IT Manager Previous mental health problems
ZERO Adverse affects noticed within a few days
Reported these to the smoking cessation clinic who suggested Zyban Told to
continue taking it.
Took it for a few weeks, got worse and worse, Unable to continue working May
& June 2001
Last day at work 28th June 2001 Unable to work since - mental health problems -
psychosis - depression
- anxiety - unable to function due to memorry and concentration problems, have hundreds of 'mind wipes' a day where my
train of thought and memory just vanish
in the blink of an eye, suspect some kind of low level petit mal type seizures
due to neurological poisoning / brain damage caused by Zyban.
The hormone theory might have some merit because I have believed I always had
quite a high level of testosterone
4/2004
In 2001 I took Zyban for smoking cessation, little did I know that it would devastate my life and lead to me becoming unrecognisable from my former self.
It had removed my capability to do my job, it robbed my kids of their father and my wife of her husband, it devastated my career my family life my relationships and my finances.
Around a year or so ago, things got really bad and I felt I had to make a decision, the choices seemed obvious, I had to buckle down and fight my problems as hard as I possibly could or end the nightmare, as it had become utterly intolerable.
I decide to fight, and fight hard to get myself back to being me or at least in a situation where I could tolerate life and imagine a future.
I felt detached like the old me was in fact dead, I had no enjoyment whatsoever from life or events, whenever I did laugh it didn’t seem genuine – yeah there was a smile on my face and the noise was being made but – I felt I was doing it to reassure my wife and kids that I was ok when inside I wasn’t, I was to all intents and purposes dead, but just happened to be walking around with a pulse and a voice, I decided that if this was all there was to life then I might as well be. Then the alarm bells rang...
So the fight began, I would do everything I could to simulate my old life, it was going to be tough, very tough, but the alternative was too terrible for words so I had to win, it didn’t matter how long it took, so long as I had a bit of enjoyment and stability a bit of me back to hold on to, the rest would follow.
A few words on simulation (i.e. simulating your old life until this one gets somewhat better) You should expect this to take MANY MONTHS, at times there will be no light at the end of the tunnel, you must just keep doing these things, over and over and over – don’t quit or it wont work, after maybe 4 to 6 months I began actually feeling a little bit better, and let me tell you that is worth all the hard work and effort, you can have a bit of yourself back, you will have to work for it consistently though.
Now I realize this plan wont be for everyone, but it helped me and that’s all that matters as far as I am concerned, I am posting it here for the consideration of others who might be in a similar or suitable position to ‘try it (*subject to the disclaimer)
If it worked for me then it might work for you if you loosely fit my profile i.e. no previous mental health issues or treatment, short exposure to Zyban (max 8 weeks)
If you don’t match my profile I would discourage you from trying this (*see disclaimer)
I figured that my brain was somehow damaged by Zyban, and later I was then prescribed Prozac for the depression that Zyban induced, eventually I weaned myself off these and took nothing, was very ill again so I introduced st johns wort (* this can aggravate certain conditions so you would need to check before taking it) to the daily supplements.
Also I have high cholesterol and am overweight so some of the supplements are geared to circulation and lipid management (you might want to tweak these out if you have no problems in this area) although taking them might be ok anyway e.g. garlic etc.
My Plan: To give up all meds, to choose a natural route to improvement, given past history thought it could be done. And to draw up a list of everything I could possibly do to help matters in every aspect. I wanted ‘me’ back.
Strategy: To create a list of all things that I could do to improve the situation, and live my life to that plan
Drawbacks: knew it would take months or years and be almost an impossible task given my state of health
Natural Chemistry: Now this was to be a combination of diet, health supplements and exercise; I now think of this as the triangle (or pyramid) – because you cannot have a working triangle with less than 3 corners – these 3 items are indeed the cornerstones of my plan which is supported in centre by activities and attitude and need to be practiced daily to work..
