Stories I receive about Zyban will be posted here as I get them!
I want to Thank everyone who takes the time to SHARE their stories.
1-13-00
I hate smoking. Almost 30 years ago I got addicted and have
smoked up to 60 cigarettes a day since. When I was 26, I somehow managed to quit for over
one year. I did lots of exercise, lived very healthy and was very happy about myself. It took just ONE cigarette, to bring me back.
Since then, I have tried to quit about once every two years. Last year I tried
Zyban.
Because I’m a headstrong person with my own ideas of how
things have to go, I quit smoking first. I used nicotine chewing gum for about 3 days.
Then, still carrying my gum with me, I dared myself to wait for a moment of utmost
urgency, before I would take another gum. I survived without the gum. On the 5th
day (2 days without nicotine), I started taking Zyban to support my mental state. I took
it for about 2 weeks, had no particular symptoms, except for being a little hyper and
restless. After the 2 weeks, I was sure not to be addicted to smoking anymore and saw no
further need for Zyban.
Two days after I stopped taking Zyban, I was driving down the
road and all of a sudden I realized that my life was over. I had nothing really to live
for, I was over my peak, I already accomplished everything, and there was nothing more for
me to do. I thought about stopping on the
next parking lot and just parking there, stay there, never move again and just wait for my
life to go away.
On second thought, I decided to go home. I opened a bottle of
wine, got some of my old cigarette packs out and started to smoke again. If such
depression was the result of non-smoking, I rather wanted to smoke again. So I did until
10 days ago.
Meanwhile I realize that I made a terrible mistake, going off
Zyban without giving my brain a chance to adjust to a life without mental crutches.
Cigarettes are an anti-depressant. You don’t feel quite right, so you have a
cigarette and you feel better - somehow. Depending on how bad you feel, you may need a lot
of cigarettes. Zyban is also an anti-depressant, it’s a little bit like speed, my
wife calls it “legal cocaine”. It makes you feel better without the smoke.
10 days ago, I repeated my original approach, substituting
the nicotine intake with the gum. After 2 days, I started taking 1 Zyban a day, after
another 3 days I doubled the dose as recommended.
Zyban makes me a little restless and I need a lot of physical
workout, I have some insomnia and feel a strange sexual force that bothers me. When I
drink coffee, my restlessness becomes sickening. However, my life’s rhythm is very
straight now, I wake up early, like to get up and turn in at reasonable times, which is
unusual for me. I also have much more energy and courage to achieve my daily tasks;
everything seems to go easier and is more fun. I have not the slightest desire to smoke
again, maybe a flash of craving after a meal, but no chance I’m going to smoke again.
I do feel a little more sentimental than usual, but that may be a sign of being closer to
myself and feeling an enormous gratefulness for having one more chance. I’m 43 now
and I have still a lot to look forward to, without the smoke. My 2-year-old son doesn't’t
even know his father without a cloud of smoke around him. I don’t think he’s
going to miss that.
I will be very careful this time, not to mess it up again. I
have made many attempts to quit in my life and I was always quite serious about it. But
eventually I didn't’t feel strong enough to resist that one craving and that was it.
Zyban gives me this trust in myself. I feel very strong now. And before I quit Zyban the
next time, I’I'll go to the doctor and get some serious advice.
Michael
Hi there,
Noticed you didn't have much on your Zyban page.
Here's my story:
My partner and I started taking Zyban on September
5, 1998. As directed, we continued to smoke until
our predetermined quit date of Monday, September
21. During the last few days before September 21,
cigarettes were tasting awful and we could only
smoke half of one each time we lit up. When our
quit date came along, we were very happy to forget
all about smoking. Which we did. It was so easy it
was unbelievable! Both of us were smokers for 25
years. It's now been almost two months and it's
like we never smoked before in our lives. We are
free!
We continued to take Zyban until up to about three
weeks ago. We never crave cigarettes and never
have since we quit. We would highly recommend
Zyban for anyone with the desire to quit. And
we've tried everything else.
It's a miracle! Zyban works!
Tom Gerylo
Ottawa, CANADA
I Received this story on November 18Th 1998
This story was receive from Jerry Martin on 5-9-99
Feel free to e-mail Jerry with any questions or comments at;
croix@bigfoot.com
My History
As of May 19, 1999, I will be a 35 year old male of average
health. I
am about 50 pounds over-weight. I have smoked about a ½ pack of
cigarettes per day for approximately 24 years. I drink about
12-18
beers just about every Friday night. During this time I usually
smoke
about one pack of cigarettes. I also drink about two cups of
coffee in
the morning on week days only. I have only been a coffee drinker
for
about four years. I've tried, about once-per-year, for the past
17
years to quit. The longest time I've quit is about three months
(once
when I was 18) and the rest to the tries only lasted about three
days.
