Smoking–Medicines To Help You

You are a woman.
You are a smoker.

You are not alone. Approximately 18% of adult women smoke. More than half of all smokers want to quit. There is help.

Read this guide … even if you are not ready to quit now.  Learn more about products and medicines to help you quit smoking. Read tips to help you make a quit smoking plan that may work for you. Use this guide to help you talk to your pharmacist or doctor.

Why is it so hard to quit?

Many people who smoke become addicted to a chemical called nicotine in cigarettes and other tobacco products. If you try to stop smoking, you might crave cigarettes, feel nervous, feel irritable (cranky), or have headaches. These are signs of withdrawal. There are products you can try that may lessen these problems and help you quit. You can buy some of these products at your local drug store. You need a prescription from your doctor for others.

Why Quit?

Everyone knows that smoking is bad for your health. In fact, lung cancer kills more women than breast cancer. Did you know that if you quit smoking you may improve your health right away? Quitting may improve your skin, reduce bad breath, and make your hair smell better.

The Same Day You Quit
Your blood pressure will go down

Within a Month
Your circulation (blood flow) will get better
Your breathing may improve

Within a Year
Your risk of heart disease will be half of someone who smokes

Overall, your chance of dying of lung cancer will be less if you quit. Your chance of getting other kinds of cancer like throat, kidney or bladder cancer will also go down.

Smoking and Your Health

• Some medicines work differently when you quit smoking. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about all of the medicines you are taking.
• Women who smoke are more likely to have a broken hip.
• Postmenopausal women who smoke raise their chances of having weak bones.

Smoking and Birth Control

• Women who smoke may have serious reactions to their birth control.
• Women who smoke while using birth control raise their chances of having a stroke, heart problems, or blood clots. This problem can affect any woman but it is more likely in women over age 35.

Always tell your doctor or nurse that you smoke when you go to get your birth control.

Smoking and Pregnancy

Smoking harms the health of women and their babies.

• Women who smoke may have problems getting pregnant.
• Women who smoke are more likely to have premature, stillborn, or low birth weight babies.
• Women who smoke put their babies at risk for SIDS (sudden infant death syndrome) — a condition that causes a baby to stop breathing.
• Babies exposed to smoking may be more likely to have asthma or ear infections.

Try to quit smoking before you become pregnant. If you find out that you are pregnant, talk to your doctor right away about safe ways that you can quit smoking.

Quit Smoking Tips

1. Set a Quit Date and Make a Plan

• Pick a day you want to quit
• Talk to your pharmacist or doctor
• Plan how to handle situations where others are smoking
• Remove cigarettes from your home, car, and office

2. Get Help

• Tell your friends and family that you are quitting
• Join a support group
• Call a quit smoking helpline

3. Deal with Cravings and Withdrawal

• Try nicotine replacement products or medicines
• Exercise to reduce stress
• Start a hobby to keep your mind off smoking

4. Plan for Setbacks

• Do not give up. Try again.
• Think about what worked and what did not work.
• Talk to friends who have quit

For more information to help you quit smoking

www.smokefree.gov
1-800-QUITNOW
1-800-784-8669
TTY: 1-800-332-8615

National Cancer Institute
1-877-448-7848
www.cancer.gov/cancertopics/tobacco

Nicotine Replacement Products

How They Work

Nicotine replacement products give your body nicotine without the other chemicals found in cigarettes and other tobacco products. These products help you wean your body off cigarettes. Nicotine Replacement products should be used for a short time to help you deal with withdrawal. Read the label and talk to your pharmacist or doctor about the right way to use each product.

Like any medicine, nicotine replacement products may cause some side effects. Talk to your doctor or pharmacist about your specific risks. Check the next page for general warnings about using these products.

Nicotine Replacement Products: General Facts

Warnings

• Do not smoke, chew tobacco, use snuff, or use any other product containing nicotine while using any nicotine replacement product.
• Women who are pregnant or breastfeeding should only use these products if their doctor says that it is OK.
• Talk to your doctor before using these products if you have diabetes, heart disease, asthma, or stomach ulcers.
• Talk to your doctor before using these products if you have had a recent heart attack or have high blood pressure but are not taking medicine.

Common Side Effects

The side effects are different for each product.
Ask your pharmacist or doctor to tell you about all of the side effects and risks for each product.

You can also check the FDA website for more information of each product. Go to: Drugs@FDA.

Danger Signs

Stop use and call your doctor if you have any of these signs:

• Nausea (upset stomach)
• Dizziness
• Weakness
• Vomiting
• Fast or irregular heartbeat
• Mouth or throat problems
• Redness or swelling of the skin around the patch that does not go away

Non-Nicotine Medicines

Warnings

• Do not take with Wellbutrin or other medicines containing Bupropion.
• Do not take with MAO Inhibitors (a kind of medicine for depression).
• Talk to your doctor before using this medicine if you have kidney disease, bipolar disorder, liver disease, high blood pressure, or an eating disorder.
• Talk to your doctor before using this medicine if you have seizures or take medicines that raise your chance of having a seizure.
• If you drink alcohol, do not have more than one drink per day (glass of wine, bottle of beer, or shot of hard liquor).
• Use caution if you take Levodopa while you are taking Zyban (Bupropion).
• People who take this medicine may be more likely to try to hurt or kill themselves.

Common Side Effects

• Dizziness
• Nausea (upset stomach)
• Constipation
• Vomiting
• Problems Sleeping
• Dry Mouth
• Blurred Vision

Danger Signs

Stop use and call your doctor if you have a seizure.

Non-Nicotine Medicines

Warnings

• Talk to your doctor before using this drug if you have kidney problems or if you are on kidney dialysis.
• Tell your doctor if you are pregnant, nursing, or plan to become pregnant.

Common Side Effects

• Nausea (upset stomach)
• Changes in your dreams
• Constipation
• Gas
• Vomiting

You can also check the FDA website for more information of each non-nicotine medicine to quit smoking. Go to: Drugs@FDA.