PEBC: What You Need to Know: Nicotine Replacement Therapy

Formulations:

Gum - as needed, chew chew park technique - chew twice, then park and repeat after 1 minute, each piece lasts 30 minutes, maximum 20 pieces per day

Spray - as needed, into the mouth (not throat) and close mouth afterwards, maximum 64 sprays per day

Inhaler - as needed, short puffs or long deep breath, each cartridge lasts 20 minutes, maximum 12 cartridges per day

Lozenge - suck until taste is strong, then park and repeat after 1 minute, max 15 pieces per day

Patch - applied once daily in morning onto skin

Adverse Effects:

-careful usage in recent myocardial infarction - patch is preferred

-oral formulations: mouth soreness, throat irritation, jaw pain, abnormal taste, nausea, hiccups, heartburn

-patch: vivid dreams and insomnia - may remove patch before bedtime

-patch: skin irritation

Drug Interactions:

-gum: avoid caffeine and acidic beverages within 15 minutes as this may affect nicotine absorption

-nicotine patch can be combined with other short-acting nicotine formulations for better efficacy, or with other smoking cessation therapies (bupropion, varenicline)