anybody try Zyban/Wellbutrin? I set my quit date for April 9, but now that its getting closer, i'm afraid of failing, because I've failed every single time before. I'm just not strong enough, and I need any help i can get. the cravings get too strong and I hate myself for not being able to quit on my own.
Welcome to EX. 
You have come to the right place for a new day and a rebirth.
Congratulations on making the decision to quit smoking.
This is all about you and what you are willing to do to be smoke free. Quitting smoking requires hard work. It can be challenging at times but you will learn that it is doable if you adhere to NOPE not one puff ever no matter what.
Start First, by educating yourself about nicotine addiction. Education is the key to a successful quit.
Read: Freedom from Nicotine My Journey Home and Nicotine Addiction 101
Here are the links http://whyquit.com/whyquit/LinksAAddiction.html and http://whyquit.com/ffn/
Also Read Allen Carr’s book, “Easy Easier Way to Quit Smoking”.
The link is here: http://media.wix.com/ugd/74fa87_2010cc5496521431188f905b7234a829.pdf
Go to http://www.becomeanex.org/how-to-quit-smoking.php#thl and get started. We will support you. You are in your journey for freedom
.
Welcome to our community!
Everyone is afraid of the unknown. Educate yourself, prepare, plan and commit to this quit and you WILL be successful, Your past failures have nothing to do with this attempt. Don't beat yourself up for using a quit aid....everybody has different ways to deal with the difficulties of quitting. If these will help you, then use them.
The most important thing you can do right now is to educate yourself on what nicotine does to your body and mind. To that end, I also highly recommend Allen Carr's “The Easy Way to Stop Smoking.” This is an easy and entertaining read.
You should also read the posts here and perhaps go the the pages of folks who you think might be helpful. You might visit , quitsmokingonline.com and livewell.com for the good information contained there. @https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/groups/best-of-ex has lots of blogs written by members of this site with their experiences and guidance. You should also do the tracking and separation exercises suggested in My Quit Plan http://www.becomeanex.org/my-quit-plan.php
After you have completed the recommended reading, it will be time to make an informed choice of the quit aid, if any, you will use. If you go that route, I personally recommend the aids that don't let the addict control the dose such as the available prescription drugs or the patch. If used properly, gum, lozenges and inhalers are fine, but they need to be used only as a last resort. I have seen folks become addicted to them if they substitute them for every cigarette they used to smoke - just trading one addiction for another. I do not recommend the e-cigarette for three reasons: 1) the vapor has been compared to the polluted air in Bejing on a bad day, 2) they just provide another nicotine delivery system while continuing the hand to mouth smoking motion, and 3) the batteries can spontaneously catch on fire. . But – any method that you think will work well for you will be best for you.
The idea is to change up your routines so the smoking associations are reduced. Drink your coffee with your OTHER hand. If you always had that first smoke with your coffee, try putting your tennies on right out of bed, going for a quick walk, then taking your shower and THEN your coffee! Rearrange the furniture in the areas you used to smoke so the view is different. Buy your gas at a different station. Take a different route to work. Take a quick walk at break time where the smokers AREN'T.
You need to distract yourself through any craves. You can take a bite out of a lemon (yup - rind and all), put your head in the freezer and take a deep breath of cold air, do a few jumping jacks, go for a brisk walk or march in place, play a computer game. Don't let that smoking thought rattle around in your brain unchallenged. Sometimes you need to quit a minute or an hour at a time. You will need to be disciplined in the early days to distract yourself when a crave hits. Get busy! Here is a link to a list of things to do instead of smoke if you need some fresh ideas:
The conversation in your head in response to the "I want a cigarette" thought needs to be, "Well, since I have decided not to do that anymore, what shall I do instead for the three minutes this crave will last?" Then DO it. You will need to put some effort into this in the early days, but it gets easier and easier to do.
Stay close to us here and ask questions when you have them and for support when you need it. We will be with you every step of the way!
Nancy
I have tried Wellbutrin during one of my failed attempts to quit. It did not help.
However, educating yourself using the many ideas Jackie and Nancy gave you, is going to help you a lot.
You have to build up your own confidence, believe you can do it, because it is possible. Just look around on this site, and see how many of us did it, for a couple of weeks, a couple of months, one or many years.
It is all about how you mentally prepare yourself. Please do the reading, come back and ask questions, there will always be someone to help, guide, speak with you when you need to speak.
Allan Carr's book helped me quit, coming to EX helped me maintain it.
You can do it, believe it, and it will happen for you!
We know you can, and you have to believe us :-)
I've been on Wellbutrin for many years. It's 1 part of the medication prescribed for clinical depression.
