To all the people who have experience with zyban, ideas pls????!!!!

[justaquestion]

I went to my GP today and told that I have to stop smoking, and heard of zyban, she knows my history so she prescribed me zyban. But she told me not to take it until I meet someone who will support me, and gave a lady?s name in a near pharmacy.
I went to pharmacy they said that lady is not there, she stays in their other far branch and they don?t have zyban. So I went to another shop, told what I was told, that I need someone to support me too. They gave the medication, and as support the lady there told the same stuff that was written on the leaflet that my GP gave me and added there is always somebody there if I need support but it didn?t seem to me like a real stop smoking support.
What shall I do now? Shall I start taking tablets and at the same time look for a moral support? Where I can get a good support from? Does it take long if it is a therapy that I have to sign on?
Thank you very much for reading this and for your further comments.
And I love mumsnet .

My dad quit a 52-year habit w/Zyban.

No, do NOT stop taking the tablets once you start them! They take about ten days to kick in to begin w/.

In the States, where Zyban is used for smokers w/strong physical addiction, they tell you to keep smoking for about a week after you start taking the tablets, unless you are also prescribed nicotine replacement therapy - the US has been using Zyban+NRT combined with very good success rates, particularly in heavy, long-term smokers.

Try your nearest NHS smoking cessation clinic, Google it. You can join a smoking cessation group asap.

If you look in the health topic theres a thread called fag free few...new thread...theres a load of smokers in various stages of quitting there.
None on zyban though.
Before you try that...id recommend some reading at whyquit.com
or an allen carr book, to change the way you think about fags.
Going to bed now but I will check back here tommorow..best choice you can ever make, by the way, to give up the fags

If your GP prescribed your Zyban, it's for a reason. It's quite hard to get in the UK.

i'm looking for someone to quit with.. zyban has alot of bad history.

I don't understand the British aversion to it. It's very widely used in the US with a very, very good long-term success rate.

It's used in those who have failed w/just NRT + counselling.

People like my father, who was losing his eyesight to smoking.

what kind of bad history southeastastra?

I've known many people who have quit smoking w/it w/no really bad side effects at all, certainly FAR better than their continuing to smoke.

i just know it had a bad press here when it was launched here.

I quit using Zyban 7 years ago. It was quite new here then and I wasn't offered any other intervention, but I had asked for it so obviously had my own motivation. I found it to be brilliant. Continued to smoke for the first week but found the gap between cigs was growing until I just didn't need to smoke anymore. I stopped smoking but continued to take the tablets for the next 6 weeks. I have had many relapses however but in this time have never returned to what I call 'proper smoking'. I usually succumb to stress smoking or social smoking. I still think of myself as a non smoker because these phases last only 1 or 2 weeks a year.

I know others have had real difficulties with this drug and experienced horrible side effects but wanted you to hear a positive experience too. Good luck. Which ever way you choose I hope it works for you.

thanks very much expatinscotland, charliecat, southeastastra, 2nervesnapartridgeinapeartree.
i am still open to other experiences with zyban.
can i do it only with tablets or do i need the moral support too?
shall i start taking tablets tomorrow?

My dad did it w/a combination of NRT+Zyban. Again, it's been in use in the US for a pretty good while now, and no one's been successfully sued - that's saying much.

He did not have moral support.

But I don't know that that would have been useful to him, anyhow.

It was really imperative he STOP smoking, b/c in addition to his failing eyesight, he has coronary artery disease and it's a struggle to control his hyptension even w/medication.

What works for one smoker to quit may not work for another, that is why it's really a decision to be made between the smoker and his/her doctor as to how to best go about it.