Medical Encyclopedia

Each year, approximately 20 million of the 50 million smokers in the United States try to quit smoking, but only about 6 percent of those who try succeed in quitting in the long term.

If you have a wish to quit smoking but you cannot make a choice from a variety from nicotine-replacement therapies or other methods, then you should learn the following.

There are many drugs that can interact with Wellbutrin. Wellbutrin drug interactions can cause your body to metabolize the medications differently from the intended effects and alter the levels of some drugs in your blood, among other things, that is why it is of primary importance to consult your doctor if you take other drugs simultaneously.

It was believed that such antidepressants as Wellbutrin (bupropion) are relatively safe in patients with significant cardiovascular disease. Recent studies have demonstrated that antiarrhythmic agents in patients with ischemic heart disease do not interact with bupropion agents. However, bupropion can cause high blood pressure in some people and should be used cautiously by people who have recently had a heart attack or heart failure. Besides, the efficacy of bupropion has not been established in the older and more severely depressed patient population who experience heart problems or have high blood pressure.

Wellbutrin SR is usually used to treat depression, but it may also be used for treating nicotine addiction and for other conditions that are determined by your doctor. Wellbutrin SR belongs to the drug class of Bupropion. Bupropion is an atypical antidepressant that affects chemicals within the brain that nerves use to send messages to each other. Thus, the acting mechanism of Bupropion provides the balance of neurotransmitters in the brain.

Many people combine two types of antidepressants: Bupropion (Wellbutrin) and Monoamine Oxidase Inhibitors (MAOIs), such as the antidepressants Parnate and Nardil, though they are not the same.

You should not combine these types, as MAOIs stay in its own category of medications, due to their unique effects on the brains. It is sometimes put in a group called "next generation antidepressants". MAOIs prevent monoamine oxidase from breaking down the monoamines. This results in an increased amount of active monoamines in the brain.