What remedies are helpful for quitting smoking?

There are multiple medications that can help you stop smoking.  The oldest, and most tested, are the "nicotine replacement therapy".  These include nicotine patches, gum and lozenges which are available over the counter (no prescription) and nictotine inhaler and nasal spray which require a prescription.  All nicotine replacement therapy increase your odds of quitting by approximately 50% - 70%.

Two non-nicotine medications have also been shown help people quit smoking.  Buproprion (trade name Zyban), originally marketed as an antidepressant, has been found to help reduce the cravings from nicotine abstinence.  It can be used in conjunction with nicotine replacement therapy. Varenicline (trade name Chantix) is a newer medication that also decreases the nicotine cravings and additionally blocks the pleasurable affects of nicotine.  Both of these medications require a prescription.

Other non-medication approaches to assist with quiting that have proven to be helpful include counseling, or just visiting your doctor about smoking cessation, changes to your daily routine and enrolling in smoking cessation classes.  Hyponossis, acupunture, accupressure, laser therapy (laser stimulation of acupuncture points on the body), and electrostimulation may all help relieve some of the craving for nicotine, but none have been consistently proven to help with quitting tobacco use.