Zyban side effects - Smoking Cessation Message Board

Trinity · 01-12-2001, 10:07 PM

After taking Zyban for 10 days, I woke up COVERED in hives, with bright red skin, and itching like CRAZY. I saw three different doctors in two days trying to deal with it (the reaction seemed to get worse the second day and my hands were so swollen that I could hardly use them). Finally they pinned it on the Zyban and got it under control (mostly) with a combination of Zyrtec, Benadryl, and corticosteroids. Now I'm just waiting for all of the Zyban to get out of my system and the reaction to stop. Other symptoms included chills and painful joints.

I wish I had known that this was a possible side effect because I was really worried that I was having a severe allergic reaction to something. The $88 I spent on the Zyban Rx has now cost me something like $300 in extra medical bills and 2 days missed at work dealing with the side effects

The doctor told me I could never take Zyban/Wellbutrin again, not that I would want to if this is the outcome.

They say this reaction is rare, but I am seeing a lot of posts online from people with similar problems with Zyban. I don't think it is as rare as they would like us to think...

Trin

andrew59 · 01-17-2001, 02:38 AM

I took Zyban and had some interesting side effects. I was in a much better mood and less stressed out most of the time, but several times throughout the day, for no reason whatsoever, I would start thinking that I was having a heart attack. It always happened when I was having chest pains from gas (I was drinking a lot of soda then) and then I would think "this is it, this is the big one..." and I would have to stop whatever I was doing and take my pulse and reassure myself that 30 yr old men rarely have heart attacks.
But the wierdest side effect of all is that music (almost any kind of music) was improved by 1 million percent. Especially late 60's & early 70's drug stuff like the Doors and Deep Purple. I know that's really freaky, but music I had hated before, I was like "hey thats got a really cool bass line.." and turning up the radio and rocking out like I was 15 again. All the side effects went away within a couple days after I quit taking it, but the music thing has come back lately (but not nearly as intense) since I've lost a whole bunch of weight.

VickiO2005 · 01-31-2005, 04:22 PM

It took about two weeks for the rash to show up on me. I was covered from my head to my knees with the itchiest rash I've ever had. I went to the ER at the local hospital where they gave me Prednisone and Atarax. That was yesterday and I'm finally beginning to feel better. I have no other drug allergies although synthetic drugs seem to make me sick to my stomach, however I do have an allergic reaction to metals -- especially during pms. The rash from Zyban coincided with the arrival of my period. Just what I needed. Prior to the rash, I was yawning frequently which I thought was weird. I'm going back to the patch when this stuff is out of my system. I also think that someone somewhere is downplaying the frequency of this side effect. Oh, one other thing -- psoriasis runs in my family. I'm thinking this could also be a contributing factor.