Quit smoking with Clarks Pharmasave
Planning to quit smoking? Excellent news! It’s the single most effective way to improve your overall health and reduce your risk of serious cardiac, lung and other diseases.
Why should I quit smoking?
According to Government figures, almost 50% of people who smoke go on to die from smoking-related health problems. Smoking causes several types of cancer, breathing problems such as chronic bronchitis and major heart problems including heart disease, heart attacks and strokes.
The good news is that quitting smoking improves your health almost instantly:
• Within 20 minutes of your last cigarette or tobacco, your blood pressure will lower and your heart rate decrease.
• Your risk of stroke drops by a massive 40% in a matter of hours.
• After 24 hours, your risk of a heart attack also decreases.
• Within weeks, your smoker’s cough will improve
• You will recover from common illnesses faster
• You’ll live longer!
How to quit smoking
Now the really good news – there is plenty of help available to enable you to stop smoking and stay smoking-free. The most important step is deciding to do something about your smoking habit.
All smokers develop an addiction to nicotine, and it’s a hard habit to break, even with the strongest of will power. There are many products to help you kick the habit – nicotine patches, gum, mouth sprays and more.
Ask your Clarks Pharmasave pharmacist about ways to quit smoking – we’re here to help.
Plan to succeed
One way to ensure success is to plan how you will stop smoking. Write down
- Why you want to quit (and why you don’t)
- Who can help support you, such as family, friends, medical professionals
- The treats you’ll earn as a reward for not smoking
- Ways to handle the inevitable cravings (everyone gets them)
- Techniques to combat triggers to smoking, such as a cigarette after a meal, or on the sports field touchline.
Again, if you have any questions, ask our pharmacists.
Smoking cessation medications
Our pharmacies stock a selection of prescription and non-prescription medication to help you quit more effectively, including:
- Nicotine patches
- Nicotine gum and lozenges
- Nicotine inhalers
- Varenicline
- Bupropion
Bupropion and varenicline both require a prescription from your physician, and need to be taken 1 or 2 weeks before you start to quit.
Stop smoking alternative therapies
There are various alternative therapies that offer ways to stop smoking, such as hypnosis, acupuncture, laser therapy, and acupressure. None of these methods have sufficient scientific proof to prove their effectiveness, unlike the products available from our pharmacies.
More information on quitting smoking
For more information on how to stop smoking, see these websites: