Wellbutrion for smoking cessation

tapioca

tapioca

Pre-takeoff checklist
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tapioca
Ok so I have been with this habit for some time now and it looks like it really is time to stop. Last time I got the flu it opened the doors for a prolonged bout of bronchitis. So today I have been presented with a prescription for Wellburtrion.

While I am taking this I am pretty sure that I won’t be flying given the potential side effects that I am aware of and given the class of the drug itself it does look like I will be self grounding for the duration. What I am not certain of is the impact on my next medical round, is this something that need to be reported? Because of its dual use is it going to cause problems? If so are there any alternative medications that could be considered with the same or better effect?
 
If you haven't started taking Wellbutrin don't until you get advice from Doc Chien. It is more commonly used to treat depression, and the FAA will think you are depressed until you can prove otherwise.

If you have started it, again you need the good Doc's advice.

Good luck with the smoking cessation. It will be worth it in the end.

-Skip
 
If you take bupropion short term, you are grounded for the duration. If you take it long term, you must get a psychiatric exam for reissuance. You most definitely must report it.

From Bruce Chien's August medical column in T&T:

The most common questions I get are: (1) What can I take to stop smoking?. (2) What can I take for sleep? And (3) Why can’t I take my Prozac and fly?

As many of you are aware, buproprion for smoking cessation, is completely verboten. This drug is actually an SSRI (Selective Serotonin Reuptake Inhibitor) and has numerous side effects. They’re variable but the notables are constipation, dizziness, hypertension, dry mouth, blurry vision, agitation, confusion, anxiety, and hostility. Nicoderm has the same list. As it turns out, so does Chantix. Why is this? It’s because all three drugs act on the autonomic nervous system, that silent body regulation system that determines if your blood vessels are dilated or constricted, bronchi are open or closed, eye focusable or not, and whether your bowels do their thing or not. Most of the disagreeable side effects from cessation of smoking are mediated along this neurologic system, and blocking the manifestations is key to making smoking cessation work.

As I surmised some months ago, Chantix (Varenicycline) has just been (May 08) disapproved by the FAA. It’s really quite similar to one of the drugs that we use in operative anesthesiology, to manipulate the ability of nerves to transmit to muscle. Any manipulation of this system is likely to produce all of the side effects in the preceeding list- and will eventually find disapproval. I can’t recommend any of the side effects on that list to an airman. Downright disagreeable, they are.

So now I hear that “the FAA would rather you smoke than quit, isn’t that backwards?” But I couch the problem in different terms: the FAA would rather you be competent on THIS flight TODAY, and leave you to your own long term decision making as to smoking or nonsmoking. When you develop smoker’s lung, there’s a special issuance for that if you can still make the grade.

snip

So, if you are going to try one of the medications, even if it’s buproprion, you’re grounded for the period of time of use, even if for smoking cessation.

As a further example of the practical approach chosen by the agency, if the exposure to the SSRI is less than 180 days, the AME is given the authority to make the determination that such usage is NOT a marker for one of the life long psychiatric disorders and that the need was truly transient. But over 180 days, expect a full psychiatric evaluation. They have to draw the line somewhere.
 
Ken and Skip

Thanks for the information. As I said I was pretty sure that I would be grounded for the duration and I do have to admit that it would serve as a good motovator to finish up quicker. But I do dread the though of being forced to stay earthbound even for the relatively brief period to deal with this.

A couple more questions and I will be set to make a more informed decision on this.
1) Would it be better to present the prescription to my AME before getting it filled so that he is in the know what is going on right away or does that even matter?

2) Are there any alternatives that don't involve a dark closet, ropes and a rubber hose or all are all treatments that are effective equal verboten?

Replacement therapy really hasn't proven effective for me in the past so I think it is time to try something different.
 
tapioca said:
Replacement therapy really hasn't proven effective for me in the past so I think it is time to try something different.
Click to expand...

Go cold turkey, and forbid yourself from flying for a week (or longer appropriate period) if you let yourself have a cigarette.

That'd fix me!
 
I once told a friend that struggled with smoking for years that I would buy an iPhone if they were able to successfully quit. I lost, cost me $400.

I guess an iPhone was of enough incentive to undergo the hell that it took.
 
I quit smoking in 1990 (Jan 16 to be exact but who's counting :)). This past Jan 1, I quit a 25 year dipping habit cold turkey. The things that worked for me was sunflower seeds (by the sack full I might add), determination and a web site that "demanded" daily roll call. Those three things have kept me dip free into my 9th month. If you are of the opinion that smoking is more addictive than dip I encourage you to check the nicotine level of each.

Anyway, find what works for you and kick the nic *****'s a$$! If you ever need to talk, drop me a PM and I'll send you my number. I sincerely wish you well in your endeavor. :yes:
 
Ken is absolutely correct. :yes:

IF you choose to use wellbutrin, make SURE your total exposure is less than 180 days, and I mean make it TRULY DOCUMENTABLE, PILL COUNTS, etc, and bring a letter from your Rxing doc that says it was "for smoking cessation, no psychiatric disorder (other than smoking addiction), and the Rx period was only to cover --ty days (60, usually)."

Any AME should be able to reissue if you have done all that. But limit it plainly to less than 180 days or you're in a world of hurt. And you are grounded during the "taking the drug" period.

Go get the smoking beat!
 
Tapioca, good on you for trying to quit. It may be a PIA with your medical but its still a good choice your making.
 
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