Wellbutrin or "Zyban" User Experiences

[jbbishop]

I tried this about 6 years ago. Got the entire 3 month supply by mail order under my insurance program (over $300.00 worth) and it all ended up in the trash.

Let me just say that when I opened the bottle it had the most unpleasant aroma, like that of a person's hair that was undergoing a permanent wave.

I only ever took 2 tablets. For the next 24 hours I experienced hundreds of mini seizures. I tried to sleep through it with my entire body convulsing like I'd received an electric shock about ever 3 minutes. When I was awake it was like I had pseudo Tourettes Syndrome, stomping around angrily yelling cusswords out of the corner of my mouth. I had hidden some cigarettes away in a cupboard in the kitchen in case the cravings became too bad. Instead of just opening the cupboard to get at them I actually ripped it off the wall. That's right, I still had uncontrollable nicotine cravings, but now I was ANGRY about it!

Oh, but these are perfectly acceptable side effects - if you don't experience the same thing I'm SURE they're perfectly safe for EVERYBODY. I just love modern pharmacology.

 

[KentSP]

Zyban does not work for everybody you have to really want to quit, but it does make it much easier. Sounds like you took it wrong though you meant to take 1 tablet a day for around 7 days while still smoking, on day 8 you make it your mission to quit and from then on you take 2 a day morning and night. Never take 2 one go they race your heart and you first have to get used to them which is why you start with 1 a day. Also their effect takes a week to kick in and I found i smoked more during the week they were kicking in. I took Zyban for 3 months while not smoking and was then off smoking for a future 8 months before being stupid and trying to social smoke at parties and relapsing. My Father quit 5 years ago with Zyban and never smoked since. Zyban usually comes in box not a bottle and is made my Glax Smith Klien and it has no taste or smell on the ouside as it is encased in something that allows it to be released slowly over time to make it safer, it is dangerous to crush the pills and take them.

 

[smokingclam]

Zyban didn't work to well for me. Only thing that has ever worked was Chantix. I quit for almost a year while taking that. I think after 6 days of starting it I wasn't smoking any more. Chantix does have some pretty intense side effects though. I was getting some pretty wild dreams every night while on it. Another bad side effect for me was taking it on an empty stomach. It was like you swallowed battery acid or something.

 

[wv2win]

Zyban/Wellbutrin is an anti-depressant. Chantix now has warnings about possible suicidal thoughts while taking. Funny story about Wellbutrin. About 8 years ago I was in the Atlanta airport in a smoking lounge and there was about 4 of us businessmen smoking and talking and one of them said he wanted to try Wellbutrin so he could quit. One of the other guys said that he was on it right now. The other guy said, well I guess it doesn't work very well. And the one taking the Wellbutrin said, no, it works great - Now when I smoke I FEEL GOOD ABOUT IT!

 

[Oliver]

I took it for about three weeks, and from the second week felt utterly disconnected from reality, found it impossible to verbally communicate and felt unbelievably anxious for the whole duration. Not a pleasant experience.

On the plus side, I didn't want to smoke, but there was no way I could continue.

As mentioned above it is also an antidepressant and as such can have profound impact on your mental state, so it's best to have your mental health thoroughly assessed before you take it.

For some, (myself and the OP for instance) the side effects will be intolerable.

 

[Bellinghamster]

I took Zyban for 3 months... Seemed like I got progressively "higher" until about week three. That's when I quit smoking. I still wanted to smoke, I just didn't care enough about it to actually go smoke a cigarette. I didn't really care about anything else either

All in, I was off the cigs for 3 years before relapse. Zyban worked for me, but like every other addiction - you have to address what caused you to smoke in the first place and change your mindset... or you go back eventually...

 

[smokingclam]

I took it for about three weeks, and from the second week felt utterly disconnected from reality, found it impossible to verbally communicate and felt unbelievably anxious for the whole duration. Not a pleasant experience.

On the plus side, I didn't want to smoke, but there was no way I could continue.

As mentioned above it is also an antidepressant and as such can have profound impact on your mental state, so it's best to have your mental health thoroughly assessed before you take it.

For some, (myself and the OP for instance) the side effects will be intolerable.

Now that you mention that I got those same feelings with my latest try with with Chantix where I didn't get that the first time. I'm wondering if they are changing these products at all? Second time with Chantix I couldn't quit all the way either. I 'm thinking you may build up a tolerance once you take it once?

 

[r3dlined]

I'm taking wellbutrin and vaping now. I feel like I can't get my fix and very irritable.

 

[ROB26]

I took Wellbutrin many moons ago, it did nothing for me whatsoever, I lasted about a month on the stuff...I've thought about Chantix, but don't want to go crazy! I've heard some horror stories about Chantix, mostly in the news, but have also heard success stories from using the stuff....

 

[alphafemale]

I'm on my 3rd month of taking the generic form of Wellbutrin. I can't say that I've had any bad effects other than not being able to sleep like I used to when I smoked. I have been smoking off and on, when ever I can bum one. I still crave cigarettes, but the drug makes it easier for me to tolerate not having them.

I plan to order my first e-cig later this week and can't wait to get it because I know that when this script runs out, I'm done. I can't get anymore. I really don't want anymore because I like to have an occasional fuzzy navel drink and I love Mtn. Dew. I have not been able to have either.

As a side note, I was forced to quit smoking by my husband (long story). I think that if it would have been my choice, I wouldn't be craving them as I liked to smoke. I will say that I didn't really realize how much smoking smelled!

