Making the decision to quit smoking is not easy, if you do, you should see it as an act of courage for the benefit of your health and the people around you. Nicotine patches are a replacement therapy used to overcome the addiction generated by the daily consumption of cigarettes.
Smoking puts you at risk for respiratory and cardiovascular diseases, even cancer, and the use of these patches can help eliminate your addiction to cigarettes, thus improving your quality of life.
With regard to the use of these patches, many questions arise from those patients who want to stop smoking, the most important is whether they can continue to do so despite applying the nicotine patches. Next, in this FastlyHealarticle, we give you the answer to ” can I smoke with the nicotine patches? ” So you can get out of your doubts.
Table of Contents
How nicotine patches work
Nicotine patches are a replacement therapy to treat smoking . The nicotine contained in cigarettes causes physical dependence, which in the long run can lead to withdrawal symptoms , becoming an obstacle when you want to quit smoking.
These work by releasing an amount of nicotine into the body, absorbing it through the skin, which is directed into the bloodstream to keep a small amount in the body, thereby preventing or reducing symptoms caused by quitting smoking.
Throughout the day, the patch will gradually release a much smaller amount of nicotine than you used to consume each time you popped a cigarette. These amounts will be distributed constantly throughout the day.
What if I smoke with nicotine patches?
The purpose of these patches is to reduce the desire to smoke, in addition to minimizing the symptoms caused by the lack of nicotine after getting used to it, so you should not continue smoking while you are applying this treatment.
If you smoke while you are using the nicotine patches, you can overdose on it, which will lead to the appearance of some symptoms such as the following:
- Sweating
- Skin paleness
- Dizziness
- Sickness
- Vomiting
- Abdominal pain
- Increased salivation
- Difficulty breathing
- Headache
- Temblor
- Mental confusion
- Blurry vision
- Hearing disorders
If very high doses of nicotine are used when smoking excessively and the patches are used at the same time, in addition to the symptoms mentioned above, the following may occur:
- Hypotension
- Difficulty breathing
- Circulatory collapse
- Generalized seizures
Continuing to smoke while using replacement therapy increases the risk of overdose symptoms, therefore, once you decide to start therapy with the patches, you should stop smoking , only then will you prevent these symptoms from appearing.
The patches do not contain the chemicals and toxic substances found in cigarettes. These will compensate for the lack of nicotine in your body in a gradual and medicated way, thus reducing the dependence you have day by day. Therefore, you should not smoke, as your body will gradually get used to the dose of nicotine that the body receives through the patch.
How to use nicotine patches
The placement of a nicotine patch should be indicated by a doctor or the therapist who is guiding you in replacement therapy. The important thing to keep in mind when starting this therapy is that you must completely eliminate cigarette consumption.
In this sense, it will be necessary to place the nicotine patch daily for at least 8 weeks , according to the previously indicated dose. Make sure to do this at the same time.
To avoid irritation in the place where you put it, you must remove the plastic that covers the adhesive, then leave it in the open air for several seconds so that you can then proceed to put it on.
The area of the skin where the patch goes must be clean, dry, healthy and free of hair, the ideal location is above the waist. It is advisable to repeat the procedure daily in a different place.
Once the patch is on the skin, press it down with a finger to stick it well. In case it breaks, you should use a new one.
This patch has a duration time, which varies between 16 and 24 hours. If you wear the first one, you must remove it before going to bed, while if you do the same with the 24-hour one, it will be necessary to remove it the next morning.
Nicotine patches are considered as medications and must be used as such with medical supervision to achieve the success of replacement therapy.
Side effects of nicotine patches
When you put on the patch you may notice the appearance of some discomforts such as:
- General discomfort.
- Itching and redness of the skin in the area where the patch was placed, this discomfort can disappear in a few days on its own.
- Headache.
- Stomach pain accompanied by diarrhea.
- Some people may have trouble sleeping, strange dreams that can turn into nightmares.
- An allergic reaction can occur in those who are sensitive to the material from which the patch is made.
If this is your case and you consume any medication for a disease that afflicts you, do not hesitate to notify your doctor before starting treatment with nicotine patches, with this you will avoid complications and you will be able to obtain the effects that you want so much.
This article is merely informative, at FastlyHeal .com we do not have the power to prescribe medical treatments or make any type of diagnosis. We invite you to see a doctor in the case of presenting any type of condition or discomfort.
If you want to read more articles similar to Can I smoke with nicotine patches? , we recommend that you enter our category of Mental Disorders .

I am a Surgeon with a diploma in comprehensive ultrasound and surgical care residency, an area I am specializing in. During the exercise of my profession, I have realized the need for patients to know the diseases they suffer, and I can tell you that a large part of their complications is due to a lack of information. Being a health web writer allows me to transmit my experience, without borders, to all those readers eager for knowledge, educate them in the prevention of diseases and promote a healthy lifestyle.