Zyban or Wellbutrin ?

[JimmyHAD]

Anyone used these to quit smoking ? A friend of mine says the Wellbutrin didn't work for him but the Zyban did. I hear they are the same. Anyone ?

[pixelfixed]

Tried them all,only chantix worked for a few mos.They all have potentionally lethal side effects for people in our age group.
After 3 mos. off the cigs I gained 25 lbs,my BP went from 115/85 to 160/120,I was freakin miserable.
Started the cigs agian, lost the wgt,BP back to baseline,Truth is in a way I love to smoke,good luck.
W&Z are the same drug.

[TexasShaver]

I've taken Chantix with horrible results. I became a complete ass! I was very short tempered, even more so than normal, and much more violent. It was never directed toward others, I managed to take my anger out on a steel door that now has multiple sets of knuckle prints embedded into it. That coupled with the VERY vivid, lucid dreams I was having made me put the stuff down only a week and a half into using it.

My mom had very similar results with Wellbutrin when I was younger. Although, that medicine made her crazy for a few days. Im talking crazy to the point of handing me $200 and the car keys and telling me to get out of the house because the "voices" were telling her to kill me. So for a week or so of the summer when I was 16, my mom spent her time in a psychiatric unit detoxing to get all the Wellbutrin out of her system. It was pretty scary how the medicine effected her.

My dad has also had very similar results to mine when he tried using Chantix.

For what its worth, my mom is now about 3 weeks smoke-free from using the patch with no ill effects.

[wescap34]

I tried Wellbutrin and all it did was cause me to have dreams that were so weird that Rod Serling would probably have bought a ticket to see them. Then I tried Chantix and was done with smoking in less than a week and have not lit up in over six years now. Good luck in your efforts to quit.

[Mike Blue]

Same chemical different brand names. Some insurers began to jack the rates on people taking Wellbutrin because it was indicated for depression not for smoking cessation. Depressed patients represent a greater health risk, therefore an increased cost to the insurance company. The company changed the name to Zyban to avoid unfortunate insurance increases and the associated labeling of patients as depressed who were not. A drug to quit smoking equals improved health in the patient and less insurance risk and cost. QED.

What is not discussed is that every person needs to observe carefully for any unwanted side effects when taking a new medication and report them to their medical provider without unreasonable delay. There are so many potential effects that ten people could have thirteen different reactions to the same medication. The mind still remains a chemical black box with some of this stuff.

[Magpie]

One of the most serious side effects is not even mentioned on the packaging.

Taken with certain other drugs, (my bet is on that is what happened to T.S. mom)
can cause dangerous levels of certain brain chemicals (seratonin syndrome) that can result in all sorts of problems up to and including death.
They may list it these days, but it was only made public in the last 4 years or so.
As for other side effect like weight gain and anger issues, those are also the side effects of withdrawl, so its anybodies guess what caused them.
I say, count how many cigs you smoke a day, and using what your normal max number is, remove one cig from that number every 2 weeks. It may take a while to get yourself down to the point where you can quit without cravings and mood swings.
But be real, it took you a long time to get to this point as a smoker, its ok to take a while to quit too!

[JimmyHAD]

Thanks for the replies. I quit non filter Camels in Dec. 2000 after 36 years of them. I chain smoke tobacco pipes since then ...... which worked for quitting the Camels .... but now I am having a hard time giving up the pipes. Fifty years smoking between the both of them.

[pixelfixed]

50 yrs here also jim,remember when they came out with antibuse for alcoholics?
Did not work,same go's for what they have for smokers I think.
Like giving up the booze,you either do or you do not use it.
I think quitting the cigs is far more difficult than alcohol,Good luck to you.

[32t]

I say, count how many cigs you smoke a day, and using what your normal max number is, remove one cig from that number every 2 weeks. It may take a while to get yourself down to the point where you can quit without cravings and mood swings.
But be real, it took you a long time to get to this point as a smoker, its ok to take a while to quit too!

I have not heard this theory before but it makes sense.

[32t]

Thanks for the replies. I quit non filter Camels in Dec. 2000 after 36 years of them. I chain smoke tobacco pipes since then ...... which worked for quitting the Camels .... but now I am having a hard time giving up the pipes. Fifty years smoking between the both of them.

Have you tried chewing? Chances are that you will be long dead before your lips fall off!

Seriously I have heard that chewing is harder to quit than smoking.