There are numerous products on the market today to help you stop smoking. Firstly, there are a several different types of NRT’s (Nicotine Replacement Therapies) that contain nicotine. These are designed to slowly wean you off your dependence on cigarettes, and eventually nicotine itself. Here though, I am going to focus on treatments that do not contain nicotine. The 2 most common drugs available at the moment are called Zyban and Chantix (Champix outside the USA).
Zyban (bupropion)
Zyban began life as an anti-depressant under the brand name Wellbutrin. After users of Wellbutrin who smoked noticed a reduced desire for cigarettes, further testing was done and Zyban was born as a smoking cessation drug.
Unlike NRT’s, Zyban does not put any nicotine into the body. It comes in pill form and works by reducing the withdrawal symptoms suffered when you stop smoking. You begin taking Zyban about 1 week before you stop smoking completely, and then for up to 12 weeks after you have stopped.
In studies, taking Zyban increased the chances of quit smoking by 100% at the 3 month stage. At the 1 year stage, after which some patients had relapsed, the increase had dropped to 50%. Some side effects have been reported, including insomnia, dry mouth and in very rare cases seizures were reported.
Chantix (varenicline)
Chantix, which is known outside the USA as Champix, is the latest medication developed to help people quit smoking. Like Zyban, it comes in pill form, does not contain nicotine and treatment begins 1 week before your quit date. After you stop smoking, you continue to take Chantix for either a further 12 or 24 weeks. In tests, those that continued for the full 24 weeks had a higher success rate and were more likely to remain smoke free for good.
Chantix works by preventing nicotine from releasing the pleasure inducing dopamine into the brain in large quantities. When the nicotine cannot release dopamine, the smoker does not get the usual pleasure sensation in the brain from smoking, and so the desire for nicotine dies. Chantix itself also causes the release of dopamine, but only small quantities at a constant rate throughout the day. This replaces the highs and lows you get with nicotine, and thus reduces the craving for it.
A year after using Chantix, you are 3 times more likely to be successful at quit smoking. Compared to Zyban, it increased the chances of success by 60% at the 1 year stage. The side effects reported when using Chantix where insomnia, nausea, headaches, flatulence and constipation.
