Still spending a fortune on cigarettes (Zyban)

Member Name: andymcf

Product:	Zyban
Date:	18/11/02 (1499 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Apparently has a good success rate, Nearly worked

Disadvantages: Didn't work for me :-(, Can be hard to obtain

The Bottom Line: Don't start smoking in the first place. If you do - like I did - then this could be your best way out.

This is a review - aimed, mainly at the UK market - on the anti-smoking drug, Zyban. I couldn't find anywhere else on the site to place this, and here seemed as good a place as any. There are clearly many people for whom this drug has worked. Mine, however, is not a success story.

OK - so I smoke. It's not clever and I find it difficult to stop. I've tried patches, I've tried gum, and I've tried Zyban. I have the added incentive that, at 37 years old, I am rapidly approaching the age at which my father (who had a similar smoking habit to me) died. He was 43, and I was 4. I ought to give up - and give up now. Weak-willed person that I clearly am, I find it too difficult. The problem is that I just enjoy smoking far too much for my own good.

That said, this is not a sob-story; it's a review of Zyban, so let's cut straight to it. Giving up smoking with Zyban involves several stages.

First - and most important - is to decide that you want to quit. Most anti-smoking treatments can be bought over-the-counter at your local pharmacy or supermarket. Zyban involves a trip to your friendly GP and, in this wonderful world where financial budgets are more important than the health of the nation, you'll need a convincing argument. Zyban is not a cheap drug (it won't cost you more than a standard prescription charge, but it will cost your local practice quite a bit out of their budget) and you'll need to convince your doctor that you mean business. And quite rightly. I repeat - you must KNOW that you want to give up. I imagine it's easy to give up when you NEED to (and I am sure you know what I mean by that), but actually really WANTING to is a different matter.

Excuse me, whilst I light a cigarette.

Hmmm! That's better! Do you smoke after sex, by the w
ay? Personally, I've never looked. Anyway - back to the review....

Back again! Secondly, you need to pay your doctor a visit. This drug does have side-effects, so make sure that it's right for you. Then, armed with a prescription, it's off to the pharmacist. I found this the most difficult part. I had to justify why I needed the wonder drug and convince her that I was set on my target. The information about my father's young death had her writing out the prescription with incredible speed. Given how I eventually failed, this is worrying. Will I EVER get to become an Epinions advisor before I die? I doubt it, somehow!

Thirdly, obviously, you start taking the drug. You smoke for the first 5 days or so, gradually reducing your disgusting habit, and then (apparently) lose the desire completely. The prescription lasts a month - by which time you are either "cured" or need to go back to the doctor for the second - and final - chance. I was too embarrassed to return, to be honest. I'd cut down from 40 per day to 20 before approaching her in the first place. Zyban comfortably got me down to 3 per day - a real achievement, and yet a real failure. I was so near - and yet clearly so far.

I'm back on a disturbingly high tobacco intake and really need to try again, if I can pluck up the courage. Clearly, it works for many people - I was just too weak willed.

So - what is the worst thing about Zyban? I'll tell you. A friend of mine is - or was - an important part of the Zyban sales team. Before even approaching the doctor, I knew a lot about it. I knew that it attacked addiction without being a nicotine replacement. I also knew that if this did NOT work, then it was unlikely that anything else would. I'm left with the feeling that I have a life sentence. Or, more correctly, a death sentence.

Conclusions? Well, I have two. Firstly, if you're a smoker, try it. It could well work - but ma
ke sure you have the will-power to make it work. Secondly - if you're a young person, dabbling with tobacco, then PLEASE give up while you can. No nagging, no moralising, here - just take it from me that, as you come to terms with your own feeble mortality, you'll rue the day you ever started. End of lecture!

All the best - and good luck - I sincerely hope that this product works for you if you need it. I hope, even more sincerely, that you won't voluntarily bring a need for this product upon yourself.

Andrew

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