These comments are made for the purpose of discussion and should NOT
be used as recommendations for or against therapies or other treatments. An indi
vidual patient is always advised to consult their own physician.
[posted 08/5/2000]
Question: I am interested in quitting smoking. With Zyban I had many bad side effects: crying, insomnia etc… I am very interested in some new drugs I have recently read about:clonidine and mecamylamine. Could I get some info and how hard will it be for my doc to presicbe these for me? I am an otherwise healthy 34 year old woman. Thank you in advance for your reply.
Answer: Clonidine is an central alpha blocker first used intreating hypertension. Subsequently, it became clear of it’s advantages in blocking symptoms of different kinds of drug withdrawals. First used in narcotic addiction, it is often used with different drug withdrawals to block the symptoms. It will not particularly affect the craving like Zyban can. But, can be helpful. Side effects are sedation, constipation, dry mouth. Start with 0.1 mg at bedtime. If that works it does come in a patch which lasts a week, and some start with the patch increasing it as you can tolerate the side effects. I have not been impressed with mecamylamine(Inversine) but worth a try if clonidine is not helpful.
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