Recent attempts to quit have resulted in an extreme feeling of
anxiety;
usually resulting in an increase in the number of cigarettes
smoked
during the course of a day for several days. Quit methods I have
tried
include: cold turkey, nicotine patches, nicotine gum, special
filters,
reduced nicotine cigarettes, systematically reducing the number
of
cigarettes smoked, smoking so many cigarettes at once that it
made me
sick for days, only smoking outside (during cold Michigan
winters),
some other pill based quit program (that I can't remember what
it was
called) and smokeless cigarettes.
4/21/99 - 6:50PM - Day 0
Went to the doctor today. The doctor gave me a prescription for
Zyban.
Although I've wanted to quit for years, I hadn't thought about
trying
to quit before the doctor offered this solution. Upon return
from the
doctor's office, I scoured the Internet for information
pertaining to
Zyban and found the following sites to be helpful:
http://www.zyban.com/
http://www.zyban.com/Pages/zybanfaq.htm
http://www.glaxowellcome.com/pi/zyban.pdf
http://www.dontsmoke.com/zyban.htm
http://just4u.com/stopsmoking/smokebbs/messages/865.htm
http://www.corral.net/quitters/bbs/wwwboard.html
I will begin taking Zyban (150mg) now. I should be smoke free on
4/29/99.
4/22/99 - 06:08AM - Day 1
I've been awake for about 45 minutes, having my morning coffee
and have
had my first cigarette of the day. It's been about 10 hours
since my
first dose of Zyban. I am experiencing some mild sinus drain
this
morning, but this could easily be attributed to the fact that it
is
kind of cool and damp outside. Other than that, I feel perfectly
normal.
4/22/99 - 05:43PM - Day 1
Just took my second dose. The sinus drain I had this morning
didn't
last very long. I still feel the same as usual.
4/23/99 - 12:53AM - Day 2
Can't sleep. Not sure if it's the Zyban or the fact that I
attended the
first meeting of the Greater Cadillac Area Network
Administrators
yesterday evening. I met a number of VERY interesting people. My
thoughts
are running rampant. My best guess is it's not the Zyban keeping
me awake
because I tend to get restless once-in-awhile anyway. Usually
when I've
got allot on my mind.
4/23/99 - 5:41AM - Day 2
Busy day today... going to Grand Rapids to take my final test
toward my
CNE. I'm having the same sinus drain problem I was having
yesterday
morning. I really hope this Zyban works, because I'm really
tired of
waking up coughing and gagging.
4/23/99 - 9:48PM - Day 2
Took my third Zyban this evening. Still nothing to report. I
will begin
taking two per day tomorrow.
4/24/99 - 11:59AM - Day 3
Beginning to take 300mg per day today. Still had a little sinus
drain
this morning. At this point, with it happening the same three
days in a
row that I've been using Zyban, I'd be inclined to believe that
it's an
effect of the Zyban. But, I don't think having to blow my nose a
couple
of times in the morning is a huge problem.
4/25/99 - 2:21PM - Day 4
I have felt kind of like I'm on speed or something all day.
Fighting the
urge to chain-smoke.
4/26/99 - 5:40AM - Day 5
I think I'm taking the proverbial "chill pill". I feel
very relaxed and
calm. I noticed myself humming and singing along with songs on
the radio,
(which is something I don't often do lately) and I've caught
myself sorta
wondering around the house aimlessly a couple of times (which is
also not
like me, I usually always have purpose). However, on the
down-side, I
have felt like I have an 'almost' headache for a couple of days
now. I
can feel pressure in my temples but it's not really a headache.
I've also
had some problems with itching in both my armpits and my groin.
(almost
unbearable at times). I haven't been getting much sleep past few
nights.
Last night I slept four hours and the night before about five. I
normally
sleep between six and eight hours. I haven't, however, felt
tired during
the day either.
4/26/99 - 7:59PM - Day 5
The itching has turned into a rash. My arms ache from my
shoulders to my
fingers. I took some ibuprofen at lunch. It helped a little; the
'almost'
headache is gone. I'm pretty tired. Perhaps the lost sleep has
caught up
with me.