Supplements:
These were selected with much research in to brain
and nerve chemistry, the various symptoms were balanced with the building
blocks of essential brain nutrients and its chemistry, in fact in my view the
diet and supplements are the building blocks of good natural brain chemistry,
but the exercise is vital to metabolise it .
*Note – see disclaimer and *Consult your Doctors and Nutritionist *Never stop taking your meds without supervision *realize this worked for me it may NOT be any benefit to you whatsoever and may cause you more problems or actually lead to harm.
Note also these are now ordered from a quality Supplier namely Holland and Barrett not a cheap and nasty chemist or supermarket – there is a lot of rubbish out there, for example the actual strength of the first lot of st johns wort I bought from Lloyds Chemist was 300 times weaker that the proper stuff so beware of crappy own brands from crappy suppliers.
SUPPLIMENTS one each taken in the morning unless otherwise stated
A to Z Daily Vitamin and Mineral tablet (Centrum or similar)
Odour Control Garlic 300mg
Evening Primrose Oil GLA 1000mg
High Strength CLA 1000mg
Vitamin E 400mg
Selenium 50 ug
B100 Vitamin B complex = B1,2,6,12
Vitamin C 1000mg with bioflavoids
Cod liver Oil 1000mg
Echinacea 1000mg (3 weeks on 1 week off - for immune system)
Milk Thistle 175mg
Flaxseed Oil 1000mg
St Johns Wort 300mg (two in the morning = total dose 600mg)
As Previously stated the supplement part is only 1 part – You cannot just take these and expect an improvement – To stand a chance of working it has to be done with exercise and diet.
Diet:
Low fat (avoiding Transfatty acids and hydrogenated vegetable oils)
Low sugar (avoiding all sugary drinks)
Low additives preservatives and e numbers
High Fibre
No junk food (well occasionally once a month maybe)
5 portions of fruit and vegetables EVERY SINGLE DAY
No Caffeine (this looks minor and could be easily missed but actually is a MAJOR point –it takes 4 or
5 days to clear it from your system BUT it made a fantastic difference to me
and is highly recommended)
No tobacco (of course)
High in natural, organic fresh and quality produce whenever and wherever possible.
Bread – wholemeal preferably linseed or multigrain loafs (for more flax)
Regular fish maybe 5 times a week or more– I eat mackerel mainly, it must be dark oily fish to work. This must become a staple with fresh salad veg etc.
Alcohol in moderation and ensuring you take good spells of not drinking in between drinking, drink later in evening to reduce consumption, wine or beer – NO spirits and NO really excessive binges.
Activities and Positive attitude: this is the momentum and the foundations to keep the 3 things going and also this can throw other helpful things, thinking or activities in to the melting pot.
Again this is specific to me, and as an example, your list will be specific to you – NOT the one listed here. Essentially this is the bit about reclaiming the OLD you, even if you are just going through the motions to begin with and feel alien and disconnected from it all.
What did define you as you? What did YOU used to do? What have you had a lifelong interest in? i.e Hobbies Recreation sport fitness? How did you used to spend YOUR time? fishing? Walking? Flower arranging gardening WHAT EXACTLY? Hav a long thin about this and write it down. Who did you spend your time with, which people fed and nourished you, get back in touch – go and do things you used to do with them, Avoid people and comments that drain and sap you who suck out any positivity you can muster avoid people that don’t understand or don’t want to understand what you going through.
I will outline the things that apply to me and what I did about them
Play guitar = join night school to improve , go every week
Walks = go 2 or 3 times a week (with a light lunch)
Yoga = never did before but its supposed to be good for anger meditation relaxation
So joined a local group and go weekly
Gym once or twice a week , Asked them to give me an exercise routine
Sometimes have a steam room sauna or sun bed session afterwards
Bike riding go weekly
Swimming fortnightly or so
Walk at least 1 hour a day
As I was walking near golf courses sometimes I now hire clubs and have a practice round (this occurred from regular walks and puts a bit of fun into it)
Relax using mediation and self hypnosis tapes for relaxation and positivity.
