Discover the safety and effectiveness of using zyban to stop smoking as well as experiences of people who have used the drug.

1. Zyban Stop Smoking-How Safe Is
It?
By
http://2stopsmokingtips.com

2. Introduction
Many people are asking if it’s safe to quit
smoking with Bupropion (pronounced byoo
PROE pee on) and commonly known as Zyban.
They are afraid the medication will cause them
ugly side effects and even suicidal tendencies.
In this article,we are going to discuss Zyban, its
stop smoking qualities, side effects and
success rates. We are also going to look at the
reported effectiveness of the drug, real-life
horrifying experiences with Zyban as well as
stories of people who died while using the drug.

3. What is Zyban?
Buproprion hydrochloride is a prescription
medication manufactured by GlaxoSmithKline.
It is marketed under the brand names
Wellbutrin and Wellbutrin SR (for depression)
and Zyban SR (for smoking cessation). Zyban
does not contain nicotine and is thought to
affect chemicals in the brain that are related to
nicotine craving, thereby decreasing the urge to
smoke. Zyban comes in a pill form and is
designed to help smokers quit smoking
gradually.

4. What is Zyban?(2)
Even though it is available by prescription, you
must be over 18 years of age to use Zyban. It is
interesting to note that Zyban was first made to
treat depression, but was then found to be
useful in smoking cessation. It was therefore
approved for use as a stop smoking aid in May
1997 by the FDA in the US. In the UK, Zyban
was licensed for use as an anti-smoking drug in
June 2000.

5. How Does Zyban Work?
Zyban works differently from the nicotine patch,
gum or lozenge. Rather than deliver nicotine to
the bloodstream, Zyban allegedly alters brain
chemistry in a way that the urge for smoking is
greatly decreased. Many smokers reportedly
find that cigarettes grow to be unattractive right
after taking the pill.
Even though it is known to change brain
hormonal balance, researchers aren’t even
particularly sure how it works but we can safely
say it battles nicotine cravings.

6. How Does Zyban Work? (2)
Zyban sustained release tablets are supposed to
be taken in a daily 150 mg dose for 3 days,
then 300 mg thereafter, for a total treatment
period of 7-12 weeks. A user is supposed to
stop smoking within the first 14 days of use and
also separate dose intervals by at least 8 hours.
Zyban can allegedly be combined with
nicotine replacement therapy like patches or
gum.

7. Does Zyban Work for Stop
Smoking?
A British Medical Journal article reveals that
Zyban is effective when given in association
with intensive behavioural support.
Further,the article stated: “Bupropion is as
effective as nicotine replacement therapy
(NRT), and like NRT, leads to a near doubling
of the smoking cessation rate, achieving long
term abstinence in 19% of smokers who use it
to quit. Like NRT, however, bupropion therapy
probably increases the chance of success with
any quit attempt but is most effective when
combined with intensive behavioural support.”

8. Does Zyban Work for Stop
Smoking?(2)
A report in the New England Journal of Medicine
found that “almost 30.3% (one in three people)
treated with Zyban were not smoking after one
year, compared to 16.4 percent of people using
a nicotine patch. Zyban was thereby found to
be almost twice as effective as a nicotine patch
in helping people to quit smoking.” But the
Action on Smoking and Health(ASH) disagreed
with this claim on the grounds that it was too
premature as it was based on a single study.

9. Does Zyban Work for Stop
Smoking?(3)
Quoting Clive Bates, Director of ASH, the
publication stated: “Zyban is an effective anti-
smoking treatment, and that the first studies
show very promising success rates. But until
more studies have been done, it is too soon to
be making comparisons between NRT and
Zyban. Both products have an important role to
play and will meet smokers’ needs in different
ways. The products may also be most effective
when used in combination.”

10. What are the Side Effects of Zyban?
Despite its reported effectiveness, Zyban has
side effects but this varies from individual to
individual. The way the medication will react in
Mr A, might not be the same as that of Mr B.
According to EmedTV, common Zyban side
effects include insomnia,dry
mouth,dizziness,nausea,unusual dreams and
joint pain while the more serious side effects
include seizures,suicidal thoughts or
behavior,hallucinations,hostility and chest
palpitations.

