(Currently unavailable)

Zyban is the branded name for bupropion, a prescription-only medicine that was originally intended as an antidepressant.

Its ability to help people stop smoking came about by chance when participants in the early clinical trials lost their desire to smoke.

It’s not known exactly how Zyban works, but it’s thought to interrupt the areas of the brain that are associated with addiction and the pleasurable effects of nicotine.

This reduces the desire to smoke and dampens the physical symptoms of nicotine withdrawal.

Zyban is an alternative to Nicotine Replacement Therapy (NRT) and doesn’t contain nicotine. As a less commonly used drug, doctors and pharmacists have less experience with it than with NRT.

Possible side effects of Zyban

• Common side effects include fever, nausea, agitation, anxiety, dry mouth, headache, skin rashes and constipation. It can also intensify the sleep problems that many people encounter when they stop smoking.
• The most serious side effects are convulsive fits, which affect approximately 1 person in 1000.
• Zyban should not be used by people with epilepsy, liver problems or with eating disorders such as bulimia and anorexia.

For more detailed information on side effects and interactions, read the leaflet that comes with this medicine.