INDICATIONS: How The Patch Can Help You Quit Smoking and Your Body When you smoke a cigarette, nicotine reaches your brain in just seconds after each puff. Your brain and body get used to functioning with a certain level of nicotine. Your nicotine level drops dramatically after your last cigarette, and then you begin experiencing withdrawal symptoms. Common nicotine withdrawal symptoms include intense cravings for nicotine, irritability, anxiety, depression, restlessness, difficulty concentrating, difficulty sleeping and increased appetite. Physical withdrawal symptoms usually peak within 24 to 72 hours after quitting, then decline over the next several weeks. However, some smokers may experience withdrawal symptoms for several months. How the Novartis Nicotine Transdermal System Stop Smoking Aid Patch Works The patch helps you quit smoking by reducing your nicotine withdrawal symptoms. When you wear a patch, nicotine is gradually released into your bloodstream through the skin. This reduces the withdrawal symptoms that many people normally feel when they quit smoking because it replaces lower amounts of the nicotine that your body has become accustomed to from smoking. This patch program offers three patches with different dosing levels. You can move to a lower dose patch by changing the patch you wear to gradually reduce your nicotine level over an eight-week period. This program will help to reduce your nicotine withdrawal symptoms such as irritability, anxiety, restlessness, headaches, difficult sleeping and concentrating, increased appetite, and craving for nicotine. If you smoke more than 10 cigarettes per day, use the following schedule below: weeks 1 thru 4-Step 1, use one 21mg patch/day. weeks 5 and 6-Step 2, use one 14mg patch/day. weeks 7 and 8-Step 3, use one 7mg patch/day. Applying the Patch 1. Choose a clean, dry, nonhairy area of skin on your upper body or the outer part of your arm.
