into the bloodstream so that your body is gradually weaned off the drug.

The patch works by reducing your desire for nicotine. The patch never releases as much nicotine as a cigarette and so over time, as you become used to lower levels of nicotine in your system, you can reduce the dosage of the patches until, eventually, you body is free of nicotine. Another reason that using nicotine patches is one of the best ways to quit smoking is that it is an extremely strong deterrent against smoking. If you smoke a cigarette while using a nicotine patch the level of nicotine in your body will become too high and you could suffer from a nicotine overdose. This could result in serious illness and even death.

A nicotine patch is a very effective stop smoking aid but it does have some disadvantages. Firstly, it is quite expensive, generally more expensive than the cigarettes themselves. Of course this is only a short term problem as once you quit smoking you will be saving yourself a significant amount of money each month. Secondly, the patch can cause insomnia and other sleeping problems if you wear it to bed. If you don't wear the patch to bed then you might end up with a nicotine craving and, therefore, a cigarette craving when you wake up in the morning. Despite these minor problems, the nicotine patch remains the most popular quitting aid for people with nicotine addictions.