Can Prozac Help to Quit Smoking?

The effects of smoking can negatively influence a person’s lifestyle. It can change a person’s appearance greatly: it can discolor the teeth, provoke tooth decay, and cause premature aging. Much worse is the situation when it can result in emergence of emphysema or lung cancer. Because of the negative effects of smoking to one’s health and appearance, a lot of smokers aim to quit this bad habit.

Sometimes it happens that a person’s desire to quit their bad habit is not enough to fight with nicotine addiction. Nicotine is a substance that gives smokers a pleasant feeling that people who are trying to stop smoking tend to thirst for when they feel stressed. This desire makes them return to their bad habit. This is why different methods of nicotine replacement such as using of nicotine patches and gums are widely used by individuals who are trying to stop smoking. Unfortunately, such methods are generally not very effective and people tend to search other options in order to quit this habit.

In some cases, anti-depressants medications are used for nicotine withdrawal. A number of researches have been conducted on people who have tried to quit smoking with Prozac, Seroxat, Lustral and some other medications. Unfortunately, these medications didn’t help people to stop smoking. Still, the only anti-depressant medication approved by the FDA for smokers who try to quit is bupropion, which can be found under the brand name Zyban. Nortriptyline is another medication that is used for the cigarette smoking withdrawal. In spite the fact that this is proven to be as ineffective as a placebo, a lot of physicians recommend this option to individuals who cannot stop smoking using nicotine replacement methods.

The majority of people who tried to quit smoking with Prozac start smoking again because it didn’t reduce the withdrawal cravings. Worse situation is that 30% of people who tried to quit smoking taking Prozac as a result began to experience depression. Typically, the taking in of the medicine causes nausea and mood swings. In some cases people can have suicidal thoughts. Doctors usually put people who take anti-depressants under their supervision.

Because of the severe adverse reactions caused by antidepressant medications, people who plan on quitting the habit should try t some other forms of nicotine replacement therapy first. Smoking cessation is a slow process and should be taken step by step.