Indications And Dose
Nicotine replacement therapy in individuals who smoke fewer than 20 cigarettes each day ▶BY MOUTH USING CHEWING GUM ▶Adult: 2 mg as required, chew 1 piece of gum when the urge to smoke occurs or to prevent cravings, if attempting smoking cessation, treatment should continue for 3 months before reducing the dose ▶BY SUBLINGUAL ADMINISTRATION USING SUBLINGUAL TABLETS ▶Adult: 1 tablet every 1 hour, increased to 2 tablets every 1 hour if required, if attempting smoking cessation, treatment should continue for up to 3 months before reducing the dose; maximum 40 tablets per day Nicotine replacement therapy in individuals who smoke more than 20 cigarettes each day or who require more than 15 pieces of 2-mg strength gum each day ▶BY MOUTH USING CHEWING GUM ▶Adult: 4 mg as required, chew 1 piece of gum when the urge to smoke occurs or to prevent cravings, individuals should not exceed 15 pieces of 4-mg strength gum daily, if attempting smoking cessation, treatment should continue for 3 months before reducing the dose Nicotine replacement therapy in individuals who smoke more than 20 cigarettes each day ▶BY SUBLINGUAL ADMINISTRATION USING SUBLINGUAL TABLETS ▶Adult: 2 tablets every 1 hour, if attempting smoking cessation, treatment should continue for up to 3 months before reducing the dose; maximum 40 tablets per day Nicotine replacement therapy ▶BY INHALATION USING INHALATOR ▶Adult: As required, the cartridges can be used when the urge to smoke occurs or to prevent cravings, individuals should not exceed 12 cartridges of the 10-mg strength daily, or 6 cartridges of the 15-mg strength daily ▶BY MOUTH USING LOZENGES ▶Adult: 1 lozenge every 1–2 hours as required, one lozenge should be used when the urge to smoke occurs, individuals who smoke less than 20 cigarettes each day should usually use the lower-strength lozenges; individuals who smoke more than 20 cigarettes each continued → day and those who fail to stop smoking with the low-strength lozenges should use the higher- strength lozenges; If attempting smoking cessation, treatment should continue for 6–12 weeks before attempting a reduction in dose; maximum 15 lozenges per day ▶BY MOUTH USING OROMUCOSAL SPRAY ▶Adult: 1–2 sprays as required, individuals can spray in Nervous system the mouth when the urge to smoke occurs or to prevent cravings, individuals should not exceed 2 sprays per episode (up to 4 sprays every hour); maximum 64 sprays per day ▶BY INTRANASAL ADMINISTRATION USING NASAL SPRAY ▶Adult: 1 spray as required, individuals can spray into each nostril when the urge to smoke occurs, up to twice every hour for 16 hours daily, if attempting smoking cessation, treatment should continue for 8 weeks before reducing the dose; maximum 64 sprays per day ▶BY TRANSDERMAL APPLICATION USING PATCHES ▶Adult: Individuals who smoke more than 10 cigarettes daily should apply a high-strength patch daily for 6–8 weeks, followed by the medium-strength patch for 2 weeks, and then the low-strength patch for the final 2 weeks; individuals who smoke fewer than 10 cigarettes daily can usually start with the medium- strength patch for 6–8 weeks, followed by the low- strength patch for 2–4 weeks; a slower titration schedule can be used in individuals who are not ready to quit but want to reduce cigarette consumption before a quit attempt; if abstinence is not achieved, or if withdrawal symptoms are experienced, the strength of the patch used should be maintained or increased until the patient is stabilised; individuals using the high-strength patch who experience excessive side- effects, that do not resolve within a few days, should change to a medium-strength patch for the remainder of the initial period and then use the low-strength patch for 2–4 weeks
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