The Ultimate Guide to Quit Smoking

Get the latest facts and analyses on the most important issues related to smoking, vaping, nicotine and substance use.

Take sleeping pills strictly as prescribed by your health care provider. Some prescription sleeping pills are for short-term use only.

Surround yourself with people who have successfully quit smoking. Hearing their success stories can be motivating and provide a psychological boost. Support groups, online communities, or even a close friend who has quit can make a huge difference in staying on track.

For patients with cognitive and/or verbal disability, when analgesic plan involves a caregiver, caregivers should receive additional education on pain assessment. Providers should also carefully assess function and goals with both patient and caregiver.

Requests for increases in medication. When patients request increases in opioid medication, perform a full reassessment of any new pain features and changes in psychosocial state. A request for additional opioids could indicate a new or worsened condition, increased tolerance, inappropriate opioid use, diversion, or opioid failure.

Some health conditions — for example, kidney disease, low blood pressure, heart rhythm problems or a history of seizures — may limit your options. Also, prescription sleeping pills and nonprescription sleep aids may interact with other medicines.

Transdermal buprenorphine (Butrans and get more info generic) is FDA-approved for treating pain. It does not require an XDEA number or training to prescribe. The transdermal form is a good alternative for patients who have developed tolerance to other opioids, had a benefit from opioid treatment but wish to escalate treatment, and are taking ≤ 80 MME/day. Start with a 5 or 10 mcg patch (changed weekly), and discontinue other opioids.

If other treatments are not helpful, medication such as varenicline and bupropion can prevent cravings for nicotine and withdrawal symptoms.

When to prescribe naloxone for opioid reversal. When opioid therapy is determined to be appropriate, consider prescribing intranasal naloxone as a safety strategy for opioid reversal. Consider naloxone for patients with:

The most serious potential adverse effect is respiratory depression accompanied by symptoms of sedation and confusion. It may occur with high dose administration in opioid naïve patients. Opioids, at therapeutic doses, depress respiratory rate and tidal volume.

Transdermal fentanyl has a black box warning for opioid naïve patients. It should only be considered, even at low doses, for patients who are tolerant to opioids. Plasma levels of transdermal fentanyl are erratic and are influenced by several factors, including patient temperature, ambient humidity and temperature, skin thickness, presence of adipose tissue, and location of patch.

Read why Abby's Graves' disease became difficult to stablise due to another underlying health condition.

To facilitate gathering information efficiently, use intake questionnaires or templates within the electronic health record. Consider how to involve clinical team members in the evaluation.

"These are often concentrated exfoliants that cause the skin to slough." Chemical peels often contain ingredients like glycolic acid, salicylic acid, and lactic acid.