Stop Smoking Help

Smoking Cessation with Wellbutrin

Wellbutrin was typically manufactured as an anti-depression medication; however, smokers using the anti-depression drug often reported a lessening in their craving for cigarettes. Testing showed that Wellbutrin was indeed effective in treating smoking addiction and helping smokers quit. It was reintroduced on the market as Zyban, and promoted as a smoking cessation aid.

Zyban and Wellbutrin are known under their generic form as bupropion hydrochloride. They are identical in their preparation, and both are prescription medication. While Wellbutrin seems to be prescribed more frequently for depression, and Zyban for smoking discontinuance, they are interchangeable.

When smokers are prescribed bupropion hydrochloride, they are instructed by a doctor to continue to smoke until a pre-determined stop-smoking date is reached, after which time he or she will quit and continue to take the drug for a specified period of time.

How does Wellbutrin make quitting easier?
Studies have shown that treatment with Wellbutrin can reduce the following withdrawal symptoms associated with smoking discontinuance: irritability, frustration, anxiety, decreased concentration, restlessness, depression, and anger. It has been reported that the success rates of bupropion hydrochloride in helping smokers quit were the highest among various other ‘stop smoking’ methods, including counseling and support programs. Below are a few methods and programs that claim to help you quit smoking:

• Cold Turkey
• Support groups
• Nicotine anti-smoking products
• Hypnosis
• Aromatherapy
• Acupuncture
• Laser therapy
• Self-help books
• Tobacco substitute cigarettes, such as herbs
• The Great American Smoke–Out, an annual event whereby smokers quit for one day in the hope that they will extend the moment forever

When you quit smoking, your system undergoes positive changes. Even smokers who suffer from tobacco related illnesses benefit from giving up smoking. Benefits to the body are listed below in chronological order:

• Blood pressure returns to normal within an hour after your last cigarette
• Your chances of stroke or heart attack decrease the day after your last cigarette, and by 50 percent after one year without smoking
• Your sense of smell and taste returns within two days
• Lung capacity improves in three days; and increases to 30% in three months
• After the first month without smoking, your energy level escalates and you are more inclined to exercise to control potential weight gain
• After 5-15 years without smoking, your risk of lung cancer is equivalent to that of someone who has never smoked

Although Wellbutrin or Zyban seem to be an ideal way to stop smoking, there can be harmful consequences associated with its use. Read carefully the literature that accompanies the prescription in order to minimize potential complications. Bupropion hydrochloride is contraindicated in the following cases:

• Patients with seizure disorder
• Patients with bulimia or anorexia nervosa
• Patients with sensitivity or allergic reaction to the ingredients in bupropion
• Patients who use an MAO inhibitor

Zyban and Wellbutrin should not be taken together, or in combination with any other drug containing bupropion hydrochloride, or in combination with benzodiazepines for alcohol withdrawal.
There is an agreement among health agencies that smoking is indeed hazardous to your health. However, to date, none have come forward to endorse the ingredients in Wellbutrin as an ideal way to end the smoking habit even though various studies indicate that its use as an aid to stop smoking has shown positive results.

Although recidivism in nicotine-addicted individuals is high, many are successful at kicking the habit. Emphasis is placed on the first step: a strong desire to quit.