 

[nicowolf]

I tried Wellbutrin back in the late 90s. I was on it for about 4 weeks when I broke out in hives. The warmer the area of my body, the worse the hives were. I spent about a week trying every over the counter solution I could think of. The hives just kept getting worse. When it got so bad that I couldn't put on undergarments, I went in to the Emergency Room. The doctor winced when she looked at the hives on my side. She said I was dangerously close to anaphylaxis. The only thing I changed was discontinuing the Wellbutrin, and the hives cleared up in about 3 days with the help of Benadryl and the initial shot of epinephrine.

The best part is that I continued to smoke through the whole time, even picked up a taste for pipe tobacco cigars.

 

[TheWrathOfSanity]

I was on Wellbutrin in late 2005/early 2006 because it was an anti-depressant safe for pregnant women, plus I (obviously) had to quit smoking.
I must say that during the pregnancy it was wonderful.
But, then I gave birth to my child and my hormones started to change and adjust back...
VIOLENT moodswings.

I had a cat who was not allowed to get in the windows if the blinds were down, she was trained.
I was in the kitchen making dinner, heard the cat get into the window, completely destroying my blinds in the process, and I snapped.
I flew out of the kitchen, across the living room and smashed the poor cat like a mosquito between the window and blinds. (not bad enough to hurt her aside from scaring the crap out of her and making her hide and sulk for two days, thank goodness)
I turned in a huff to find dropped jaws staring at me.
I promptly threw the pills away.

That was my last straw, but there were other moodswings.
I'd be fine and then snap. I'd punched walls and even people.
After the squished cat incident I started smoking again and struggled for 6 months finding another anti-depressant with no avail.
So I joined a bowling league.
(LOL! No lie.)

 

[virraszto]

I tried the generic wellbutrin last year. I was able to stay on it for 2 weeks. In that time, I cried at the drop of a hat. Stupid stuff made me cry. I'm not a cry baby--I very rarely ever cry, or get that emotional, and my hubby was freaking out. 8-o

The last crying episode was when I looked at my 18 yr old daughter, and broke down because I was feeling proud of her. I was bawling my eyes out. Now, I love my kids, but in the real world, stuff like that just doesn't happen.

Had to quit it.

Chantix made me sicker than a dog. I gave it two weeks and pulled the plug on it. I still smoked the whole time, and never lost my urge to smoke.

 

[craftmaker43]

I tried wellbutrin several years back. I was given this to help with my severe fatigue. I took 1 pill a day for 1 week. Made me a little sick to my stomach, but I tolerated it. I was willing to try anything! The second week, I was to take 2 pills a day. Once I started this, I was up all night. I was pacing, my heart was racing, almost like I was having panic attacks. When I called my doctor and explained the symptoms, I was told that the Wellbutrin shouldn't cause those symptoms. They pretty much made me feel like I was making it up. Needless to say, I stopped taking it, the symptoms went away and I changed doctors!!

 

[lvlninety9]

Seeing these stories of Wellbutrin brings back fond memories of trying to quit smoking. My doctor prescribed this heinous drug because of 2 problems that I was having. One I was depressed because I had a back injury and was out of work for 4 months. The other, and I don't know how true this is, is because he said that my smoking was impeding the healing process and thus making my back injury linger longer then it should have. Now I didn't have the nasty side effects or any effects at all from this lame excuse for a drug. I did cut down to 3 cigarettes a day, but I think it was because I had gotten so lazy from not being able to do anything that I just couldn't get myself up to smoke. It's sad but I stopped taking this pill shortly after. It didn't make quitting any easier and it damn sure didn't reduce any kind of anxiety, depression, or whatever other misguided notion my doctor thought it could fix. I did want to smoke just as much as I always did before I even took the pills, but the pain I was in and the fact that I had gotten lazy pretty much kept me from smoking as much as I used to.

 

[DangerMouse]

I was offered Zyban by my GP (if I went to a Smokers Anonymous type group... No ta!) but decided to stay well away from it after reading some of the stories of people who go absolutely loopy after taking it - it seemed just that little bit too common to have mental health issues as a result, and frankly I'd rather have had cancer than not be able to control my mind as normal.

 

[Nephthys]

I was on Wellbutrin for years for depression with anxiety. It was one of the only meds that worked without horrible side effects. I stopped smoking on accident when I first started taking it and I chalk that up to being too dehydrated to want to smoke.

It was about that time that they found that people taking Wellbutrin were quitting. It was a happy side effect.

Then the makers did something that was terribly irresponsible. They decided to market a serious antidepressant as a smoking cessation treatment. The misuse of antidepressants via improper dosing or incorrect diagnosis is very serious and here they were suggesting that SSRI should be passed out to people with perfectly normal brain chemisty. The symptoms of the OP sound like serotonin poisoning /serotonin storm which means that his dose was too high.

IMO, doctors without a detailed knowledge of SSRI/MAOIs are being extrememly irresponsible in using them to treat anything other than a competently diagnosed emotional/mental condition.

/off soapbox

 

[muldrick]

Tried Zyban years ago, did absolutely nothing. No side effects, no reduction in smoking...nothing.
Tried Chantix (which blocks nicotine to the brain?) It was only aggrivating because I still continued to smoke (less) but was aggrivated because I wasn't getting my nicotine.
Tried the e-cig, reduced my smoking to 3 (or less) cigs per day immediately!!

 

[rejoice]

This stuff made me so nervous. Like my insides was shaking. Could not sleep and still smoked. The cigs taste bad,but still wanted my nicotine. I took it for three weeks and could not stand any more.

 

[surbitonPete]

This stuff made me so nervous. Like my insides was shaking. Could not sleep and still smoked. The cigs taste bad,but still wanted my nicotine. I took it for three weeks and could not stand any more.

Hi rejoice......these drugs had been the last thing left for me to try but now I have been reading all these posts like yours ..I am so glad the e-cig came along before I had!!