This stuff really works! (Zyban)

Member Name: janharper

Product:	Zyban
Date:	03/10/00 (1321 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: You can stop with these to help you

Disadvantages: Side effects for some people

There is no easy way to stop smoking but Zyban is a very powerful drug and it does help. The thing is that you have to want to stop smoking for your own reasons. I stopped smoking nine months ago so I do feel qualified to write about how it CAN be done if you want it badly enough.

You can only get these tablets on prescription from your GP and you will have to see a 'stop smoking' counsellor first. This isn't half as bad as it sounds. The counsellor is there to make sure that you have the determination to succeed and to help you monitor your progress. I found my weekly sessions with my counsellor very helpful even though I didn't like the idea at first. She was very good at encouraging me and offering words of praise. (That helps a lot when you are struggling.)

Every person who uses this treatment will react slightly differently. Some people suffer from side effects like insomnia, dry mouth, dizziness, etc, but you have to weigh this against the side effects of smoking. If you are going to give up at the first sign of discomfort, then perhaps you aren't ready to stop yet.

This is how it worked for me:

DAYS 1 TO 7: Continued smoking about 30 per day. You have to do this so that the medication can start to work. Apparently it encourages the brain to form a link between the nicotene and the medication that tells your brain that it doesn't want you to smoke. (That's an over simplification but I think that's the gist of it.) By the 5th day I was making myself smoke. I didn't really want to do it all the time. My sense of smell was very odd. An apple actually had such a strong smell that I couldn't eat it. I could smell cottage cheese in my fridge, through the plastic carton. (Just telling you this so that you don't get alarmed if it happens to you.)

DAY 8: I stopped smoking
DAY 9: Easier than I thought. This is so easy, I thought.

DAYS 10 TO 12: Awful. I thought I
would die without a cigarette. Headache, dizziness, shaking, stomach pain....real cold turkey symptoms! I wish I had never told anybody that I was stopping. All I wanted to do was smoke and life didn't seem worth living if I had to spend it without a smoke. Only a smoker could possibly understand this feeling. I didn't go and buy any though. If I can just hold on, it will get easier I thought, in between the 'I can't live without a smoke' bits.

DAYS 13 TO 15: Felt really great because I had got this far. Still wanted to smoke but the feeling wasn't lasting long. I eventually realised that I could live without a cigarette. I had gone for two weeks without one and I was still in one piece.

STARTED COUNTING IN WEEKS, NOT DAYS. THEN IN MONTHS.

Month Six: I'd saved enough money from my cigarettes to be able to go on holiday to Cyprus and treat myself in the sunshine.

It hasn't been plain sailing as I still have the desire to pick up a cigarette and smoke but I know that I don't need the nicotene in my body anymore. I can breath. I am much richer in health and wealthier.

The urges to smoke are getting further apart and I have had problems with coughing and nose bleeds but these are both quite natural reactions. My sinuses and lungs are clearing themselves.

It's nine months now since I stopped and I still congratulate myself. I still save the money and reward myself but I'm careful not to get complacent. Just when I think its gone for good that old urge is still likely to pop up and tempt me again.

This is all thanks to Zyban and a good pinch of willpower. Try it before you listen to those who say it doesn't work. These pills cost the NHS £90 a box so they must be good. We all know how they hate to spend money!

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