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The number of people willing to quit smoking is increasing, so is the number of medicines increasing available in different forms and brands. Now, the smoker just needs to know his level of addiction, consult a doctor for the recommendation of his dosage, and he can start his routine to quit smoking.

There is a variety of quit smoking medicines available, better known as nicotine replacement aids, in the form of gums, patches, inhalers, vaporizers, injection, lozenges, and many others which could be opted by the smoker according to his suitability. Though it is very difficult in the initial stage to sustain the usage of any aid, as the craving may pull him back to his addiction, once the smoker reaches a certain level, it may give him the drive to continue it. He could try few aids and brands to get the one which would suit him the best.

Another form of quit smoking medicine is Buproprion (Zyban) which was originally made as an anti depressant, but its usage among the patients automatically brought in the effect of reducing the desire to smoke. This medicine is a discovery on its own, but is available on prescription only, and has some side effects associated as any other medicine. Thus it should be followed only by a doctors recommendation.

The quit smoking medicines helps the smoker get away from his habit, and if not totally, then at least it helps him reduce the level of intake. The side effects, such as headaches, nausea, dizziness, and others need to be tolerated in the initial stage to get improvement; as the constant use of the medicines will gradually reduce the side effects.

Despite all kinds of medicines available, the best way to quit smoking would be if a smoker could get away from this habit on his own that is by means of his own determination, dedication, and will power which would never have any side effects.

Champix 0.5 mg 56 tabl.

Champix tablets contain the active ingredient varenicline, which is a medicine used to help people who are addicted to nicotine to give up smoking. It acts in the brain, but is not the same as nicotine replacement therapy. Champix (varenicline) is a type of medicine called a nicotinic acetylcholine receptor partial agonist.

Contrary to information that led the FDA and other regulatory agencies to release warnings about varenicline (Chantix), a new study has found “no clear evidence” of a relationship between the risk of suicide and the stop smoking drug.

Both varenicline(Chantix) and bupropion (Zyban), another stop smoking drug, were associated with a 12% and 17% increased risk, respectively, of self-harm compared with people who used a nicotine replacement product, but the confidence intervals were wide and straddled 1.00, David Gunnell, PhD, of the University of Bristol in the U.K., and colleagues reported online in British Medical Journal.

The limited study power “means we cannot rule out either a halving or a twofold increase in risk,” the researchers said.

Adverse event reports have sparked growing concern that Varenicline may be associated with an increased risk of suicide.
Regulatory agencies worldwide have issued warnings on use of the drug, and last July, the FDA required boxed warnings on both varenicline and bupropion.
However, the researchers said, few large population studies have been done to assess the risk. Further, they said, assessing risk is challenging because of the need to control for confounders such as previous disease and smoking habits.
People who smoke already have a two- to- threefold increased risk of suicide, since smoking is common among people with psychiatric illness, they said. Also, it’s possible that [smoking] “has a beneficial effect on psychiatric symptoms, such as anxiety, that may be lost with smoking cessation,” the researchers added.

And last March, a study in the Journal of General Internal Medicine found that varenicline didn’t increase the risk of depressive symptoms.

So to clarify the issue, the researchers conducted a cohort study of 80,660 patients ages 18 to 95 who were prescribed a new course of any quit smoking medications — nicotine replacement products, bupropion, or varenicline — between Sept. 1, 2006 and May 31, 2008.

In general, patients prescribed bupropion or varenicline were less likely than those on nicotine products to have a history of psychiatric consultation, alcohol misuse, use of psychotropic medication, or self harm or suicidal thoughts.
There were 166 episodes of nonfatal self-harm, two suicides – both in the nicotine replacement group – and 37 episodes of suicidal thoughts.
The incidence of self-harm was 533.1 per 100,000 person-years in patients on varenicline, 498.7 for those on bupropion, and 751.7 for nicotine replacement products.

The researchers found “no clear evidence” that varenicline was associated with an increased risk of suicide or nonfatal self-harm. However, they said they could not rule out a twofold increased risk “on the basis of the upper limit of the 95% confidence interval.”
Those confidence limits were 0.67 to 1.88 for varenicline and 0.59 to 2.32 for bupropion.
Varenicline was also associated with a 43% increased risk of suicidal thoughts compared with nicotine replacement products, but, again, the confidence intervals were wide and straddled 1.00 (95% CI 0.53 to 2.85).