I can't say it helped me at all during weeks 1,2 and 3. But since then, much to my surprise, I seem to be having a much easier time than others. HOWEVER, every quit is different and the medication may have NOTHING to do with it. My feeling is that the greatest help of all has been staying on this site daily and reading, reading, reading all the articles mentioned above. Education about addiction is key.
Bree
I used Zyban during a quit. It last ed 2 years then, well, I got stupid. The point is, and this is huge.
This site will make all the difference. You, and ex, together , will make this quit work.
It will be hard. you will hit lots of triggers, and you will want to smoke. But keep reading, and coming here for support,and you WILL succeed where you have failed in the past.
Freedom from the evil Nicotine is waiting! The Zyban will help, but it will be you that will do it this time!
tikibell214 Looks like you're getting a lot of great support. Here are some search results for the site (https://excommunity.becomeanex.org/search.jspa?q=wellbutrin ) on what others have said about Wellbutrin.
Congrats on finding us and starting your journey!
Mark
EX Community Manager
I would stay away from drugs and stick to the one you have been on for years ......nicotine and by that I mean the patch it sure helped me to quit and like everyone else said above stick with this site and the reading etc. etc. I personally do not like drugs unless it is something that you absolutely need for your health . What most of us need to be healthy is a good diet not pills this is just my humble opinion take what you need and leave the rest .
Hello, tikibell214, and welcome to EX! I was on Welbutrin for a very long time way before I quit and well into my quit, for depression. I am sure it did not help with either. Not long ago they changed it and I am a whole lot happier!
I did not use NRT's so I don't know anything about those. I do know that without them the nicotine will be out of your body in approximately 3 days. A Smart Turkey. This is a great read and helped me!
EX and the people here and the education I got here was the life changer for me. I followed all of the instructions about triggers and tracking, I set a quit date and listened to the Elders and others that seemed to know. Determination, Education, commitment (Take Action in April 2017 with a Daily Pledge to stay Quit) and willingness will all help you get to a smoke-free life. Stay close to us and holler when you need help, support, and encouragement, it's all here!
Here are some links to help you navigate the site. EX to EX INSTRUCTIONS and Welcome to our Community. The following link is full of education, I used it from day 1-130 and beyond. It helps! My Welcome To New Members (10 Years Of Watching)
If you need anything give us a holler BEFORE YOU SMOKE! ~Terrie~
The most important thing I have learned here at EX is NOPE Not One Puff Ever! You see, I had quit for 519 days and for one night decided I could not NOPE. I threw away a great quit! I started again the very next day and I now have 120 days of freedom. I got to keep my health and wisdom but I smoked! I will never not NOPE again! Take the best and leave the rest!
so they changed the wellbutrin, and it helped you?
No, the Wellbutrin never did anything for me and I was on it for a long time. About 3 1/2 months ago when I blew a quit of 519 days. (I started my new quit the very next morning) They changed me to Prozac 40mg. I feel much better! I don't believe any medication will work magic with a quit. It takes determination, education, commitment and willingness to have a successful quit!
I do enjoy feeling Happy, with the new medication!
First off - WELCOME!
There's a lot of good information above, Jackie above gave you a link to Allen Carr's book, which I found very helpful. I too was afraid of failing again (as I have quit 10 or so times previously). In fact, after my last attempt, I was so afraid of failing that it took 7 years and health concerns for me to decide to try again.
My doctor suggested Wellbutrin, but I decided to use an NRT for now for two reasons. Some of my longest quits were using nicotine replacement and because my last attempt was with Chantix and I did not do well with the side effects. I'm checking back in with my doctor in a couple of more weeks and if I feel the need, he said he'd prescribe it then.
Though not too far into my quit (2+ weeks), it has been better than most attempts because I followed some of the advice I got here. Education about the addiction, and how to adjust your attitude that you are not giving up ANYTHING, there are only positive gains to be had.
The important thing to me is that there are a lot of options to quitting smoking but none of them will work without 3 main ingredients - one must have the desire to quit for themselves, they need the knowledge of what they are up against, and the support to help with the rough patches.
You got the last 2 right here - believe me, if I hadn't come here, read & learned and listened to all those in this community, I'd be facing another failure.
GLAD YOU"RE HERE! You can do this!!
