Nicorette .5mg nasal spray...triggers intense cravings?

[iSTRONG]

you need to stick with it.

I've been using the nasal spray for about a year now. Basically, i had the same reaction as all of you to it at the beginning but it only takes a couple of days to get used to it.

It feels like water nowadays when i spray.

 

[TropicalBob]

This is true. It's very harsh for the first few days, then your nose adjusts.

 

[Vaporista]

It only feels like water because the ORIGINAL formulation was made by Pharmacia in Sandwich, Kent which was owned by Pitzfer and that was a nuclear bomb up the nose time after time. Honestly there was never any getting used to that. I'm referring to the last batches made by Pharmacia which expired in 2009 and 2010 which I used and some might still be around in the UK on dusty shelves... but Pharmacia nicorette spray was sold to McNeill a division of Johnson and Johnson when they bought Nicorette and other over the counter brands from Pitzfer in 2006 and the nasal spray formulation seems to have changed to a milder more user friendly version. I just ordered a batch in of the McNeill spray and I hardly notice the sting at all and within a couple of days it's like water.That is a great pity. I'd put money down on the table that the formulation has been tinkered with. You might get the same nicotine delivered quickly but you don't get the sinus clearing, brain drilling, eye pooling, throat zinging experience you got with the original formulation.That is a pity as I grew quite fond of the spray (the old ones) as I used them to put down the e-cigs and I use them from time to time and nothing else. This new McNeill spray is like a watered down version of a good Whiskey. It gets nicotine in fastest but all the fun is gone. I dug around and found this below and by gosh, you know the Pharmacia spray was addictive as heck. I do miss it and if any UK forumites out there see any expired or soon to be expired Pharmacia nicorette nasal spray on a dusty shelf send me a PM and I'll buy them all.

Pharmacia AB of Stockholm, Sweden developed a nicotine-containing nasal spray designed to wean smokers from cigarettes (WSJ 8/2/94). Pharmacia AB's stock symbol is PHARY (DJ 8/1/94). Pharmacia Inc. applied to market a nicotine-containing nasal spray a smoking cessation device (DJ 8/1/94). Pharmacia AB sought permission to sell the spray on a prescription basis in the U.S. in 1994 (WSJ 8/2/94). Pharmacia Inc. markets nicotine nasal spray in 1994 (NYT 8/2/94). The nicotine nasal spray was discussed at a meeting of the FDA's Drug Advisory Abuse Committee on 8/1/94. The panel concluded there was a potential that the spray would be abused and recommended strict record keeping, strong warnings, and limits on refills (WSJ 8/2/94). The FDA advisory committee recommended that Pharmacia AB's nicotine spray should only be sold with prescriptions, strong warnings about its danger and a limit on refills (DJ 8/1/94). A clinical study of a nicotine-containing nasal spray-manufactured by Pharmacia AB was done in Britain. Study was run by Gary Sutherland and involved 227 British smokers 116 were given the spray and 111 a place after a year of treatment, 30 of those given the spray were not smoking, more than double the number in the control group. Of those 30, 13 were still using the spray when the study ended after a year, despite doctors' recommendations to use the spray only for 3 months. Twelve of the thirteen appeared to show signs of addiction, per E. Douglas Kramer of the FDA. Several complained of withdrawal symptoms such as tenseness and hunger when they stopped using the spray several patients said they felt hooked on the spray (WSJ 8/2/94). Pharmacia AB is based in Stockholm, Sweden

. (Johnson & Johnson owns Nicorette, but licenses it to GlaxoSmithKline for sale in the United States market. The nasal spray is available only in the UK and New Zealand and as far as I know Johnson and Johnson have no plans to introduce it anywhere else)

 

[iSTRONG]

wow vaporista, you're totally right. I saw the packaging change from green to blue but it never crossed my mind that the formulation might have changed as well...

Yes, I did use to enjoy the shocking effects of the nasal spray and lately have been feeling like it doesn't satisfy me as much as it used to... never realised it's because it's not the same product...

That's kind of why i'm lurking on these forums again even though i'd put my e-cigs away once i discovered the nasal spray... Yes, the old formulation was very addictive. I was definitely hooked on it... but found quitting all the other forms of nicotine very easy while using it. This new watery one, not so much... I guess i'm addicted to addiction!

 

[Vaporista]

istrong, what is confusing is that Mcneill (Johnson and Johnson) markets the sprays in both the blue and green packaging for some unknown reason. The original Pharmacia nasal spray packaging was green. The spray is manufactured in Sweden according to Johnson and Johnson. What's even more confusing is that they are inserting the green booklets from the green packaging into the blue packaging. But that's all irrelevant. What one needs to do is find an original Pharmacia spray in the Green packaging (it will say Pharmacia, Sandwich, Kent UK) and do an ingredient comparison between the Mcneill (Johnson and Johnson) version and the Pharmacia original.Maybe then there will be a missing ingredient or subsituted ingredient. I'm no chemist but I can tell you I suspect that the claimed nicotine levels are watered down because previously a couple of squirts of the old formulation was enough three to six times per day. Now I find myself spraying every hour up to the maximum recommended dose.
Addiction sure. But even a ...... Junkie knows when their smack has been cut. This new spray has been cut and someone is doubling their money and laughing all the way to the bank.
Piztfer is no doubt still kicking themselves for selling their Consumer pharmaceutical division to Johnson and Johnson in 2006.