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Nicotine replacement therapy is intended to give your body a low dose of nicotine to help cut back the cravings. Your withdrawal symptoms will not be as severe since small amounts will be put into your system. However nicotine replacement therapy will cause your system to go through withdrawals twice. The first time when you initially quit smoking and the second time when you stop the nicotine replacement therapy. You do not need to go to a doctor to get it.

Many people have a hard time dealing with the withdrawals the second time around. Especially as that familiar edgy feeling comes back and you go through a milder form of withdrawals for the next three days. It's hard for people to prepare themselves for that second wave and often find themselves unable to let go of the nicotine replacement therapy. Those that can let go are one step closer to becoming smoke free and altering their lifestyle.

There are many methods of nicotine replacement therapy; the patch is the most commonly used. Normally you will start with a higher dose and gently work your way down over a 6 to 12 week period of time. Side effects are common as the amount delivered in the 24 hour period is often too much for the body to handle.

One side effect associated with using the patch is the feeling of nausea and breaking out in a cold sweat. Usually this is a sign that the dose of the patch is too high for your body to tolerate. You can either try a lower dose or consider trying a different form of nicotine replacement therapy. The patch has been used by many people successfully, but everybody's body chemistry is different and yours may not be able to adapt to this form of therapy.

Nicotine replacement therapy comes in various forms, things have come a long way from just being a patch. Another form is nicotine gum, which has improved in taste over the years, you no longer have the pepper taste that would linger in your mouth. Now nicotine gum comes in fruit flavors that you can chew without feeling sick. You can control the dosage according to your own withdrawal symptoms.

There are also the nicotine lozenge, which now comes in a variety of flavors. You let the tablet slowly dissolve in your mouth and it delivers a low dose of nicotine into your system. Again, you set your own dosing schedule, normally about 2 to 4 hours in between tablets, depending on your personal withdrawals. As with all nicotine replacement therapy you will experience some form of secondary withdrawal symptoms when you wean yourself off of them but that is a very small price to pay compared to continuing to smoke.

Another method of nicotine replacement therapy is the nicotine inhaler. It is a good method for anyone who needs to have something in their hand, a common problem among smokers. The inhaler sends a low dose of nicotine to your system which helps deter the cravings. I do not have first hand experience with the inhaler, but I have heard from several people who have been successful with it.

There are nicotine replacement options available without a prescription and readily accessible at any corner drugstore or supermarket. You will still have to expect to pay quite a bit for over the counter therapy. But many of the products provide online support and forums, which help keep you in touch with other people who are trying to quit smoking.

As mentioned before, some of the side effects of nicotine replacement therapy can range from: a slight headache, insomnia, to more severe symptoms such as nausea, diarrhea or constipation. Some of the side effects tend to be temporary, if they are too much you may want to think about changing your dose or about looking into other smoking cessation options, such as non- nicotine based medication.