Zyban

Has anyone used this medication to help them stop smoking?

l went to a smoking cessation clinic and they wrote me out a letter to ask the Dr to advise me on Zyban.

So today l went to the Dr and he did just that and then prescribed this medication, and informed me of the side effects.

He did make a statement that l thought was strange. l told him that my mother was on Zyban and was doing well with her smoking cessation. He asked where she lived and l said the states. He then smiled and said well if her Dr gave her Zyban then l will give it to you too. After all they sue for everything in the states.  :-/ :-/  Strange statement huh??

A side from that has anyone tried Zyban??

I had taken Zyban for about a month. It was prescribed mainly for my mild case of depression. But it was also to help me stop smoking.

Like I said, I was only on it for a month because I began to suffer from the worst anxiety attacks ever. I didn't know what they were at first because I had never had them before. Unfortunatly, I get them every now and then. Perhaps I did before and didnt' notice them or perhaps having an anxiety attack has made me more perceptive.

My worst moment was the day I quit taking them. I was at work and couldn't breathe. I was just sitting there, gulping for air with tears streaming down my cheeks. I refused to go to the hospital (don't know why) but I calmed down about an hour later.

My doctor did tell me that everyone reacts differently from the medication.

Zyban does work if your willing and devoted to give up just like anything else you got to want to do it.

Also the nicoratte inhailer....helps... dont put the inserts in each time you use it wean yourself off it..I quit for 5 months and recently went back to smoking....I am only smoking about 4 or 5 cigeretts a day..more out of bordem..

Good luck

He did make a statement that l thought was strange. l told him that my mother was on Zyban and was doing well with her smoking cessation. He asked where she lived and l said the states. He then smiled and said well if her Dr gave her Zyban then l will give it to you too. After all they sue for everything in the states.  :-/ :-/  Strange statement huh??

Probably all he meant was, if your mother doesn't have any health issues that would prevent her from taking Zyban, (as evinced by an American doctor with malpractice to worry about giving it to her) you probably don't either, as much of that is determined by family history.

ASHLEY-Please promise me you will never, ever, ever again just stop taking any kind of antidepressant medication!!!!  It is very dangerous to do that!  You need to wean your body off of those..they do alter (while you are taking them) your physiology, so please, be careful when deciding to go off them!  Your body is not prepared for it.  Start cutting your doses down slowly, at least, if you aren't going to discuss a program to stop them with your doctor.

As far as Zyban goes, haven't had any personal experience with them...the times I've successfully quit (measured by months of not smoking, without a real desire to smoke) I used the patch.

ASHLEY-Please promise me you will never, ever, ever again just stop taking any kind of antidepressant medication!!!!  It is very dangerous to do that!  You need to wean your body off of those..they do alter (while you are taking them) your physiology, so please, be careful when deciding to go off them!  Your body is not prepared for it.  Start cutting your doses down slowly, at least, if you aren't going to discuss a program to stop them with your doctor.

Aww hunni,   I spoke with my doctor before I did and she said it'd be fine since I hadn't been taking them very long. But she did tell me to call her immediatly if I didn't feel right.

I will remember what you said if I ever need to take medication again.  

Your doctor was wrong.


But, it's water under the bridge now, and thankfully you're fine, but please, you and anyone else reading this who is taking any antidepressants, please keep what I said in mind.

I'm a smoking advisor at a surgery and while I've had a few people who used Zyban, my preference is patches.  In fact, we've noticed that people that have used Zyban do quite well
but if they start smoking again they seem to smoke as much or many times, even more than before.  I do, however, try to steer people towards patches, I would feel terrible if someone had a reaction to Zyban!  One of the best clients I had was an 80+ yr old man, smoked since he was 14 and decided it was time to quit, so he used the patches (btw, he smoked 30+++ a day) and after the second week he had stopped and we were able to reduce down quicker than anyone I've ever had!  Needless to say, he and his family were extremely pleased, as was his gp.

So, from my perspective, I would go for the patches, there are very few s/e, (localised irritation from the adhesive and if you use a 24hr patch, sleep disturbances).  If you want any other info, I'll try and answer for you.

Wow, I used the patches as well and they did great for me, glad to hear they were so helpful to others!

I actually noticed with them that I could stop using them altogether after the first week or so...didn't need to take the "steps" they advertise.

Also noticed the instructions say, "Leave on 24 hours", but I had to remove mine at night or I couldn't sleep!