Tobacco Use Addiction Treatment in Alexandria, VA
If you are dependent on nicotine and tobacco, Pinnacle Healthcare Services is here to help. Nicotine, a psychoactive chemical, is a highly addictive central nervous system stimulant. Tobacco products like cigarettes, e-cigarettes, cigars, pipes, snuff, and chewing tobacco, generally contain nicotine. The addictive nature of nicotine includes drug-reinforced behavior, obsessive use, and recurrent use after abstaining from it, along with physical tolerance and dependence on it.
What are the Treatment Methods for Tobacco Dependence?
There are several effective treatment options for tobacco use disorder. They include:
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Support Groups and Counseling
Counseling is also an efficient technique that supports your addiction treatment journey and enables you to learn methods to prevent tobacco abuse. Healthcare providers can also integrate counseling into your addiction treatment plan along with medication and other effective treatment methods.
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Lifestyle Changes
Lifestyle changes are essential to prevent a relapse into addiction. This includes learning healthy stress management techniques and adopting a healthier lifestyle. Additionally, if you are recovering from tobacco addiction, you can engage your friends and family for support and motivation. Even for patients who relapse into tobacco use, these changes help to continue the recovery process effectively and in a healthy manner.
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Medications
Certain medications can effectively help treat tobacco use disorder, and many treatments, including non-nicotine medicines and nicotine replacement therapy, have proven to work as well. However, please speak with our team to see what is the right treatment for yourself. Based on your medical condition and the severity of your addiction, your healthcare provider will develop the appropriate tobacco addiction plan for you.
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Nicotine Replacement Therapy
It provides nicotine without tobacco and the harmful chemicals in tobacco smoke. Additionally, nicotine replacement products help relieve nicotine cravings as well as any subsequent withdrawal symptoms. However, this is not always the safest or the most effective treatment option.
- Over-the-counter nicotine replacement products include:
- Nicotine patch (Habitrol)
- Nicotine gum (Nicorette)
- Nicotine lozenge (Commit)
- Nicotine replacement products available through prescription include:
- Nicotine nasal spray (Nicotrol NS)
- Nicotine inhaler (Nicotrol)
- Nicotine-free products available through prescription include:
- Nortriptyline(Pamelor)
- Bupropion (Zyban)
- Over-the-counter nicotine replacement products include:
How Long Does Nicotine Stay in Your System?
When nicotine does enter your body, it breaks down into more than 20 different substances that include anabasine, nornicotine, and cotinine. These by-products are eventually excreted out of your body through urine. According to medical research, it can take over 2 weeks for a person’s blood to reach the same cotinine levels as someone as compared to someone who does not use tobacco. Also, the more you smoke, the longer it takes for nicotine to leave your body. The exact amount of time for the nicotine to clear varies from person to person.
Our Team Can Help You
At Pinnacle Healthcare, our medical team combines pharmacological approaches, behavioral treatment, and counseling to treat your addiction. Additionally, to avert any relapse into tobacco addiction, we also integrate our treatment plans with long-term follow-up and counseling sessions. If you are looking for “tobacco use disorder treatment near me” or “tobacco addiction treatment near me,” we at Pinnacle Healthcare Services in Alexandria, VA, are here for you. Book an appointment with us to get help on your tobacco addiction.
FAQs
Within one to three days, nicotine will leave your blood after you stop using tobacco. Cotinine, on the other hand, will be gone after one to 10 days. Neither of these will be detectable in the urine after three to four days once you stop using tobacco products.
Constant use of tobacco and/ or smoking can cause various heart diseases, cancer, lung diseases, diabetes, stroke, and chronic obstructive pulmonary diseases (COPD). Furthermore, it can increase the risk for certain eye diseases, tuberculosis, and other problems with the immune system, including rheumatoid arthritis.