11. Zyban Side Effects(2)
Due to these side effects and public outcry, the
FDA in July 2009, announced that
manufacturers of Zyban and Chantix must post
warnings that alert health care providers about
changes in behavior that may occur for patients
using these drugs.

12. Zyban Side Effects(3)
For more information on Zyban side effects,
kindly read these experiences of Zyban users.
Charlie Brooker’s experience with Zyban.
Christopher’s horrifying experience with Zyban.
Daily Mail’s
chronicle of nasty experiences with Zyban.
Forces International’s
catalogue of Zyban deaths and awful experiences.

13. Zyban Deaths
Aside these horrifying experiences,some Zyban
users allegedly died during usage and
a BBC News Report in January,2002,reveals
that 57 people had died following suspected
harmful reactions to the drug, compared to 18
that died by January,2001.
That statistic was as far as 2001,when the drug
was newly introduced. As we write in 2012,the
figures are frightening and one wonders what
the regulatory bodies are doing?

14. Zyban Suicides
Talking about Zyban deaths, Nick Hirst, 18, was
said to have committed suicide after taking
Zyban. Nick, a first-year student at Nottingham
Trent University, wanted to stop smoking to
improve his fitness for rugby. Nick, who hails
from Prestbury, Cheshire, took the drug for a
week,then stopped because he had felt an
immediate “change within himself” and suffered
bouts of depression. Six months later, in May
2001, he was found hanging from a tree in
Riverside Park in Macclesfield.

15. Zyban Suicides(2)
Pronto, an inquest was instituted to unravel the
circumstances surrounding Nick’s suicide. After
listening to all sides of the matter, Cheshire
coroner Nicholas Rheinberg said the use of
Zyban may have been one of the factors in the
death of the 18-year-old. In a statement
released after the verdict, Mr Hirst’s family said:
“We hope this inquest will raise public
awareness about the potential dangers of
Zyban.”

16. Zyban Suicides(3)
Even though GlaxoSmithKline offered its
condolences to Nick’s family,it went ahead to
affirm its confidence in Zyban’s ability to help
smokers quit.
It is sad to note that 15 months after Nick’s tragic
death,his father allegedly died of a broken
heart. Adrian Hirst, who battled with his family
to prove that the student’s death was caused by
taking Zyban, suffered a stroke created by the
stress of his son’s traumatic death, his widow
revealed.

17. More Zyban Deaths
In yet another sad event, GlaxoSmithKline,
manufacturers of Zyban, admitted April 25,2001
that the anti-smoking drug was suspected of
causing harmful responses in 35 people who
have died in the UK since it was introduced
June,2000.The admission came at the
inquest of Kerry Weston, a 21-year-old British
Airways air stewardess who was discovered
dead in a Nairobi, Kenya- hotel room in
January, 2001,14 days after she started using
the drug to help her kick her 15-cigarettes-a-
day habit.

18. More Zyban Deaths(2)
Reports say she was prescribed the drug by the
British Airways cabin crew GP, Dr Mark Andrew
after she requested help with quitting her
smoking habit. Not long after, Ms Weston flew
to Nairobi but was later found dead in her hotel
room.
Later, a coroner ruled that the drug had played a
part in the death of the air hostess. The British
Government then imposed tighter controls on
the use of the pill with other medication.

19. A One-Sided Inquest
The British Government also went ahead to
institute a Government inquiry into the
controversial anti-smoking pill but campaigners
against Zyban were allegedly not represented
at the hearing.
A Mail on Sunday investigation revealed that
campaigners against the drug were not asked
to submit evidence despite that fact that
backers of the drug – including its makers,
Glaxo-SmithKline, and the Department of
Health – were asked to submit evidence.

20. A One-Sided Inquest(2)
Campaigners worried about the 57 British deaths
connected to the drug and the 7,297 users who
had suffered suspected side-effects, including
chest pains, fits, seizures and depression, were
not contacted.
In a reaction,Ms Weston’s dad, Eddie said he
had not been contacted. Claiming it was a one-
sided and rubber-stamping exercise, he
submitted “everything that happens seems to
be totally biased in favour of the drugs
companies. Not having all views represented is
going to taint the final decision.”

