Description

Tobacco contains nicotine. When you smoke, nicotine is absorbed through your lungs into your blood. When nicotine reaches your brain it can cause feelings of pleasure, often leading to nicotine addiction.

When you stop smoking you may experience a variety of symptoms such as craving a cigarette, feeling restless, a change in mood, or trouble sleeping. For most people who stop smoking these withdrawal symptoms are worse in the first few days to a couple of weeks, then they reduce in strength and frequency.

Varenicline works by attaching to the same receptors in the brain as nicotine, reducing the pleasurable feelings experienced when using nicotine-containing products. Varenicline increases the likelihood you will stop smoking but also allows a gradual reduction in nicotine dependence. Compared with nicotine replacement therapy, where the body remains addicted to nicotine, varenicline has the additional benefit of weaning you off nicotine.

How to use varenicline

Varenicline tablets are taken twice daily, usually for 12 or 24 weeks.

The dose is built up over a week, starting 1-2 weeks before target stop smoking date. A starter pack containing both doses needed for the initial 2 weeks is available to order.

The dose can be reduced to 0.5mg twice a day if the higher dose is not tolerated.