The researchers said such evidence is consistent with all possibilities – “a large protective effect, no effect, or a large adverse effect.”

Yet they cautioned that suicidal thoughts are under-recorded in the General Practice Research Database, from which they took their data.

The study may also have been limited in its power, since there were only 18 episodes of self-harm reported in the varenicline group, the researchers said.

Still, they concluded, in light of the “possible increased risk of suicide associated with these stop smoking drugs and their increasing popularity, further investigation of their effect on suicide risk is required in other databases and through secondary analysis of all adverse events reporting in relevant clinical trials.”

Zyban 150 mg 30 tabl.

Champix 1 mg 28 tabl.

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Champix 1 mg 28 tabl.

How does Chantix work

Chantix (or Varenicline) belongs to the class of medications called smoking cessation therapies. It is used to help people quit smoking.
Chantix is intended to be used by adults in combination with quit-smoking education and counselling.  It effects on the brain to reduce cravings and nicotine withdrawal symptoms. This quitting drug decreases the pleasure that people get from smoking. It is thought to have these effects by working at the same receptors that nicotine from cigarettes affects, although exactly how varenicline works is not clear.
Chantix also blocks the way nicotine acts on these receptors.

This means that if the patient who is trying to quit smoking makes a mistake and has a cigarette, there will be no satisfaction or enjoyable effects from that cigarette.

This makes smoking highly unappealing, and helps a patient reduce nicotine withdrawal symptoms and break smoking habit much faster.

Chantix side effects

Both the European Medicines Agency and the FDA have approved this product for use as a stop smoking medication. Even with this approval, it is important for smokers to realize that Chantix does have some potential drawbacks.

First, if the drug is not taken as prescribed and for the entire treatment period, the desire to smoke will often return. The minimum treatment period is 12 weeks. However, permanent results are more prevalent among those patients who use the product for 24 weeks.

Another potential drawback of taking Chantix is the fact that there are some side effects that can occur. The most common side effect is mild nausea, which usually goes away after the treatment begins. Other mild side effects, such as appetite changes, dry mouth, tiredness, and headache, rarely prevented patients from finishing the treatment.

However, some patients experienced severe mood swings, depression, or serious sleeping problems. These more serious side effects did cause some patients to stop taking the medication.

Before taking the quit smoking medication tell your doctor if you are pregnant, plan to become pregnant, or if you take insulin, asthma medicines, or blood thinners.

Champix 1 mg 28 tabl.

Through further testing, the drug was found to be effective in treating the smoking addiction, and helping smokers quit. GlaxoSmithKline “repackaged” Wellbutrin and marketed it as the Stop smoking drug Zyban.
Unlike nicotine patches or nicotine gum, this Stop smoking drug does not put more nicotine into your body.

It’s supposed that you should stop smoking if you use the quit smoking patches or gum. With Zyban, you continue to smoke when you first start taking the medication, eventually reduce craving to cigarettes. You also should also take the drug Zyban for a period of time after quitting.

How Zyban works

Zyban does not provide nicotine to the body; it makes the smoker a feeling of well-being that allows him to give up the smoking habit with relatively little difficulty.

Stop smoking drug Zyban makes quitting easier. According to the clinical trial researches treatment with ZYBAN reduced nicotine withdrawal symptoms compared to placebo. Zyban has Bupropion that works more like an antidepressant. Bupropion is a relatively weak inhibitor of neuronal intake of dopamine, serotonin or noreoinephrine.

It works by boosting the levels of several chemical messengers in the brain. With more of these chemicals at work, you experience reductions on the following nicotine withdrawal symptoms: irritability, frustration, or anger; anxiety; difficulty concentrating; restlessness; and depressed mood or negative affect.

Do note that Zyban has known side effects which include body pains and insomnia and is contradicted with some other medications. People with a history of seizures, eating disorders, or cirrhosis of the liver should not this stop smoking drug Zyban.

Zyban 150 mg 30 tabl.

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