Are there any down sides to using this?
2007-02-14 10:15:38 · 14 answers · asked by mistickle17 5 in Health ➔ Diseases & Conditions ➔ Cancer
oooh, getting bad vibes about this already, but I will still ask my doctor about it as Nicotine patches before made me feel so bad I went back to smoking. Looking for another way out if anyone has any other ideas?
2007-02-14 10:24:53 · update #1
Zyban is an antidepressant; chemically it is unrelated to other antidepressant drugs. Although it has been used to treat depression, it is generally used as an aid for people who are trying to give up smoking. The person being treated must commit in advance to a stop date. Treatment is started while the patient is still smoking and the "target stop date" decided on within the first 2 weeks of treatment. Zyban will be stopped after 7weeks if the smoker has not given up completely by then. The drug should not be used by people with manic depression or psychosis becasue there is a risk of mania developing.
symptoms: insomnia,headache/dizziness, nausea, rash, palpitations, confusion/anxiety, depression, and rarely seizures.
Withdrawel symptoms occur because the body has adapted to the action of the drug. When a drug is continuously present, the body may stop the release of a natural chemical necessary to mormal function, like endorphins.
2007-02-14 11:24:06 · answer #1 · answered by help!! 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
This drug was popular for a while, but patients stopped requesting or accepting it when the Daily Record published a series of centre spreads about patient deaths on the drug.
The articles were poorly written, unscientific and just plain wrong.
Some very minor changes to the data sheet were made, increasing the time patients were to take 1 tab daily before increasing to 2. There are a long list of interactions and potential side effects, one of the most important is that it can cause depression and should not be given to patients with a past history of depression.
This is interesting because the drug is marketed in the States, in higher dose, as a Prozac like antidepressant.
As far as efficacy is concerned the trials showed it to be more that twice as effective as NRT, it can also be used with NRT to increase success rates.
On the down side everyone in the studies had almost one to one backup and support, this is not available to the rest of us, which I think contributed a lot to the results.
It is certainly a drug you need to chat to your GP about, but overall I think it definitely has a place.
2007-02-14 19:42:28 · answer #2 · answered by Dr Frank 7 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I went on a course of Zyban to quit smoking a year or so ago. It was one of the most disturbing times of my life. Zyban works by blocking the receptors in the brain that nicotine attaches itself to. I found it didn't supress cravings, it just made me violently ill when I had a cigarette. It works by making you sick when you smoke and through mental re-enforcement you learn it is better to not smoke.
I got diahorrea, headaches, cold sweats, stomach cramps, insomnia and a filthy temper. Unless this is the final resort for you - try something else. Its too expensive as well. Good luck. xxx
2007-02-14 18:20:14 · answer #3 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I'm taking Zyban into my 4th week and still smoking, i'm really snappy for nothing and it's done nothing to stop my cravings the longest i've gone without is 4 days . My realisation is nothing will work if you also dont invest willpower to some extent. Try and find another method, i gave up on my own for 5 days without taking anything and felt better than i do now.
2007-02-15 08:02:17 · answer #4 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
Hi Mark,
I tried Zyban and I had terrible side effects.
When I told my doctor he told me to keep taking them. I went to another doctor and he gave me patches and that done the trick.
However my friend went to the doctor and got patches as well and she felt really ill .
Back she went to the doctor and he asked her how many ciggies she smoked, then he reduced the patches and she managed to stop
he said he should have asked her the first time.
He also said nobody tells the truth when asked that question.
So good luck Mark and I hope you stop.
2007-02-14 20:08:44 · answer #5 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
I tried Zyban to quit smoking and hated the feeling it gave me. I had a "don't care" attitude about everything. I'm a very energetic person who can go from happy to mad as hell in less than a minute. This medicine seemed to take away "me". I've heard others say the same
2007-02-14 18:19:54 · answer #6 · answered by askbigmamma 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
My experience with smoking cessation; I used Wellbutrin, which is Zyban without the brand name cost. Like all of the advice given above, it will be a tough road and not void of sideaffects. Very VIVID dreams for one.
Good luck on this journey to end this evil habit.
Jay
2007-02-14 19:25:18 · answer #7 · answered by jay K 1 · 1⤊ 0⤋
I stopped taking Zyban because of various negative reactions to it
and continued smoking, on chrismas day I stopped smoking with
the assistance of a drug called Champix (Varenicline)it works in a similiar way to Zyban but results show it`s much more effective,
It`s on prescription UK.
2007-02-14 18:30:45 · answer #8 · answered by Anonymous · 1⤊ 0⤋
zyban is actually an anti depressant that releases the same chemicals in your brain that smoking does, the downside is you are more cheerful
2007-02-14 18:19:06 · answer #9 · answered by hogwhisperer 2 · 0⤊ 0⤋
it stops the craving for nicotine and i know people who have tried it and the down side is that it causes cardiac arrhythmias from time to time !
2007-02-14 18:19:09 · answer #10 · answered by Andrew1968 5 · 0⤊ 0⤋