Varenicline

What is varenicline?

Varenicline is the active ingredient in the stop-smoking treatment Champix. It helps to treat smoking addiction, and makes quitting a lot easier. Made by Pfizer, it is not a form of nicotine replacement, but works to block withdrawal symptoms to reduce smoking cravings once you give up. It also acts by inhibiting the pleasurable effects you experience when smoking cigarettes and other tobacco products.

How does varenicline work?

Unlike other nicotine replacement therapies, varenicline works in a different way to aid quitting smoking. In medical terms, it is a nicotine receptor and partial agonist. Basically, when it’s diffused into the blood after you take it, it acts on the same receptors in the brain that nicotine normally does. It stimulates these receptors, and produces an effect that actually relieves the cravings and withdrawal symptoms that you experience after you stop smoking.

Additionally, the varenicline stops the nicotine from acting on nicotine receptors. Because of this, if you smoke after you have started taking it, the typical feelings of pleasure and satisfaction do not occur. Without cravings, and without the rewarding sensations you receive from smoking, it makes the process of giving up a lot easier.

How effective is varenicline?

Varenicline has proven to be effective as an aid to quitting smoking. It should not be solely responsible for helping you to quit - it still requires your will power - but it does make the process a lot easier. To start the Champix treatment, set a date when you intend to quit. Then start taking varenicline at least a week before the actual date you want to stop smoking. This will give the drug time to work on the receptors in your brain, so that when you finally give-up, the immediate impact will not be so dramatic.

If you want to quit smoking, a treatment like varenicline won’t do it all for you, but it will make the process much easier. To help make the process more effective, you can read up on a few stop smoking tips that might help to get you in the right mindset for quitting.

How can I get varenicline?

Varenicline is available as prescription only. It is much better to purchase stop-smoking pills on prescription, as the chances of it producing results will be much higher. If you buy a prescription drug, it has usually been approved by the MHRA, which means it has undergone a series of clinical trials and tests. This guarantees that it will aid your quit-smoking efforts and is safe for you to take.