Does Wellbutrin help you quit smoking?
June 27th, 2011
My doc is thinking of putting me on an anti-depressant in addition to my mood stabilizer. I have heard in the past that Wellbutrin helps you quit smoking and I really want to quit…but patches and gum doesn’t work. No one will give me Chantix bc of my Hx w/ depression.
So does anyone out there know anything about Wellbutrin? I was going to ask him if he’d put me on it.
Jennifer I hear what you’re saying but I’ve been at this depression thing for YEARS now (1996)…so that’s not where to start. I’ve already started treatment. I guess I should have clarified that in my above statement. I’ve taken many many antidepressants but all have weird side effects. I have never tried Wellbutrin and have only been a smoker for 3 yrs now…so I was thinking now that I have a new doc in a new city, he might be willing to kill two birds with one stone so to speak. Thx for your answer though.
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Posted in Quit smoking now | 
Tags: Anti Depressant, Antidepressants, Birds, depression, Doc, gum, help, Mood Stabilizer, patches, quit, quit smoking, smoking, Weird Side, wellbutrin
It can work and it the generic that most people get put on because the chantix costs 135/month (but it worked for me in two months.) The welbutrin weirded me out and I decided to spend the money to quit smoking because at the prices of cigarettes these days, you come out ahead in the long run. Good luck with it.
Wellbutrin has similar warnings regarding depression as Chantix, though is also an anti-depressant. The concern with both Wellbutrin and Chantix is that the feeling of depression could get worse. Though both of the medications state that the mood changes have occurred in people who had never had the feelings before as well as in those that did.
Chantix blocks “nicotinic acetylcholine receptors” which if I also blocks dopamine which is one of the chemicals that make you feel happy and pleasurable so it is understandable that an MD wouldn’t want you to take this. You don’t want to reduce your dopamine uptake if you are depressed.
Anti-depressants are complex medications that often have multiple uses and often the reasons for why the drugs work are unknown. Quitting smoking is important, but If I were you I would go with the anti-depressant that will help you the best in the depression area and then try to conquer the smoking.