4/27/99 - 6:15AM - Day 6
I feel better this morning; got a good night's sleep and the
ache in my
arms is gone. I still have the rash though; hope it goes away
soon. The
rash may be being activated by the Zyban, but I've had some
allergy
problems for years. I've been taking Claritin for a couple of
years,
because of a chronic itching problem.
4/27/99 - 6:58PM - Day 6
The rash seems to be starting to clear up. It's getting dry and
scaly.
However, I think I'm getting another rash on my feet now. I'm
feeling
a bit of soreness in my arms again. On the other hand,
cigarettes are
starting to leave a really bad taste in my mouth. I had
originally
planned to quit on the 29th, but now that I think about it,
that's on
Friday. Might as well just start on Saturday on my own time,
instead of
at work.
4/28/99 - 6:45AM - Day 7
Didn't sleep well again last night. My feet are too sore to do
my morning
exercise. I would like to call into work today, but I've got way
too much
work to do.
4/28/99 - 7:16PM - Day 7
Feeling much better this evening. The rashes seem to be clearing
up. (and
I hope that's the end of that) I'm planning to quit smoking in
two more
days. However, my smoking habits have yet to change. If there's
any
difference at all, it would be that now I don't seem to be
smoking as
much out of need, as out of just plain old habit. Several times
today,
it was time for one of my cigarettes, but I didn't really feel
like I
needed it. I just smoked it because it was time for one. I guess
I need
to start thinking of other things to do when it's time for a
break. (or
quit taking breaks)
4/30/99 - 6:13AM - Day 9
Busy day yesterday. I felt pretty good all day and had nothing
special to
report. Tomorrow it the day I'm supposed to quit smoking. I
don't think
it's going to be easy, but I'm feeling confident. I'm sure there
will
still be some temptation, but I don't seem to be getting my
usual anxiety
attack. Usually when I'm this close to trying to quit, I freak
out and
chain smoke for a few days.
5/2/99 - 10:24AM - Day 11
Today is my second day as a non-smoker. So far, things have gone
quite
well. I have thought about having a cigarette a few times, but
keep
reminding myself that I am a non-smoker now. The temptation
hasn't been
all that great and it has been fairly easy to resist. All of the
problems
I had when I first started taking the Zyban have gone away (no
more rash,
sinus drain or euphoria).
5/3/99 - 6:09AM - Day 12
Made it through the second day without a cigarette. The
temptation did
get a little stronger toward the afternoon, so I took a nap. I
also found
myself snacking often to curb the urge. Back to work today.
Perhaps I
would be wise to stop and get something to munch on; on the way
to work.
5/4/99 - 5:49PM - Day 13
Today is the fourth day I've gone without cigarettes. This is
almost a
new record for me. All but one of my attempts to quit have only
lasted
for three days. When I get past three months, it will be an all
time
record. Yesterday, I had some 'butterflies', but didn't have
much trouble
resisting the urge to smoke. I just kept telling myself
"I'm a non-
smoker". Today it has been more like, well... that feeling
you get when
you have forgotten to do something but can't remember what you
forgot to
do. It was my intention, originally, to run myself out of
cigarettes
before quitting. However, I have an almost full pack of
cigarettes
sitting right here on my desk next to my lighter. I could smoke
one any
time I want, but I haven't. In the past, I've always made sure I
didn't
have any cigarettes. Maybe that was a mistake. Perhaps, just
knowing I
have some is helping relieve some of the anxiety I've had in the
past. I
once knew a couple in Texas, a long time ago, that had quit for
over ten
years. They still had their old cigarettes in their night-stands
next to
their bed. Something to ponder :)
5/6/99 - 6:28PM - Day 15
Still smoke free!!! I've been tempted, a couple of times, to
have "just
one cigarette" but I've resisted that urge. I think that
may have been
one the causes of past failures. "Just one won't hurt
anything"... WRONG!
5/9/99 - 1:02PM - Day 18
Today is my ninth day without smoking. I feel confident that I
have
beaten this thing. I still get the occasional thought about
having a
cigarette, but it is quickly dismissed. The thoughts come out of
sheer
habit, not a feeling need. At this point, if I were to slip up
and start
smoking again, it would be purely from stupidity.
Summary
I believe Zyban played a major role in freeing myself from the
grasp of
nicotine. I'm not sure if it was the drug or the idea of the
drug, but it
worked. I am reasonably certain that I would have failed again
without
the Zyban. There were a few unpleasant side effects in the
beginning, but
the results have made it well worth the trouble.
Smoke.com