I cant emphasise enough that deep relaxation is a skill that needs to be learned, so go learn it, relaxation is also key to making it all work.
Also engage in activities that relax, for example I go to a local nature reserve and feed the ducks geese and swans, and for the 20 minutes or so I’m there I have a complete mental break – there are me, the ducks and the bread, – that’s it – its impossible to have anxiety whilst doing it, in fact you probably couldn’t do it without relaxing and its very reassuring for some reason, and for me it is one of those rare things relaxation without any effort, now you might want to go and feed the ducks or birds, but the point is everyone has one (or more) of these ‘me’ moments and you need to find yours and do it regularly, perhaps on your own. Now its time to have a think and find (or rediscover) yours.
Exercise:
As listed above but at least 1 LONG walk a day for a MINIMUM of 1 hour, in a place YOU like, Wonderful for clearing the head
Sleep – I make it a golden rule NEVER to sleep during the day anymore, to get up at 8.30 and go to bed at 11.00 ish don’t nap – it doesn’t help.
External Help: seek it and secure it
Again there are 2 types of people in this world, the ones who will help and the ones who wont- don’t waste time trying to convince people who are not interested in helping you to do so, just go elsewhere.
Also seek help from councillors psychologists (good ones) doctors nutritionists teachers fitness instructors friends family etc
I actively sought help and got some cognitive behavioural (group) therapy, find others who understand – you’ll be amazed at the strength you gain from it.
Find out what’s out there and put yourself on it.
Also put yourself first and keep doing it – don’t compromise this.
Be tough on yourself and stretch yourself a little further each day, in everything you do: exercise, relaxation, hobbies, doing or committing to stuff, positive thinking etc
OK so now we have a war plan, and make no mistake it is WAR, physical psychological and organisational, as with any war you don’t need to win every battle to win the war, just keep going and going and going, and when you think you cant – keep going again…
Finally and as I said earlier, I’m writing this as my plan post Zyban using my experience, if you like it and can use it and it help (*subject to declaimer) then great, drop me an email and let me know how your getting on, or if you have any questions mail them to me, I really hope somebody else is helped by this, however please also bear in mind that this is my own personal plan and it might not be suitable for you or even work for you, I’m not claiming it would, the fact of the matter is I’m not really interested in any criticism or negative feedback regarding this document because its helping me, and that really is all that matters from my view point, so I hope you will understand these reasons when I say that any negative feedback will be binned without response. (see I really do live what is written here – see the bit on avoiding negativity at all costs!) oh and I should mention I only have partial relief from Zyban induced hellish torment at the moment and still feel like I am livin in a Zyban induced dementia, but I am also sure that I am on the right track and compared with recent years the improvement is in my opinion quite good.
Sincere good luck and best wishes in your efforts to improve from the damage done by Zyban / Wellbutrin.
G.
*Disclaimer: I entirely disclaim any use (either full or partial) of this plan. It should never be used by anyone at anytime ever. If you are foolish enough to ignore my disclaimer and warnings and attempt to try this plan you should consult all of your heath care providers i.e., doctor, psychiatrist nutritionist and only do so with their agreement consent and support and under their ongoing supervision in addition they and you would need to carefully consider adverse reactions in mental heath, mood, diet and any pre existing medical conditions or mental health problems. This is NOT designed for anyone with a long history of mental health problems or those who have been exposed to and are or were taking prescription drugs and it is not offered as a potential cure for various mental illnesses some of which have no cure and might not be treatable. If you do not understand this disclaimer or its contents then do not attempt this improvement plan.
If you have any feedback or comments the email [email protected]
Please feel free to use and publish this document in any way you wish all I ask is that the original text and disclaimer remain unchanged.
I would also be interested feedback on the use of other effective supplements or other techniques that you have found that can help aid recovery. Maybe to be included in a future revision of this.