In addition to lifestyle changes, trigger avoidance, and NRT, your health care provider may prescribe medication to help reduce cravings.
Prescription medication used to help patients quit smoking includes:
Varenicline: Varenicline works by blocking nicotine’s effect on certain receptors in the brain, which reduces the pleasurable effects of smoking. Additionally, varenicline acts on these same receptors (known as nicotinic acetylcholine receptors), a mechanism that provides ex-smokers a version of the dopamine effects caused by nicotine. It essentially gives a small version of the relief and pleasure smokers feel when they smoke, without the harmful effects of smoking.
Bupropion SR: Bupropion SR is a mild form of antidepressant medication that blocks the reuptake of dopamine in the brain. Dopamine and norepinephrine are two chemicals produced naturally in the brain that are responsible for stabilizing your mood and telling your brain to feel happy/ Sometimes, though, your brain reabsorbs these chemicals too quickly after they are produced, inhibiting them from doing their job and making you feel good. This process is called “reuptake.” Bupropion is a reuptake inhibitor, meaning it keeps the body from absorbing these chemicals too quickly. These same effects play a part in bupropion’s use as an anti-smoking aid. By blocking dopamine reuptake in the brain, bupropion helps reduce craving and withdrawal symptoms that may occur as you stop smoking. Because bupropion elongates feelings of motivation and reward by blocking dopamine reuptake, the urge to smoke is reduced.
Bupropion XL: Bupropion XL's effects are the same as those of bupropion SR.
Bupropion XL is designed to release the drug slowly into the body, with effects lasting up to 24 hours. This means that you only need to take bupropion XL once a day. Bupropion SR is absorbed into the body more quickly than XL. It does not last as long, however, and should be taken twice a day.