21. Zyban Experience in Germany and
Denmark
In September, 2001,doctors in Germany linked
Zyban to 4 deaths. “Two were suicides and the
remaining two were heart attacks,” Ulrich
Hagemann, of Germany’s Institute for
Medicines, told Reuters.
In Denmark, the Danish Medicines Agency is said
to have received reports on possible side
effects from 480 persons who used Zyban and
Champix in the period 2001-2011. Eight of
these reports involved deaths – four from use of
Zyban and four from Champix.

22. Zyban Experience in Germany,
Denmark and Australia
The Danish Medicines Agency claims that it is
highly unlikely or improbable that any of the
eight deaths are due to the medicine.
In Australia,it’s the same situation as the
Australian Broadcasting Corporation quoted
authorities at Sydney’s Westmead Hospital as
saying at least one person a week is admitted
suffering from side effects after using the drug.

23. Zyban Experience in US
While there are few, if any media reports on the
adverse reactions to Zyban in the U.S,Forbes
reports in 2009 that there were
14 suicides and 17 attempts. FDA officials say
that the reason for the big inequality in how
many suicides were reported might be partly
the result of all the bad publicity Chantix has
received, as well as the fact that Zyban is used
less often.

24. Zyban Disabilities
And for most people who didn’t die from Zyban
usage,it’s a case of permanent disability. One of
such people is Lorraine Vallery who currently
suffers a depression and pounding headache
which she did not have before using Zyban.
In a chat with the Daily Mail, Lorraine reveals that
throbbing headaches were penetrating deeper
into her brain, sending out a message to
commit suicide or hurt her children. She would
therefore lock herself in the bathroom as a
defence against killing her own children.

25. Zyban Disabilities(2)
But Lorraine wasn’t always like that. She was a
cheerful and outgoing mother but she
desperately wanted to quit her 20-cigarettes-a-
day habit. She decided to take Zyban. But three
years later, she feels her life has been ruined
by the drug.
A investigation published in 2010 in the American
Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology also
suggested that women who take Zyban during
early pregnancy run a greater risk for having a
baby born with a heart birth defect.

26. Is it safe to stop smoking with
Zyban?
Considering the extreme side effects that come
with Zyban usage,is it safe to stop smoking with
it? Of a truth, there isn’t a clear cut answer to
this question. However, it’s worth noting that
these likely side effects are very grave, and
they can cause severe damage to you if they
should happen.
One question to ask yourself before deciding to
use Zyban is: do the benefits far outweigh the
risks? Is there an alternative way to quit
smoking without suffering the horrors of Zyban?

27. Is it safe to stop smoking with
Zyban?(2)
On our part,we believe you should give cold
turkey quit smoking a chance. And even if you
don’t quit the first time, try again. The fact that
you failed before does not mean you should not
try again. And if you are being sold the it’s hard-
to-quit-smoking-cold-turkey-candy,just read
this,coming from experts:

28. Is it safe to stop smoking with
Zyban?(3)
“Of quitters polled, 59 percent quit ‘cold turkey,’
while 11 percent used nicotine replacement
therapy.” “Attitudes and Behaviors Related to
Smoking Cessation: A Survey of Current and
Former Smokers,” Gallup poll released Oct. 20,
1998. The poll also found that only 36 percent
of current smokers are very interested in
quitting.

29. Is it safe to stop smoking with
Zyban?(4)
Need we say more?
NB: We highly suggest you read
Allen Carr’s Easy Way to Stop Smoking Book, it
will educate and help you quit. Many people
who have read the book have successful quit.
You can too! If you want a review of the book,
kindly read it below:
Allen Carr’s Stop Smoking Book
Best Quit Smoking Book

30. Conclusion
For more on cold turkey quitting,please click on
the links below:
How to Quit Smoking Cold Turkey
Effectiveness of Cold Turkey Quitting
Calendar for Quit Smoking Cold Turkey

31. Thanks for Reading!!!
For more incisive articles,please visit:
http://2stopsmokingtips.com