Doug
I have taken Wellbutrin for a long time, it was prescribed because I have chronic pain and antidepressants are known to be effective at enhancing pain medication and also to keep a person who has pain for more than three weeks in a row from developing clinical depression...I have had more than one doctor tell me that consistent pain for more than three weeks actually changes your brain chemistry. I had been on other antidepressants in the past and had real problems tolerating them because of sedation but this does not seem to keep me sedated. As far as helping with quitting smoking, I really can't say if it helped or not. I think that the biggest things are education, preparation, and support. If you think any medication is going to make quitting easy, I think you are asking for the impossible. It's not easy and it is one day at a time, when one day is too long, it can be one moment or one minute at a time. If you do all of the reading, track your cigarettes, identify your triggers, and stay close to this site, reading blogs and commenting, you will find it is a lot easIER than just quitting has been in your past. This is not a battle and willpower is not effective but education and support ARE. Start your quit feeling ready, feeling committed, you CAN do this, look at all of us. We are not superheroes, we did this the right way, with all of the support and education and preparation we could. We also did it and are DOING it, one day at a time, there are no shortcuts. If you are already having doubts and feeling like you can't do this, maybe you need to go back to square one and prepare yourself. You CAN do this!
I think a lot of us were afraid before our quit date. I know I was. I also had the fear of not being able to do it, but 34 days later I am doing it and even if I made a mistake, I thought that I would figure out what went wrong and try again. I smoked for 40 plus years. Just deal with one day at a time. Sometimes even hour by hour. You must be more positive too! You won't be alone, we are here pretty much anytime around the clock. We never close!! LOL
Lynne
Hi and welcome to the site. I quit almost 7 years ago. I took Welbutrin - and I read the Carr book mentioned above and - most importantly - I had the support from the people here! I have no idea about the Welbutrin - it certainly didn't hurt. I quit and have remained quit and I have ne re looked back!
I understand the fear....I still remember it. I smoked for 40 years and I didn't think it was possible to quit. But, i am here to tell you - you can do this!
Welcome. I can't speak to the question of Zyban, Welbutrin or Chantix. I had several quit attempts using patches and even one using hypnosis. I smoked a pack a day for 37 years. I blew my quits on several occasions.
On May 2,2011 I decided enough was enough. I plugged into the EX community. I read up on info. I read Carr's book (Easy Way to Quit Smoking). I sought out the testimonials of many who were dying and put their suffering out there in an effort to educate. I did a lot ....LOT of reading. I stayed hooked to this site. I was prepared with a fresh box of patches.....And I never opened it. I made the decision that I needed to stop feeding the addict in me. No more nicotine. It wasn't easy, I was scared, I had failed so many times I wasn't sure what I was doing trying to go Cold Turkey. On May 2, 2017 I will celebrate SIX years free of all of it. You can do this. Do what will make this quit the last one. Make yourself your #1 priority.
God bless you and make this happen!!
Alice - quit 5/2/11
I used Wellbutrin this time. I do not generally do well with medication as I seem to be hypersensitive to just about everything! Still, my doctor's suggestion was first and foremost "You really must want to quit" otherwise nothing will work." Wise words! This was by far the most significant decision I had ever made about quitting, I realized for the first time, that yes, I really do want to quit. I was terrified at the thought of what I might have to go through - the mind can be a powerful enemy until you turn it into a friend! So that was step one - the firm decision. Doc said to take the Wellbutrin for 7 days and stop smoking on day 8. I found this site 4 days before my quit date and to this day I feel that it was meant to be (finding this site) because I had made such a strong decision. The next biggest event was learning here about Allen Carr's book "The Easy Way to Stop Smoking" - I found it in my local library 3 days before my quit date! I was so impacted with this book, I found myself slowing down the reading so that I could time finishing it to coincide with my quit date! Kooky right? But that was key - I had a plan and I needed to stick with it. I even made myself smoke up until the planned last ciggy at 10pm the night before. I made a ritual out of the whole evening and guess what - I was consciously not enjoying those last few cigarettes! They became distasteful, smelly, and a nuisance and I was thrilled to find that my memory of smoking would now be quite negative. I stayed on the Wellbutrin for 4 more weeks but I found myself unable to sleep more than a couple of hours in the night and I do work full time. The insomnia became unbearable and I stopped the med. I feel I am slowly getting a better sleep pattern back and from what I've learned here, some of this may be because of the changes in my body due to the quit. However, I think the med exacerbated that. I really don't know how much this helped my quit but I believed it did in that it helped me be less nervous/uptight. It wasn't until a couple of weeks into the quit that I realized I actually quit cold turkey - unbelievable to me and it makes me feel proud of myself. I smoked for 55 years and I feel blessed that I have stopped at last. I am at 45 days, still fragile but terrified about having to go through all this again which I think helps keep me on the smokeless path. So, I think that whatever you choose, believe in it and use all the tools you can - there is so much support here, keep coming back! Pamela
I used it for a very short time. You still have to work your quit. Have a plan. Be prepared. It is not a magic pill so to speak. It only takes the edge of and releases a little dopamine while you adjust to quitting.