- Quitting Smoking and Zyban -
The Quit Smoking Pill to Ease Nicotine Withdrawal Symptoms

Quitting smoking with Zyban may help reduce nicotine withdrawal symptoms.

The drug buproprion is now being marketed as a quit smoking pill.

Originally prescribed to treat anxiety and depression symptoms, the drug Zyban is now being recommended to reduce nicotine withdrawal symptoms and cravings so smokers can quit cigarette smoking and avoid the many harmful smoking effects on the body that result from tobacco use.

Buproprion is antidepressant medication.

It is also sold under the trade name of Wellbutrin and prescribed as a treatment for anxiety and depression symptoms.

The drug Zyban is the form of buproprion specifically recommended for help to quit cigarette smoking.

Other trade names for this drug are Wellbutrin, Voxra, Budeprion, or Aplenzin.

Facts About Quitting Smoking and Zyban

In research studies smokers who were quitting smoking Zyban reported less severe nicotine withdrawal symptoms that those who were given a placebo. In the same study those receiving buproprion also reported lower rates of "wanting to smoke again" (27%) than the smokers who were given the placebo (56%)₁.

Chantix has better statistics for abstinence from tobacco at one year. The percentages for continued abstinence reported in this study₂ are still low, but appear to be better for those taking the quit smoking pill with varenicline.

• 10% for placebo
• 15% for buproprion
• 23% for varenicline

Some sources suggest that as a quit smoking pill Zyban dramatically reduces nicotine withdrawal symptoms and improves success at quitting.

Let's look at the numbers another way:

Nicotine withdrawal symptoms of a craving for a cigarette (this is the measurement of "wanting to smoke again") were found to be lower in the Zyban group by about 29%. This does appear to be dramatic.

However, the numbers for recidivism (starting smoking again) while statistically significant do not appear to be dramatic.

In the numbers here, the people who were quitting smoking with Zyban had only a 5% improvement at abstinence in one year than those people who took no stop smoking medication at all (placebo).

Zyban is not recommended as a stand alone stop smoking treatment and the data gathered from most studies included participants who were also in a stop smoking program that included education, counselling and psychological support.

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Using Chantix and the Drug Zyban to Control Nicotine Withdrawal Symptoms

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